PENN Entertainment Now Offers Hollywood Casino Standalone App in West Virginia
In West Virginia, PENN Entertainment launched a standalone Hollywood Casino mobile app, and it’s hoping for similar results to those it has had in other states.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:The first iteration of the app came in December when it launched in Pennsylvania. Since then, it has gone live in Michigan with a January release, New Jersey with a March release, and is now available in the Mountaineer State.
Hollywood Casino has 20 retail casinos across 11 states, including Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia.
The Hollywood Casino app has all the usual casino games, including slots, table games, and live dealer games, but it also has exclusive titles from PENN Game Studios. Additionally, the casino is now accessible through both the standalone app and the ESPN BET sportsbook mobile app. PENN Entertainment has reported success with the dedicated app.
Standalone Casino App Leading to More Overall Spending
Where the standalone app is offered, a retail casino is also available in that state. The only exception is New Jersey, where NJ online casinos remain the dominant force in regulated gaming.
This is important because, in August 2025, at an investor presentation, the company revealed that players who were already customers at the retail casino and who play on the standalone app have increased their spending.
For example, in Pennsylvania, year-over-year “theoretical play” rose 19% through the first six months of 2025. The online theoretical play rose by 133%. In Michigan, the retail theoretical play increased by 28% and online theoretical play rose by 242%.
Theoretical play is the expected amount a casino anticipates it will win from players. This is calculated by the total amount wagered and the house edge of games.
The CEO of PENN Entertainment, Jay Snowden, said that the app experienced month-over-month growth, which helped lead to PENN’s best month GGR-wise in July in PA and MI.
We’re seeing great migration and cross-play between the two, but also the cross-sell between sportsbook and iCasino has been very, very healthy.
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Slot Players Weren’t Interested in ESPN BET App
So, why are players turning more toward the standalone app when it can also be accessed via the ESPN BET app? According to Snowden, while players using the ESPN BET app seem to play table games, slot-only players aren’t downloading the app. “It just doesn’t really resonate,” Snowden said. Thus, a standalone casino app proved important.
We’re seeing that in our slot mix, which is, I believe, the highest in the industry in the states where it’s tracked. From a marketing perspective, you can be a lot more successful in targeting your retail database with a brand that they’re used to seeing on all of their marketing materials on top of the building that they’re walking into.
So far, the online casino industry has yet to eat into the retail one, at least this early with Hollywood Casino properties.
“Having both a retail and digital relationship with your consumer is clearly a major key to success for the industry moving forward,” he added. “The success of our stand-alone app is incremental to our overall iCasino performance, with minimal cannibalization of our in-house iCasino products”.
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