PENN Entertainment, Inc., the owner of Hollywood Casino and the online sportsbook ESPN BET, is set to significantly change its upper management and board of directors in a major refresh, the company announced Friday.
Key Takeaways
- Carlos Ruisanchez and Johnny Hartnett have been recommended for PENN’s Board of Directors.
- Ron Naples is expected to resign from his role on the Board.
- Ruisanchez and Hartnett would fill Class II director seats.
Carlos Ruisanchez, the CEO of Sorelle Capital and president of Sorelle Hospitality, will be nominated for election to the PENN Entertainment Board of Directors, along with Johnny Hartnett, the former CEO of the Superbet Group.
The nominations follow the announcement that director Ron Naples is to retire from the board. Fellow director Barbara Shattuck Kohn and board member Saul Reibstein have confirmed that they will not be standing for re-election at the upcoming annual meeting of shareholders. Following Naples’ resignation, the board now consists of eight members, seven of whom are independent.
Nominating committee review
The nominations for the two Class II director seats had been proposed by minority shareholder HG Vora Capital Management, which has been critical of PENN Entertainment’s move into sports betting. They have now been confirmed by the Board’s nominating and corporate governance committee.
“We look forward to benefitting from Johnny’s and Carlos’ fresh perspectives as we enter into a critical phase for the business. The Board continues to believe there is significant opportunity for value creation at PENN, particularly within our Interactive segment,” said the board in a statement following the announcement.
If confirmed, both nominees will bring considerable gambling sector experience to the PENN Entertainment Board. Hartnett worked at Flutter Entertainment for 20 years, as COO of Sportsbet Australia and managing director of Paddy Power Betfair Online and Flutter International. He served as CEO at Superbet between 2019 and 2023 before joining the company’s board in January 2024.
Prior to joining hospitality, consumer, and real estate businesses Sorelle Hospitality and Sorelle Capital, Ruisanchez was president and CFO at Pinnacle Entertainment. He left Pinnacle in 2018, when it was sold to PENN Entertainment.
New app releases
The PENN Entertainment board will be refreshed at the same time that the company is rolling out new online casino apps.
Last month, the comapny announced the launch of the Hollywood Casino app in New Jersey, in conjunction with ESPN BET, which leveraged PENN’s partnership with the New Jersey Devils NHL team. Earlier this month, it also launched theScore Casino app in the Ontario market, which operates on the same platform as the Hollywood Casino brand.
