More gambling companies underwent layoffs this week, with cuts at Penn Entertainment and Gambling.com Group, underscoring a troubling trend as the industry adopts artificial intelligence while facing financial pressure and increasing competition from prediction markets.
Penn Entertainment cut loose more than 75 employees this week across its Penn Interactive business unit, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell Front Office Sports. That division houses theScore Bet—previously known as ESPN Bet before Penn and ESPN ended their planned 10-year partnership after a little over two years—as well as Penn’s online casino and social gaming businesses.
As of December, Penn had more than 23,400 total employees globally, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. It’s not clear exactly how many employees sit within Penn Interactive. A source familiar with the matter tells FOS it was more than 500 before this week’s layoffs. This round follows Penn layoffs that took place in November and over the summer.
The company last month reported $1.4 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2026. CEO Jay Snowden said the company was “pleased to report another solid quarter” and noted there were “encouraging” signs across the company’s portfolio. As of Friday afternoon, Penn shares were up 2.5%, and are up 10% year to date. The company has not issued any statement about the layoffs, and a representative for Penn did not respond to a request for comment.
