Penn Entertainment Doubles Down on Product with New CPO Hire

Penn Entertainment has picked a former FanDuel veteran to lead its product division, with Billy Turchin stepping in as the company’s new CPO. This will allow the company to spearhead its efforts in bringing around a more worthwhile end product to players across its brands, to name ESPN Bet, Hollywood Casino, and theScore.

Penn Entertainment Is All in on Product

Despite headwinds tied to slow market penetration and looming tariffs, Penn Entertainment has remained confident that it can navigate choppy business seas and come out on top. Sourcing the right talent is part of this broader strategy.

Regardless, Turchin is joining at a time when the company is facing pushback from shareholders who have repeatedly criticized Penn Entertainment’s style of management, insisting that ESPN Bet has failed to deliver on initial and subsequent goals, squeezing financials and making the company as a whole lose market share.

However, Turchin has struck a more optimistic tone, highlighting Penn Entertainment’s portfolio in a LinkedIn post commenting on his appointment as part of the company. He did not mince his words in extolling the company’s virtues in terms of business assets and current achievements.

“Along with cutting-edge digital products, Penn Entertainment features the largest and most diverse gaming footprint in North America, operating 43+ casino and racetrack properties under well-known brands, including Hollywood, Ameristar, L’Auberge, M, and more.”

Billy Turchin

Turchin is also a well-seasoned industry veteran, owing to his four years with FanDuel where he worked as SVP, Product in the United States, and have cut his teeth in one of the companies that currently holds a virtual chokehold on the market, having the financial heft and business acumen to consistently expand their market share.

Naturally, Turchin’s credentials are impeccable, and his appointment cannot be an accident, as Penn Entertainment is adamant that it can turn its slow start of the $ 2 billion licensing deal with Disney to use the ESPN brand around.

Competitors Are Not Stagnant in the Sports Betting Space

The issue of adopting a strategy that delivers on a better product usually has to do with the simple realization that competitors are equally keen to move forward, and they develop products of their own all the same.

This is not the first time Penn Entertainment has made costly purchases only to come up with an underwhelming overall result. Before acquiring the ESPN brand rights, the company had bought the Barstool Sportsbook, which it decided to sell back to its founder, the controversial David Portnoy, for a single dollar.

The sector as a whole also faces other challenges. Besides tariffs, prediction markets seem here to stay after Kalshi dealt a blow to the Nevada Gaming Control Board and may continue to encroach on sports betting revenue, putting traditional betting companies in a bind.