Bank of America: New Barstool Sportsbook downloaded 29,000 times in first two days

Despite the rush to install the app, much of the interest could be attributed to curiosity, as Pennsylvania’s over-21 population represents just 4.5% of citizens over 21 years of age across the country. Therefore, Barstool won’t, at least for now, be able to convert most of those people with the app on their devices. Penn National Gaming (PNG), which took a 36% in sports media company Barstool Sports for around $163m early this year, will use the app’s availability for brand equity in states where the product isn’t available, or sports betting isn’t yet legal. With Barstool Sports’ purported 66 million monthly unique visitors and an outspoken and divisive founder in the shape of Portnoy, who has 1.8 million Twitter followers, PNG and Barstool are very much targeting recreational bettors and Barstool’s loyal social media following. Kelley wrote: “Our initial impressions are positive given the app’s ease of use and leverage of the Barstool brand to create a unique interactive experience. We think the app targets more of a casual bettor than competitors.” Yet he cautioned: “Penn’s ability to drive conversion from downloads to deposits and deposits to bets/revenue is the next critical step.” Meanwhile, Kelley reiterated his Buy rating for PNG and raised the target price to $85, echoing the price target last week from Stifel analyst Steven Wieczynski. The launch of Barstool Sportsbook and the return of sport is partly the reason why PNG’s share price has been on a tear in the past few months. The Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based company’s stock currently hovers around $70, up a whopping 1,700% since slumping to below $4 in March as coronavirus began to impact sport and force the closure of land-based gambling properties. Although the stock has slipped from a new 52-week high of $76 last week, PNG’s market cap sits at almost $10bn.