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Billionaire investor Ron Baron said on Tuesday that the recent investment into Barstool Sports is going to be a boon for Penn National Gaming.
Appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Baron said the deal for the sports media company will bring more people to Penn National’s casinos. Penn National shares jumped 4.4% in premarket trading.
“Not only are they going to make a lot of money on this investment for this $150 million and buy the rest of it out from the founder, but also it’s going to increase the traffic in their casinos,” Baron said. “It’s going to be worth a ton.”
The gambling company announced last week that it is paying $163 million to take a 36% stake in Barstool. Penn National said it will launch a Barstool Sportsbook brand, hoping to use the media company’s popularity to increase its market share in the growing sports betting industry.
Baron’s fund owns 8.6% of Penn National with a market value as of Monday at $296 million.
As of Monday’s close, shares of Penn National have risen 13.3% since last Wednesday, when the deal was announced.
Baron founded his investment firm, now known as Baron Funds, in 1982. The firm has roughly $27 billion in assets under management.
