From Riverboat to Landside – PENN Entertainment Announces $200M Hollywood Casino Council Bluffs Transformation
PENN Entertainment will break ground on its new Hollywood Casino Hotel Council Bluffs in Iowa, on 14 September 2026. The $180-$200 million land-based casino is expected to open in 2028 and will replace the operator’s adjacent Ameristar Council Bluffs riverboat once complete, pending customary regulatory approvals.
It is a modest single-property announcement on the surface. But it is the third time in three years PENN has retired a riverboat in favour of a modern landside destination, and that repetition is the real story.
Why the PENN Entertainment Council Bluffs casino move matters now
Riverboat gaming is a legacy format. Many of these vessels date to an era when state law required casinos to sit on water, and they come with fixed footprints and ageing infrastructure. Converting them to landside venues gives an operator more floor space, better amenities, and a property that can actually compete with newer regional resorts.
PENN has been working through exactly that transition. Council Bluffs follows the earlier landside openings of Hollywood Casino Joliet in 2025 and Hollywood Casino Hotel Aurora in 2026.A fourth is already on the board: a proposed relocation and rebrand of its New Orleans riverboat operations into a new Hollywood Casino New Orleans, expected in 2029.
What the new Hollywood Casino Council Bluffs actually involves
The new venue becomes the 20th Hollywood-branded gaming facility in PENN’s portfolio. It will carry approximately 1,000 slots and 25 live table games, and connect directly to the existing pavilion and hotel, which already offers over 160 rooms, the 1853 Bistro and Steakhouse, The Sportsbook Restaurant and Bar, the Club 38 VIP Lounge, and a buffet.
Dining is part of the pitch. The property will house the first Shake Shack in the Omaha metropolitan area, alongside Red Lotus, a fast-casual restaurant built around made-to-order Asian cuisine.
The existing riverboat currently employs over 500 team members. Construction is projected to take roughly 18 to 24 months and create around 450 construction jobs, with a further 50 permanent roles expected once the new casino opens.
“We are thrilled to be celebrating yet another transition from riverboat gaming to a new best-in-class entertainment destination,” said Jay Snowden, CEO and President of PENN Entertainment, adding that the company continues to prioritise organic growth with a disciplined approach to strengthening its competitive position across its markets.
The word doing the work there is “disciplined.” PENN is not chasing a marquee Las Vegas project; it is reinvesting in the regional properties it already runs, in markets it already knows.
How PENN Entertainment funds a land-based casino without straining its balance sheet
Here is the part operators and investors care about. PENN is entitled to draw financing of up to $150 million for the project from Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI) at a 7.10% cap rate. At PENN’s option, that can be structured either as rent or as a five-year loan that can be repaid at any time without penalty.
That flexibility matters. It lets PENN expand its physical estate largely through a real estate partner rather than heavily committing its own capital, keeping room to keep spending on its digital sports betting and iCasino platform at the same time. It is a template for how a diversified operator grows on land and online in parallel.
Why PENN Entertainment’s Casino Opening Date Isn’t Guaranteed Yet
Nothing here is finished. The replacement of the Ameristar riverboat is explicitly subject to customary regulatory approvals, and the opening date, like the New Orleans project’s, sits years out. PENN’s own release frames the budget and timeline as forward-looking, meaning both could shift. Iowa also requires every commercial operator to hold an operating agreement with a nonprofit Qualified Sponsoring Organization; PENN’s partner here is the Iowa West Racing Association. Groundbreakings are a milestone, not a finish line.
What comes next for the regional gaming market?
PENN’s four-property conversion run suggests riverboat-to-landside relocation is now a settled part of its regional strategy rather than a one-off, and other legacy-boat operators will be watching how the economics land. The near-term signal to watch is New Orleans, expected in 2029, which will show whether PENN keeps leaning on GLPI-style real estate financing to fund these builds. If it does, the takeaway is straightforward: regional land-based gaming still attracts serious long-term capital, and the operators winning it are the ones who have worked out how to pay for concrete without tying up their own balance sheets.
Source: PENN Entertainment
