Penn National Gaming applies to manage Kansas casino

WYOMISSING, Pennsylvania -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Penn National Gaming, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN - News) announced today that it has filed its license application with the Kansas Lottery Commission to be considered as a Lottery Gaming Facility Manager at a proposed $295 million destination casino resort in Cherokee County.

The completed application, which is in excess of 1,500 pages with exhibits, will be delivered to the Lottery Commission in over 30 large boxes by a moving van, which departed the company's headquarters in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, August 29.

Penn National's filing coincides with the original deadline of September 7 for submission of completed applications. That deadline was recently extended by the Lottery Commission to allow Crawford County 90 days to seek a prospective gaming facility developer. Crawford and Cherokee Counties are both within the Southeast Gaming Zone, one of four areas of the state in which casino gaming is authorized under the new Kansas Expanded Lottery Act.

"Our timely filing is a reflection of our eagerness to proceed with this tremendous economic development opportunity for Southeast Kansas, and is the culmination of literally hundreds of hours of work over several months by dozens of individuals across various departments within our company," said Peter M. Carlino, Chairman and CEO of Penn National Gaming. "We took the time to do our homework on this proposed development project, which resulted in our earning an exclusive endorsement from Cherokee County and the opportunity to enter into a pre-development agreement with our host community. We look forward to working with the Lottery Commission as this process advances."