County of San Diego Board of Supervisors Approves Agreement with Jamul Indian Village

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The County of San Diego Board of Supervisors voted today to approve a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") between the County and Jamul Indian Village of California ("JIV" or "the Tribe") that affirms a mutually beneficial relationship as the Tribe prepares for the grand opening of its $400 million Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego. JIV and a wholly owned subsidiary of Penn National Gaming, Inc. PENN (the "Company" or "Penn National Gaming") are expected to celebrate the grand opening of the new casino this summer.

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"The casino and this agreement in particular will provide significant benefits for Jamul and surrounding communities that would otherwise not be available," said Erica Pinto, Chairwoman of Jamul Indian Village. "We are grateful for the Supervisors' vote today and County staff's work on the government-to-government negotiations during the past year."

The MOU and related Fire and Life Safety services agreement result in JIV providing $4.8 million in initial payments and equipment and over $2.75 million annually for fire, life safety and public safety services, and includes two new fire trucks for East County and a 4x4 vehicle. Combined, the agreements will result in over $90 million in funding for fire, life safety and public safety over the next 20 years. JIV will also provide semi-annual and perpetual mitigation and operating reports to the County that include, among others: public safety, air and water quality impacts, and compliance with noise and dark sky ordinances.

The MOU also includes over $3.7 million from JIV for roadway improvements the County believes are not included in the California Department of Transportation's Final Environmental Impact Report ("FEIR"). The identified FEIR improvements include, among others, new dedicated turn lanes and traffic signals along State Route 94 in Jamul, and key intersection enhancements to improve safety and increase traffic flow. JIV expects to provide approximately $20 million towards the FEIR improvements.

"We thank Chairman Roberts and the Board of Supervisors for taking the time to review and support what we consider to be the strongest government-to-government MOU ever negotiated in the County of San Diego," said B.J. Fair, Chief Development Officer of Penn National Gaming.

In addition to the agreements with the County and the approximately 1,200 construction jobs already created to develop the facility, Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego will generate over 1,000 permanent jobs. More than 7,000 employment applications have been submitted in recent months, with approximately 3,000 applications coming from Jamul and surrounding communities.

"The community wants and needs the jobs our project is creating. We look forward to becoming an economic development engine in East County for years to come," said Pinto.

About Jamul Indian Village

The Kumeyaay Nation of Southern California can be traced back 12,000 years, with first European contact occurring at San Diego Bay in 1524. JIV, one of 13 bands of the Kumeyaay Nation federally recognized as a sovereign nation, traces its roots to these natives. JIV strives to provide a greater quality of life for its people. Providing educational opportunities, health care and sufficient housing today will open the doors of tomorrow.

About Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego

Expected to open in mid-2016, Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego is located approximately 20 miles east of downtown San Diego off State Route 94. The facility will feature approximately 1,700 slot machines and 43 live table games along with multiple dining and entertainment options, including the first ever Tony Gwynn's Sports Pub.

About Penn National Gaming

Penn National Gaming owns, operates or has ownership interests in gaming and racing facilities and video gaming terminal operations with a focus on slot machine entertainment. At December 31, 2015, the Company operated twenty-seven facilities in seventeen jurisdictions, including Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and Ontario. At December 31, 2015, in aggregate, Penn National Gaming operated approximately 33,400 gaming machines, 800 table games and 4,600 hotel rooms. In addition, the company owns a social iGaming platform, www.HollywoodCasino.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "intends," "plans," "seeks," "may," "will," "should" or "anticipates" or the negative or other variations of these or similar words, or by discussions of future events, strategies or risks and uncertainties, including future plans, strategies, performance, developments, acquisitions, capital expenditures, and operating results. Actual results may vary materially from expectations. Although the Company believes that our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of our knowledge of our business, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from our expectations. Meaningful factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations include, but are not limited to, risks related to financing a project of this type, sovereign immunity, local opposition (including several pending lawsuits), building a complex project on a relatively small parcel and other factors as discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, each as filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not intend to update publicly any forward-looking statements except as required by law. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release may not occur.

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