UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): February 28, 2018

PENN NATIONAL GAMING, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

825 Berkshire Blvd., Suite 200

Wyomissing, PA 19610

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (610) 373-2400

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

x          Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o            Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o            Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o            Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR 230.405) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR 240.12b-2).

Emerging growth company                                              o

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.       o

Item 8.01.                                        Other Events

On February 28, 2018, Penn National Gaming, Inc. (“Penn”) issued a press release announcing the date, time and location of its special meeting to be held in connection with Penn’s pending acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.  A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated into this Item 8.01 by reference.

Item 9.01.                                        Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d)                                 Exhibits.

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SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

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Exhibit 99.1

Penn National Gaming, Inc. Announces March 29, 2018 as Date for Special Meeting

WYOMISSING, PENNSYLVANIA — February 28, 2018 — Penn National Gaming, Inc. (NASDAQ:  PENN) (“Penn”) today announced that Penn will hold a special meeting of shareholders on March 29, 2018 in connection with Penn’s pending acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:  PNK) (“Pinnacle”).  The Penn meeting will take place at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.  Penn has set February 27, 2018 as the record date for the special meeting.

Penn’s special meeting will be held at 825 Berkshire Boulevard, Suite 200, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania 19160.  Penn shareholders will vote on whether to approve the issuance of shares of common stock of Penn to stockholders of Pinnacle in connection with the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated December 17, 2017, by and among Penn, Franchise Merger Sub, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Penn, and Pinnacle.  Shareholders of Penn as of the record date of the special meeting will receive the joint proxy statement/prospectus regarding the merger and be entitled to vote at the special meeting.

Pinnacle will also hold a special meeting of stockholders on March 29, 2018 to vote on matters related to the proposed acquisition of Pinnacle by Penn.

Important Additional Information

In connection with the proposed transaction, on February 8, 2018, Penn filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a registration statement on Form S-4 that contains a joint proxy statement of Penn and Pinnacle and also constitutes a prospectus of Penn (the “joint proxy statement/prospectus”).  The registration statement was declared effective by the SEC on February 28, 2018 and Penn and Pinnacle commenced mailing the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus to their respective shareholders and stockholders on February 28, 2018.  This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval. SHAREHOLDERS OF PENN AND STOCKHOLDERS OF PINNACLE ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS REGARDING THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED OR THAT WILL BE FILED WITH THE SEC, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THOSE DOCUMENTS, BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors may obtain a free copy of the registration statement and the joint proxy statement/prospectus, as well as other filings containing information about Penn and Pinnacle, without charge, at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Penn can be obtained, without charge, by directing a request to Justin Sebastiano, Penn National Gaming, Inc., 825 Berkshire Boulevard, Suite 200, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania 19610, Tel. No. (610) 401-2029. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Pinnacle can be obtained, without charge, by directing a request to Vincent Zahn, Pinnacle

Entertainment, Inc., 3980 Howard Hughes Parkway, Las Vegas, Nevada 89169, Tel. No. (702) 541-7777.

Participants in the Solicitation

Penn, Pinnacle, and certain of their respective directors, executive officers and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed transaction.  Information regarding Penn’s directors and executive officers is available in Penn’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, which was filed with the SEC on February 24, 2017, and its proxy statement for its 2017 Annual Meeting, which was filed with the SEC on April 25, 2017. Information regarding Pinnacle’s directors and executive officers is available in Pinnacle’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, which was filed with the SEC on February 28, 2017, and its proxy statement for its 2017 Annual Meeting, which was filed with the SEC on March 14, 2017. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, is contained in the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus of Penn and Pinnacle and other relevant materials filed with the SEC. Free copies of this document may be obtained as described in the preceding paragraph.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication may contain certain forward-looking statements, including certain plans, expectations, goals, projections, and statements about the benefits of the proposed transaction, Penn’s and Pinnacle’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, the expected timing of completion of the transaction, and other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. Statements that do not describe historical or current facts, including statements about beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,” “estimate,” “plan,” “target,” “goal,” or similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “may,” “might,” “should,” “would,” “could,” or similar variations. The forward-looking statements are intended to be subject to the safe harbor provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

While there is no assurance that any list of risks and uncertainties or risk factors is complete, below are certain factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained or implied in the forward-looking statements including:  risks related to the acquisition of Pinnacle by Penn and the integration of the businesses and assets to be acquired; the possibility that the proposed transaction does not close when expected or at all because required regulatory, shareholder or other approvals are not received or other conditions to the closing are not satisfied on a timely basis or at all; the risk that the financing required to fund the transaction is not obtained on the terms anticipated or at all; the possibility that the Boyd Gaming Corporation and/or Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. transactions do not close in a timely fashion or at all; potential adverse reactions or changes to business or employee relationships, including those resulting from the announcement or completion of the transaction; potential litigation challenging the transaction; the possibility that the anticipated benefits of the transaction are not realized when expected or at all, including as a result of the impact of, or

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issues arising from, the integration of the two companies; the possibility that the anticipated divestitures are not completed in the anticipated timeframe or at all; the possibility that additional divestitures may be required; the possibility that the transaction may be more expensive to complete than anticipated, including as a result of unexpected factors or events; diversion of management’s attention from ongoing business operations and opportunities; litigation relating to the transaction; risks associated with increased leverage from the transaction; and other factors discussed in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Penn’s and Pinnacle’s respective most recent Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K as filed with the SEC.  Other unknown or unpredictable factors may also cause actual results to differ materially from those projected by the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are difficult to anticipate and are generally beyond the control of Penn and Pinnacle.  Neither Penn nor Pinnacle undertakes any obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements, to report events or to report the occurrence of unanticipated events unless required to do so by law.

Contacts:

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