During Accel Entertainment’s earnings call for the first quarter of 2026, Chief Operating Officer Mark Phelan asked listeners to re-think how they view the company.
“We increasingly think of it less as a logistics business and more as a gaming and hospitality business,” Phelan said Tuesday during the call. “A logistics business competes on efficiency, scale, and cost. The gaming and hospitality business competes on experience, content, relationships, and differentiation and it commands meaningfully better economics as a result.”
Accel Tuesday reported record revenue for a quarter, generating $352 million, a year-over-year increase of 9%. Net income was $15 million for Q126, flat compared to Q125. Adjusted EBITDA increased 9% to $54 million for Q126 compared to Q125.
Most of Accel’s business is based in Illinois, Nebraska, Georgia, Nevada, and Louisiana.
“These results reflected the continued strength of our distributed gaming model, ongoing momentum in our developing markets, and our team’s disciplined execution across each of our businesses,” said Accel CEO Andy Rubenstein.
“All of it is oriented around delivering a better or engaging entertainment experience for our players and more valuable relationship for our location partners,” Phelan said. “That is a key driver our next phase of margin expansion and profitability growth at Accel.”
Accel, which primarily distributes, installs, maintains, and operates video gaming terminals at non‑casino locations including bars, restaurants, truck stops, and convenience stores, maintains a strong presence in Illinois. It is poised to enter the Chicago market when that becomes available.
“Chicago represents one of the most exciting near-term growth opportunities we have seen in some time,” Rubenstein said, noting that Accel is currently signing up locations while waiting for final regulatory approvals.
“As the market leader in Illinois, with 2,678 locations, 15,413 gaming terminals, and an established platform of infrastructure, people, and relationships, we believe we’re uniquely positioned to move quickly and efficiently when the market opens.”
Asked about the effect of rising gas prices on the company’s bottom line, Rubenstein said Accel does not consider that a factor, now or historically.
“I’m speaking mostly from the Illinois market,” Rubenstein said. “Our players need to travel less to reach our establishments as opposed to going to a regional casino. We tend to benefit when the player wants to stay closer to home. Whether it’s going to impact their overall budget for entertainment spending, we’re unsure, but we do know that they’ll be spending less on gas to come play in our establishments.”
In Louisiana, Phelan said that the company is always looking for M&A opportunities. But again, rising gas prices seem to have little, if any, effect on that market.
“The reality of the truck stop business is it’s not truckers. These are local people playing at the truck stop, because it’s a more gaming-focused venue than going into a tavern,” Rubenstein said. “The people who want to play and have a true gaming experience enjoy playing at the truck stops in Louisiana. That’s even more in focus, because Louisiana truck stops have up to 60 games and they’re really like small casinos.
“Because those establishments are in proximity to where these people live, they tend to thrive in environments where people are watching their entertainment dollars. Instead of driving a greater distance to a regional casino, which they have throughout Louisiana, they tend to stay closer to home, either in the tavern market or this case a truck stop.”
