Delivering a More Connected Guest and Employee Experience Across Two Prominent Casinos

For Hollywood Casino Greektown and Hollywood Casino Joliet, digital signage has become an essential part of the guest and employee experience. Both properties—part of PENN Entertainment—use signage to inform guests, engage employees, and maintain a consistent brand experience across casino floors, hotels, and back-of-house environments.

For over a decade, the Detroit-based Greektown team has relied on Poppulo to power its digital signage network, which now spans hundreds of screens and countless daily touchpoints. “It’s not just about marketing anymore,” said Jason Oziem, AV/IT Manager at Greektown. “Digital signage has become part of how we operate.”

When PENN Entertainment expanded its digital signage portfolio to include their new Joliet property, the team saw an opportunity to build on Greektown’s proven success—adopting a similar strategy while tailoring it to the needs of a brand-new facility. The goal was simple: create a connected, flexible signage network that could evolve with each property’s unique needs without adding complexity for the IT team.

The Challenge: Scaling Casino Digital Signage Across Greektown and Joliet

At Greektown, the signage network started small—a few screens managed by marketing and HR—and quickly expanded into a full property-wide system spanning the casino floor, hotel lobbies, banquet halls, and parking structures. “We started with one or two monitors,” Oziem said. “Once departments saw what was possible, demand exploded.”

As the network expanded, new challenges emerged. Each department had unique communication needs—from player promotions to HR updates and security alerts—making it difficult to maintain a cohesive system. The hardware mix added further complexity: aging Windows-based players required manual updates and maintenance, while new properties like Joliet were launching with different setups entirely.

At the same time, the Greektown team needed to extend signage to internal teams. The casino’s back-of-house communication was still heavily reliant on paper postings, which slowed information flow and limited engagement. “We used to have paper taped to the wall by the time clock,” said Oziem. “There was no way to keep everyone informed in real time.”

The Solution: Centralized, Flexible Digital Signage Powered by Poppulo

After seeing strong results in Detroit, the Greektown and Joliet teams collaborated to standardize on the Poppulo digital signage platform. The solution centralized content management while giving each property the flexibility to control its own local communications. “We set the Joliet location apart from our Detroit setup within the signage network,” Oziem explained. “That gives them all the same benefits—shared templates, cloud control, and localized scheduling—but with their own creative flexibility.”

Together, both properties now run a mix of guest-facing and back-of-house applications designed to elevate the experience for visitors and employees alike. Guest-facing screens showcase promotions and events, digital wayfinding helps visitors navigate multi-level spaces, and restaurant menu boards update automatically. Hotel and banquet signage integrates with Delphi to display real-time event schedules, while outdoor parking and rooftop screens communicate key information before guests even enter the property.

The solution across both properties also included employee-facing screens that replaced outdated bulletin boards. Each department—from security to HR—now has its own digital display for schedules, recognition, and updates. Security and surveillance dashboards display real-time alerts visible only to authorized staff, while IT teams across PENN properties in Michigan and Ohio use digital dashboards to share metrics and regional updates. “It’s like a heads-up display,” Oziem said. “We can broadcast key information instantly across multiple properties.”

In addition to scaling applications and locations, the Hollywood Casino Greektown’s approach to hardware was unique. Greektown implemented a multi-device approach, combining Intel NUCs for data-driven or interactive applications, BrightSign players for reliable 24/7 playback, and the Amazon Signage Sticks for quick, cost-effective deployments. Reflecting on his approach to digital signage hardware, Oziem stated: “It’s so critical that Poppulo is compatible with all the top player devices, as it lets us right-size our hardware based on the needs of the application.” Adding to why that is important, Oziem explained, “There’s a lot that goes into this, but looking at it from a highly simplified standpoint, not all signage applications require the same computing power. So, an interactive wayfinder needs a higher performance player to function correctly, and those players are more expensive. But a screen running only full-screen promos doesn’t need that same power, so why would you pay for a more expensive player for that application? Because Poppulo works with a variety of players, we can make sure our hardware spend is optimized across all the applications we have. And after Poppulo’s recent announcement about being compatible with the Amazon Signage Stick, that just gave us another tool in the toolbox—it’s reliable, affordable, and flexible, and a great fit for some of our simple applications.”

The Results: Reliable Performance and Connected Experiences

Since standardizing on Poppulo, the Greektown and Joliet properties have created a connected, data-driven communication system that’s both cost-efficient and easy to manage. With more than 800 screens across its casinos, hotels, and back-of-house areas, both casinos digital signage networks are integral to the guest experience and their respective operations as a whole.

Faster Time to Value

The introduction of the Amazon Fire TV Signage Stick has lowered hardware costs by up to 70% per screen, giving PENN the flexibility to add new endpoints and expand into new spaces without budget constraints. What once took an hour per screen can now be completed in about fifteen minutes, reducing setup time by nearly 75%.

Improved Reliability

With hundreds of screens running across multiple gaming and hospitality environments, uptime and stability have become key measures of success for the IT team. Regular maintenance trips and troubleshooting interruptions have largely disappeared since standardizing on Poppulo’s platform and its multi-device ecosystem. “I haven’t had to go back to some screens in months,” said Oziem. Across hundreds of displays, the network maintains near-perfect uptime, even in 24/7 environments like the casino floor.

Improved Back of House Operations

Employee-facing screens now deliver HR updates, safety messages, and recognition instantly, replacing slow, paper-based methods. Departments—from IT to Security—use digital dashboards for live data, enabling real-time decision-making. “It connects everyone,” Oziem said. “From the front desk to the IT office, people know what’s happening across the property.”

Looking Ahead

As PENN Entertainment prepares to open another new Hollywood Casino in Aurora, Illinois, Oziem’s team plans to replicate this model enterprise-wide—expanding digital signage coverage, maintaining its multi-player strategy, and continuing to use Poppulo as the single, scalable backbone for every screen. “It’s easy to grow and easy to move forward with Poppulo,” Oziem said. “This system has become part of how we do business.”