There was chatter about ESPN increasing its presence in the sports betting space in the near future, and that day has arrived as the sports media giant is partnering with PENN Entertainment to launch ESPN Bet.
As part of the 10-year agreement announced Tuesday, ESPN Bet will launch in the fall as a rebrand of PENN Entertainment’s previous sportsbook, which is licensed in 16 states where betting is legal.
PENN was previously partnered with Barstool Sports and branded as Barstool Sportsbook but announced in a separate release that it was divesting its entire stake in the company to founder David Portnoy.
In other words, one partnership is ending to make room for another.
“Our primary focus is always to serve sports fans and we know they want both betting content and the ability to place bets with less friction from within our products,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said. “The strategy here is simple: to give fans what they’ve been requesting and expecting from ESPN. PENN Entertainment is the perfect partner to build an unmatched user experience for sports betting with ESPN BET.”
-In exchange, PENN receives media, marketing services, brand and other rights provided by ESPN.
-Upon ESPN meeting certain U.S. online sports betting market share, ESPN could receive bonus warrants to purchase an additional 6.4 million in PENN shares.
— RLinnehanXL (@RLinnehanXl) August 8, 2023
Penn will pay ESPN $1.5 BILLION over the next 10 years for the right to branding/promotion of their book. #HowRich pic.twitter.com/ibY4BmpDc5
— Adam Levitan (@adamlevitan) August 8, 2023
PENN will oversee daily operations of the sportsbook.
