ESPN Jumps Into Sports Betting

After years of speculation, ESPN is finally moving forward with a sports betting partnership. Disney is partnering with Penn Entertainment to rebrand its betting platform as “ESPN BET.”

To execute the plan, Penn is dumping its old Barstool Sportsbook name.

Sportico reports the partnership is a 10-year deal with $1.5 billion in cash and the option to scoop up 31.8 million shares of Penn over time. Penn will get attribution to betting odds displayed on ESPN and Penn getting the use of some ESPN talent. We don’t yet know if Disney would insert any gambling options within ESPN’s various apps.

Gambling would be available in just 16 states where Penn is licensed.

“We are confident that the combination of our unparalleled audience along with Penn’s operational expertise and state-of-the-art technology provides us with a tremendous opportunity to serve the ever-growing number of consumers interested in betting,” said ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro.

Disney has been eyeing the gambling arena for years. In 2021, then-CEO Bob Chapek said, “We’ve done substantial research in terms of the impact not only on the ESPN but the Disney brand changing perceptions of the acceptability of gambling. What we’re finding is that there’s a very significant insulation. Gambling does not have the [stigma] that it had 10-20 years ago. We had some concerns of the company about our ability to get in without having a brand withdrawal. I can tell you given all of the research that we’ve done recently that’s not the case. It actually strengthens the brand of ESPN when you have a betting component. It has no impact on the Disney brand.”

One year ago, Chapek circled back to the idea. Chapek was replaced by his predecessor, Bob Iger, in November of 2022.

This new partnership comes just days after Fox announced the end of its Fox Bet platform. In October 2022, Fubo scrapped its ambitious plans for gambling within its app. Fubo CEO David Gandler even went so far as to say sports betting is “100% saturated” and “there is no loyalty.” With major players like DraftKings and FanDuel dominating the market, it will be interesting to see if Penn’s renamed app can gain traction.