ESPN BET set for launch, replacing Barstool Sports

There’s a saying in investing, “Don’t bet against the mouse.”

Today, sports bettors in 17 states across the U.S. will be able to wager with the mouse as EPSN BET, a newly-branded online sportsbook that falls under The Walt Disney Company umbrella, makes its expected debut.

ESPN BET will combine The Worldwide Leader in Sports’ reach with the operator’s betting technology and experience.

Subject to final approvals, ESPN BET will launch in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. While bettors can only place wagers within the aforementioned states, users can login, deposit, withdraw, and check transaction history from anywhere in the U.S.

“We are extremely excited to announce the planned launch of ESPN BET prior to the active Thanksgiving week sports calendar that includes the NCAA college football rivalry week and the Super Bowl rematch of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles televised on ESPN’s Monday Night Football,” said PENN Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden in a statement after its Q3 earnings call. “ESPN BET will be powered by our proprietary and proven technology platform, which continues to drive impressive performance in Ontario under theScore Bet brand for both online sports betting and iCasino.”

The highly-anticipated launch of ESPN BET goes back to August when PENN Entertainment paid $1.5 million to ESPN to convert the sports-betting technology behind Barstool Sportsbook into ESPN BET.

All current Barstool Sportsbook users accounts, including login information, account balances, transaction history, stored payment methods and any open wagers will migrate to ESPN BET, upon users downloading the new app. Sports bettors who have any issues or questions about the new app can contact support@espnbet.com.

Additionally, ESPN, which also falls under Disney’s roof, is now using official odds provided by ESPN BET across editorial and other content. On 10 November, ESPN’s Daily Wager sports betting show transitioned to ESPN BET Live.

“Our ESPN BET product will include a wide array of popular betting options, including featured bets, quick bets (micro-markets), player props, same game parlays and more,” said Snowden. “In connection with the launch, ESPN will be implementing an initial wave of exclusive integrations targeting their 200 million loyal fans across their linear and digital platforms, including an advertising campaign headlined by SportsCenter anchors Scott Van Pelt and Elle Duncan. Looking ahead, we will be introducing even deeper platform and media integrations with ESPN over the upcoming months, providing an unmatched and seamless media/betting experience that will appeal to sports fans across the country.”

Last Friday, ESPN issued “Sports Betting Guidelines” to all of its employees, stating that its employees can’t disclose or provide access to non-public information for betting-related purposes. Furthermore, employees can’t place bets on games or events they are assigned to work or cover, and reporters and insiders cannot place any bets on sports that they regularly cover for ESPN.

While not a directive, PENN Entertainment made it clear following the announcement of the deal in August that ESPN BET is going to take aim at online sports betting giants DraftKings and FanDuel as it predicted to obtain 20% market share by 2027. Both DraftKings and FanDuel delivered strong results during their recent respective Q3 results. DraftKings overtook FanDuel for the first time in U.S. iGaming market share during its Q3 that ended 23 August, according to Eilers & Krejcik, earning approximately 31% of online sports betting and casino gaming revenue compared to 30% for FanDuel.

BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook have routinely been a distant third and fourth, respectively, in the sports betting market share race, earning less than 10%. In addition to ESPN BET making a run at cracking the top four, another newcomer to the U.S. sports betting market is Fanatics Sportsbook, which acquired the U.S. business of PointsBet for $225 million in June and is live in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, and Tennessee, with more states to come.