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How will ESPN Bet carve out its place in the industry?
August 22, 2023

How will ESPN Bet carve out its place in the industry?

Bookiecity

The stakes are high for ESPN's long-awaited foray into sports betting. Head of sportsbook Mike Morrison believes the broadcasting behemoth will upend the established industry order.

“There was an inevitability about this,” ESPN’s Mike Morrison says of the sports giant’s move into betting.

Partnering Penn Entertainment to launch ESPN Bet brought years of speculation – and the operator’s partnership with Barstool Sports – to a close. This was momentous at every level.

First, the announcement came as a surprise. Penn’s sportsbook now connects with a vast audience, potentially catapulting the operator’s interactive business to the top tier of operators.

To the general news connoisseur, beloved multimedia behemoth the Walt Disney Company – owner of ESPN – entered the sports betting race.

ESPN Bet: A deal five years in the making

Sports betting is a natural extension for ESPN and speculation over deals with DraftKings and Caesars Entertainment was rife.

Head of sportsbook Morriso..

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ESPN Bet to launch in November
August 9, 2023

ESPN Bet to launch in November

Bookiecity

Jay Snowden, president and CEO of Penn Entertainment, confirmed that ESPN Bet will go live in November this year.

Penn and sports broadcaster ESPN’s transformative $1.5bn deal will consist of Penn relaunching its existing Barstool Sportsbook as ESPN Bet.

Off the back of the deal Penn is divesting its Barstool Sports sportsbook brand and selling it back to Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool.

Snowden confirmed the month for launch on Penn’s earnings call today, following the publication of its second quarter results.

When the deal was announced yesterday, Penn said the launch had been set for “the fall”, with no specific details as to when.

On the earnings call, Snowden skipped around the month with “sometime this fall” and “certainly before Thanksgiving” before landing on November.

Snowden defended the timing of the launch amid claims it would come too late in the NFL season.

“I think our launch in November is good, because it won’t get lost at the beginning of football season,”..

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ESPN makes its betting move as Penn lets go of Barstool
August 8, 2023

ESPN makes its betting move as Penn lets go of Barstool

Bookiecity

Disney-owned sports broadcaster ESPN is moving into sports betting in partnership with Penn Entertainment, which will sell the Barstool brand back to founder Dave Portnoy.

Penn’s Barstool Sportsbook is relaunching as ESPN Bet this autumn through the $1.5bn deal. This immediately provides the brand with a footprint across 16 legal betting states, covering its mobile website and app and desktop site.

Penn says its partnership with the largest sports brand in the US increases the long-term adjusted EBITDA potential for its interactive segment by between $500m and $1.0bn.

Penn is divesting Barstool Sports, its sportsbook brand since 2020, as a result. Barstool founder Dave Portnoy buys back 100% of its share capital “in exchange for certain non-compete and other restrictive covenants”.

The terms of the deal

ESPN and Snowden comment

What about theScore and icasino?

Barstool back with Portnoy

Disney’s history with betting

Exclusive access to ESPN assets

ESPN Bet leverages ESPN’s m..

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