| ESPN Bet | |
| Former Name: | Barsool Sportsbook (2020–2023) |
| Type: | Subsidiary |
| Industry: | Sports betting |
| Parent: | Penn Entertainment |
ESPN Bet (stylized as ESPN BET) is a brand of American sportsbooks and online sports betting services operated by Penn Entertainment. Its branding is licensed from ESPN Inc., which cross-promotes the services as part of its television and digital content. It originally launched in 2020 as Barstool Sportsbook, in partnership with the then-Penn owned Barstool Sports.
In August 2023, Penn sold Barstool back to its founder Dave Portnoy, and concurrently announced a brand licensing agreement with ESPN; the 10-year agreement is valued at $1.5 billion, plus $500,000 in options for ESPN to purchase Penn stock. Barstool Sportsbook was succeeded by ESPN Bet on November 14, 2023.
ESPN Bet operates mobile sports betting in 17 states, and offers retail sportsbooks at selected Penn Entertainment casinos.
In January 2020, Penn bought a 36% minority stake in the sports and pop culture website Barstool Sports, with media outlets anticipating that it planned to leverage the Barstool brand as part of a sports betting service.[1] [2] In September 2020, Barstool and Penn subsequently launched the Barstool Sportsbook app in Pennsylvania; they sought to leverage Barstool's existing social media following and digital media properties to promote the service to a target audience of young adults, in contrast to other gaming companies that entered into marketing partnerships with sports television broadcasters (such as Fox Sports and The Stars Group, and NBC Sports and PointsBet).[3] [4] Barstool CEO Erika Nardini explained that "in our case, our content is the marketing. The way we talk to our fans, the way we connect. The way we make things fun. We have an appeal to the 21-plus audience in a way no one else has."[5]
By 2023, Barstool Sportsbook offered mobile betting in 17 states,[6] and Penn had acquired the remaining stakes in Barstool from founder David Portnoy and The Chernin Group for $388 million. Some of Penn Entertainment's casinos also constructed or rebranded their sportsbooks under the Barstool Sportsbook banner, with 19 locations by 2023.[7]
On August 8, 2023, Penn announced an agreement with ESPN Inc. to launch a new sports betting brand, ESPN Bet; under the agreement, Penn would pay $1.5 billion to license the ESPN brand for 10 years, and provide ESPN with $500,000 in stock options. In turn, ESPN would provide marketing and access to its talent for the service. The agreement would take advantage of ESPN's larger brand equity over Barstool; the same day, Portnoy announced that Penn had sold Barstool back to him for $1, and 50% of gross revenue from any future sale of the site. He argued that "the regulated industry is probably not the best place for Barstool Sports and the type of content we make", and stated of the sale clause that he planned to continue owning Barstool "till I die".[8] [9]
By launching an ESPN-branded sportsbook, Penn triggered escape clauses in the existing marketing agreements ESPN had with DraftKings and Caesars Entertainment for daily fantasy sports and sports betting tie-ins respectively; this resulted in the closure of ESPN's Las Vegas studio at The Linq, and ESPN2's sports betting studio show Daily Wager moving to ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut.[10] [11] [12] Ahead of the launch, the Barstool branding began to be removed from the retail sportsbooks at Penn's casinos in October 2023,[13] and Daily Wager was renamed ESPN Bet Live beginning November 10.[14] ESPN Bet officially launched on November 14, 2023, replacing Barstool Sportsbook in the 17 states where Penn is licensed to offer online betting.[15]
In April 2024, the sportsbook at Hollywood Casino at Greektown was relaunched as an ESPN Bet sportsbook—marking the first retail location under the new name. Its opening coincided with the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit, while ESPN Bet Live would broadcast two episodes on-location from Greektown as part of ESPN's draft coverage.[16] In August 2024, Penn announced that a further eight ESPN Bet locations would open in August and September 2024, beginning with Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, L'Auberge Baton Rouge, and Plainridge Park Casino.[17]