ESPN will “launch a new multiyear deal with industry leader DraftKings” that will see DraftKings betting, fantasy and other products “integrated into ESPN’s stable of media properties” — with the move coming the same day as the network ended its sports betting deal with Penn Entertainment, according to Isabella Simonetti of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The early end to ESPN and Penn Entertainment’s deal comes “after failing to gain significant market share” with ESPN Bet. ESPN Bet’s “inability to gain scale” is a “sign of the grip DraftKings and FanDuel have on the market.” ESPN will “no longer have a branded sportsbook using the name ESPN Bet,” but the brand will “continue to exist” in various content. ESPN’s 10-year deal with Penn, announced in August 2023, was an attempt by both companies to “tap into the sports-betting industry’s growth.” ESPN was “set to receive” $1.5B in cash over 10 years, “plus warrants to purchase shares in Penn” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/6). BLOOMBERG NEWS’ Christopher Palmeri writes ESPN Bet, a “relatively late entry” to the sports betting market, “struggled to come out with the popular features other operators offered.” The business was a “distant seventh place” in the mobile sports-betting market in the U.S. with “a less than 3% share” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 11/6).
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