ESPN Bet<\/a>, which has been powered by Penn, will shift to a sports-betting content brand with DraftKings Sportsbook integrations, anchored by ESPN\u2019s betting show, \u201cESPN BET Live,\u201d which currently airs weekdays at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, and dedicated social and digital channels.<\/p>\n\n\tLeading up to and following the Dec. 1 termination date of its deal with Penn, ESPN will work with the gambling operator \u201cto facilitate a transition\u201d for users from ESPN Bet to Penn\u2019s theScore Bet.<\/p>\n
\n\tBeginning next month, DraftKings entertainment products will start to be exclusively integrated across ESPN\u2019s platforms with a full rollout expected in 2026. At launch, ESPN users will have access to betting features and offerings including DraftKings\u2019 sportsbook, daily fantasy and DraftKings Pick6.<\/p>\n
\n\tESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said, \u201cOur betting approach has focused on offering an integrated experience within our products. Working with DraftKings, a leader in the space, will allow us to build upon that foundation, continue to super-serve passionate sports fans and grow our ESPN direct-to-consumer business. We are excited about this new collaboration with DraftKings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tDraftKings also will play a major role across ESPN\u2019s digital platforms: DraftKings will power the betting tab within the ESPN app and DraftKings customers will receive special promotions for ESPN Unlimited, the recently launched direct-to-consumer product.<\/p>\n
\n\tDraftKings operates online wagering in 28 states and Washington, D.C., and Ontario, Canada, with more than 10 million customers across its products. The deal with ESPN \u201cexpands ESPN\u2019s ability to be the go-to platform for sports fans with access to DraftKings\u2019 products,\u201d the companies said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cESPN\u2019s unmatched visibility across the world of sports make this collaboration a natural fit,\u201d said Jason Robins, CEO and co-founder of DraftKings. \u201cAs an innovative leader in digital sports entertainment, DraftKings is uniquely positioned to integrate our technology and products with ESPN\u2019s iconic brand and storytelling power. Together, we\u2019re delivering a seamless, engaging and responsible experience that elevates how fans connect with live sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMeanwhile, with the wind-down of ESPN\u2019s pact with Penn \u2014 announced in August 2023 with a 10-year term \u2014 all outstanding payments to ESPN from Penn Entertainment will cease in the fourth quarter of 2025. Penn will continue to be an ESPN advertising client.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cTogether, ESPN and PENN created a truly unique offering with unparalleled integrations across our various media assets,\u201d said Pitaro. ESPN drove more than 2.9 million new users to Penn\u2019s services, he said, \u201cwith a strong uptick in first time bettors this fall. We appreciate the collaboration we had with Penn and are now pursuing other media and marketing opportunities within this space.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tUnder the terms of the original commercial agreement, ESPN agreed to provide Penn with media, marketing services and the exclusive right to the ESPN Bet trademark for online betting in the U.S. in exchange for $150 million per year in cash payments to ESPN and warrants to purchase common stock of Penn. The agreement had an initial term of 10 years, with the right for either party to terminate the agreement after the third year if \u201cspecific market share performance thresholds\u201d were not met.<\/p>\n
\n\tJay Snowden, president and CEO of Penn Entertainment, said the company plans to refocus its digital strategy on its iCasino business, \u201cwhile continuing to capitalize on our omnichannel advantage as the nation\u2019s leading regional retail casino operator.\u201d Snowden said Penn plans to rebrand its online betting service in the U.S. as theScore Bet with a target date of Dec. 1, to coincide with the expected launch of sports betting in Missouri, subject to regulatory approvals. Penn currently operates theScore Bet brand in Ontario, Canada; theScore media app has approximately 4 million monthly active users across North America.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source variety.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Disney\u2019s ESPN has changed up its gambling partners and go-to-market betting strategy. ESPN and DraftKings clinched a major new agreement that makes DraftKings the exclusive \u201cofficial sportsbook and odds provider of ESPN,\u201d effective Dec. 1, 2025. Also Thursday, ESPN announced the end of its deal with Penn Entertainment under which the companies \u201cmutually agreed\u201d to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2139702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[317671,22444,246308,176147],"class_list":["post-2139701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-draftkings","tag-espn","tag-espn-bet","tag-penn-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ESPN-BET-Shutting-Down-ESPN-in-Deal-With-DraftKings.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2139701"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2139706,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2139701\/revisions\/2139706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2139702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2139701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2139701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2139701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}