ESPN Bet to Shut Down as Penn Ends $1.5B Partnership Deal

Penn Entertainment has announced its decision to withdraw from the 10-year, $1.5 billion collaboration with ESPN, effectively ending the ESPN Bet project, the joint sportsbook the two companies launched just over two years ago. The decision, announced on Thursday during Penn’s quarterly earnings call, concludes one of the most ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful experiments in the US sports betting boom.

Penn Now Embarks on a Third Attempt at Online Sports Betting

The partnership initially showed significant promise. In August 2023, Penn rebranded its struggling Barstool Sportsbook into ESPN Bet, hoping that the influence of the world’s most prominent sports media brand would turn it into a leading online sportsbook. Penn executives set an ambitious target, aiming for 20% market share by 2027. However, as of fall 2025, ESPN Bet had only gained 4.7% of the market, barely improving on Barstool’s figures.

Penn CEO Jay Snowden acknowledged the challenges during Thursday’s call. While he was disappointed that ESPN could not grow to match the other leading sportsbooks, he saw a silver lining in the situation. According to Snowden, the development would help the company streamline its cost structure by cutting fixed media spending and redirecting resources toward its North American casino and iCasino businesses.

Although we made significant progress in improving our product offering and building a cohesive ecosystem with ESPN, we were unable to establish ESPN BET as a scale player.

Jay Snowden, PENN Entertainment CEO

The Penn CEO further added that the company plans to rebrand its US online sportsbook to theScore Bet,  a brand it already operates successfully in Ontario. These changes will be finalized by December 2025, coinciding with Penn’s planned launch in Missouri. theScore Bet’s US version will synergize with Penn’s Hollywood Casino digital brand and theScore’s media app, which has roughly four million active monthly users.

ESPN Seeks to Distance Its Brand from Wagering

For ESPN, the sudden breakup marks a rapid pivot in strategy. Just hours after the announcement from Penn, the media giant confirmed a new long-term partnership with DraftKings, which will become its official bookmaker. DraftKings will take over the betting tab inside the ESPN app starting December 1. The standalone ESPN Bet app will shut down on the same date.

ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro noted that ESPN’s marketing activities had attracted 2.9 million new customers to Penn’s network. However, he added that the conversion into lasting market share failed to meet expectations as retention remained low. Industry experts largely agree with this assessment, arguing that ESPN’s brand strength never fully translated into bettor loyalty.

We appreciate the collaboration we had with Penn and are now pursuing other media and marketing opportunities within this space.

Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN chairman

Even with its enormous reach, ESPN struggled to strike a balance between journalism and sports wagering. This tension escalated last month when the network had to cover a federal gambling probe involving high-profile NBA figures while its ESPN Bet logo remained visible on air. The incident left executives uncomfortable as many feared that the fallout could erode its core brand identity.