ESPN Bet users will soon have to switch apps, as the platform announced yesterday that it is ending its partnership with Penn Entertainment and forging a new one with DraftKings.
The Penn run app will rebrand as “theScore Bet” next month. Its $1.5 billion, 10-year deal with ESPN was signed in 2023 and has ended abruptly.
Penn CEO Jay Snowden admitted the project “didn’t work out,” and both sides are moving on.
Despite adding 2.9 million new bettors, ESPN Bet only captured less than 3% of the market, far behind leaders DraftKings and FanDuel.
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said the DraftKings deal will “super-serve passionate sports fans” and strengthen its direct-to-consumer business.
DraftKings, which has over 10 million users across 28 US states and Ontario, plans to integrate its betting tech directly into ESPN’s products.
As ESPN reshuffles, sportsbooks face new competition from prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, where user growth is booming.