PENN Entertainment and ESPN have announced that they will end their exclusive U.S. online sports betting partnership early.
The two companies decided to end the partnership, which began in August 2023. Under this deal, PENN had the right to run ESPN BET under the ESPN brand in exchange for a large media spend and equity stakes.
The original agreement was for 10 years, but it included terms that allowed either company to exit after three years based on market performance.
PENN's CEO, Jay Snowden, said that while progress was made, both companies agreed that ending the partnership was the best decision.
PENN Entertainment will now change its digital gaming strategy and plans to rebrand its U.S. online sports betting (OSB) platform to theScore Bet®. This will align the product with the theScore media platform, which has about four million active users in North America each month.
The relaunch is set for December 1, 2025, and will coincide with the expected legalization of sports betting in Missouri, pending regulatory approval.
theScore Bet is already live in Ontario, and the rebranding will help PENN create a unified platform that connects betting, media, and iCasino across borders. PENN will continue to use the Hollywood-branded iCasino for both online and retail markets.
PENN will stop making payments to ESPN by the fourth quarter of 2025, but ESPN will support PENN during the transition. PENN will also remain a client of ESPN for advertising after the partnership ends.
Executive Statement
According to PENN's CEO, Jay Snowden, they expected to compete for a podium position, they made significant progress in improving their product offering, but they have mutually and amicably agreed to wind down their collaboration.
According to ESPN chairman, Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN drove over 2.9 million new users into the PENN ecosystem. They appreciate the collaboration and are now pursuing other media and marketing opportunities in this space
