Disney Sports Broadcaster ESPN in $2 Billion Deal to Launch Sports Betting

ESPN the sports broadcaster which is owned by Disney have announced a $2 billion deal with casino owner Penn Entertainment to launch ESPN Bet a new sports betting brand.

Details of the deal include ESPN receiving some $1.5 billion in cash and $500 million in stock warrants from Pennn and Penn will get brand and promotional services from ESPN along with access to the broadcasters talent.

ESPN are a major sports broadcaster in the US with over 105 million monthly digital visitors, it has more than 370 million social media fans and most importantly for Penn has 25 million live streaming paying customers.

ESPN chair Jimmy Pitaro said: “Our primary focus is always to serve sports fans and we know they want both betting content and the ability to place bets with less friction from within our products.

“The strategy here is simple: to give fans what they’ve been requesting and expecting from ESPN. Penn Entertainment is the perfect partner to build an unmatched user experience for sports betting with ESPN Bet.”

The deal means that Barstool Sports Book will rebrand to ESPN Bet across all its licensed 16 states it operates already.

Jay Snowden, Penn Entertainment’s chief executive, added: “ESPN Bet will be deeply integrated with ESPN’s broad editorial, content, digital and linear product, and sports programming ecosystem.

“ESPN Bet will also benefit from Penn’s operational experience, extensive market access, and proprietary technology platform, which successfully debuted in the US this July.

“Together, we can utilize each other’s strengths to create the type of experience that existing and new bettors will expect from both companies, and we can’t wait to get started.”