ESPN Bet To Possibly Debut In Mid-November, Source States

ESPN Bet is currently moving toward a mid-November debut, an ESPN source revealed to LSR on October 16.

Blockbuster agreement:

Two months ago, during August, Penn Entertainment entered into a 10-year, $2 billion stock-and-cash partnership, with ESPN, for the media giant to allow it to use ESPN’s name for an online wagering platform. On a related note, Penn also put an end to its relationship with Barstool Sports to smooth the way for the aforementioned alliance.

Commenting on the partnership when the firm was looking to switch from Barstool Sportsbook to ESPN Bet in November, Jay Snowden, CEO of Penn Entertainment, commented: “It will be done certainly before Thanksgiving.” An official date haven’t been decided yet.

Furthermore, the mentioned date, aka mid-November, would be exactly the 11th week of the beginning of the NFL season. Also, a football game was scheduled for November 20, representing the 2022 Super Bowl rematch between Kansas City and Philadelphia. In this regard, Snowden recently repeated that ESPN Bet debuting in the middle of the NFL season wouldn’t be harmful. He said according to LSR: “I also think the time of year that we’re launching, mid-season, is actually great. … I think we’re going to be able to make a lot of noise, get a lot of attention. And you’re coming in at a point in the year where people have probably burned through most of their free bet promos and deposit matches and so to be able to sort of reload mid-year with a new app and new experience that’s fully integrated with ESPN, I think that speaks to top of funnel. And based on what we’re seeing in Ontario and all the enhancements we continue to make on the product we feel really good about our ability to retain once we get people to the top of the funnel.”

Launch as the main focus:

According to the aforementioned source, ESPN is currently absorbed primarily on the debut, refusing to provide additional details at this time. But the firm could try to offer promotional opportunities for clients with its new product, ESPN+.

Moreover, at this point, ESPN already has many existing sports league rights agreements. That could contribute to the one-day stream with integrated wagering slips, which are almost identical to BetVision product from Genius Sports that Fanatics Sportsbook is using for the NFL during this season.

Final acceptance of wagering:

Prior to choosing Penn Entertainment, ESPN was in negotiations with Rush Street Interactive and DraftKings Sportsbook, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Additionally, it’s further reach comes after ESPN decided to be more lenient about its opinion on sports wagering than Disney, its parent firm. During recent years, the firm has become more open to the idea, resulting in the aforementioned important agreement. However, the 10-year aforementioned alliance has the option to be terminated after 3 years. The condition for that is that together they fail to come to nearly 10% of the market stake.