Disney’s making a bet… that a little bit of gambling won’t tarnish its family-friendly rep. This week, the House of Mouse launched its sports-betting service, ESPN Bet, in 17 states. It’s thanks to a 10-year, $1.5B deal with Penn Entertainment, which will operate the app. Penn’s counting on the ESPN name to pack a punch hard enough to dent DraftKings and FanDuel (which together hold 70% of the US’s sports-betting market).
Stay awhile: Fans checking scores on ESPN previously had to leave the platform to place bets. Now Disney and Penn see the odds favoring a future where ESPN Bet becomes a one-stop shop for streaming and betting.
New jerseys: ESPN Bet is a reskinned version of Penn’s Barstool Sportsbook app, which held just a 2% market share. The casino company sold Barstool back to founder Dave Portnoy six months after buying it.
Halftime: Since a SCOTUS ruling cleared the way for states to legalize sports betting five years ago, the industry has been running up the score. It’s now legal in 38 states and DC, and the $9B industry could hit ~$12B next year.
Epcot doesn’t have a casino… In 2019, Disney boss Bob Iger doubted the company would enter the sports-betting market (its reputation isn’t exactly the “gambling on UFC fights” vibe). Four years later, as sports betting has gone mainstream, and ESPN tumbles along with cable, the move perhaps seemed inevitable. ESPN may be late to the game, but there’s room in a market set to grow 60% by 2027 to $18B.
Home-field advantage is real… While ESPN didn’t have a betting app till now, it was the go-to sports network. Now it’ll have both the established-media reach and the betting side. ESPN had already successfully dipped its toes in: DraftKings and FanDuel have advertised extensively on the network, and ESPN’s betting show, “The Daily Wager,” has been a ratings hit.