ESPN Bet
Penn Entertainment to Lay Off About 100 Employees
Penn Entertainment plans to lay off about 100 employees as it focuses on growth for ESPN Bet.
CEO Jay Snowden told staff members in an internal email that the changes will enhance operational efficiencies following its 2021 acquisition of Canadian media and gaming powerhouse theScore.
The company employs about 20,000 people.
“When PENN acquired theScore, we hit the ground running with the build-out of our proprietary tech stack and the migration of our sportsbook to theScore’s best-in-class-platform,” Snowden wrote in the memo. “This led us to temporarily set aside any potential organizational changes that would typically follow a major acquisition.”
Penn went on to say it’s embarking on a new phase of growth in its interactive business, which includes ESPN Bet, a $2 billion branding partnership with Disney’s ESPN. Snowden said the initiatives include product enhancements and deeper integration into ESPN’s ecosystem.
Investors are impatient for Penn to demonstrate its muscle with the rebranded sportsbook, and activist investor Donerail Group has called on the board to sell the casino company.
Rumors have swirled about the potential interest from many other online gaming and brick-and-mortar casino companies.
Truist gaming analyst Barry Jonas wrote in a note Thursday that a sale is unlikely in the near term because of the complexity of a transaction that would likely involve major divestitures.
Penn’s release of new ESPN Bet features this fall during football season should meaningfully improve its product, Jonas said, and a focus on costs indicate the company’s commitment to seeing its investment yield results.
Penn shares have plummeted 25% year to date. It has missed earnings expectations the last two quarters and lowered guidance.
“Investors continue to wonder what an ESPN Bet success could look like, and how much more investment (beyond what’s guided) it’ll take to reach,” Jonas notes.
ESPN BET, the official sportsbook of ESPN, has launched in Washington D.C. via PENN Entertainment Inc. ESPN BET is now live in 20 U.S. jurisdictions.
Fans in the District now have access to the state-of-the-art mobile and web betting platform, which offers a variety of markets across sports and leagues from around the world, along with daily odds boosts, profit boosts, featured parlays, live betting markets, custom offers, exclusive promotions and integrations with ESPN content and personalities.
“We’re thrilled to launch ESPN BET in our nation’s capital and expand our presence across the Washington metropolitan area. Along with our partner ESPN, we’re excited to introduce our deeply integrated media and betting experience and further engage with the D.C. area’s passionate sports community,” said Aaron LaBerge, Chief Technology Officer of PENN Entertainment.
ESPN BET offers a unique account linking feature that allows fans to link their ESPN BET and ESPN accounts to seamlessly track upcoming, live and settled bets within the ESPN app and on ESPN.com. Account linking can be accessed either via a prompt within the ESPN BET app or by visiting settings within the latest versions of the ESPN BET or ESPN apps or ESPN.com.
PENN secured market access in Washington, D.C. through a deal with Monumental Sports & Entertainment. The deal also designates ESPN BET as a proud sports betting partner of Monumental and its teams, the Washington Capitals, Wizards and Mystics.
The post ESPN BET Now Live in Washington, D.C. appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
ESPN and PENN Entertainment announced that 10 additional retail sportsbooks at key PENN properties will be rebranded to “ESPN BET Sportsbook” in early 2025 (subject to all regulatory approvals), increasing the total number of ESPN BET branded sportsbooks at PENN properties to 19.
The new ESPN BET locations will serve customers across Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, and West Virginia under PENN’s popular Hollywood and Ameristar Casino brands.
The list of properties that will be rebranded as “ESPN BET Sportsbook” includes:
Ameristar Casino Hotel Council Bluffs – Iowa
Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course – Pennsylvania
Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway – Ohio
Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course – Ohio
Hollywood Casino at The Meadows – Pennsylvania
Hollywood Casino York – Pennsylvania
Ameristar Casino Resort Spa Black Hawk – Colorado
Hollywood Casino and Hotel Lawrenceburg – Indiana
Ameristar Casino East Chicago – Indiana
Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races – West Virginia
PENN’s existing ESPN BET retail locations span properties in Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, and Ohio.
ESPN BET, the official sportsbook of ESPN, combines ESPN’s industry-leading brand and multiplatform reach with PENN’s deep sportsbook operational expertise. ESPN BET is currently available for online sports betting in 19 states.
The post ESPN and PENN Entertainment Expand ESPN BET Sportsbook Brand appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Kansas reported record-breaking sports betting figures for November, the third month of bets on the 2024-25 NFL regular season. Sunflower State bettors wagered $291 million, a 5.5% increase from the previous record in October. Last month, the handle came to $275.9 million. The handle total also marks an 11.5% year-on-year increase from $260.9 million in November 2023.
Kansas’ six online sportsbooks contributed the most. They drew in a $279 million handle, making up almost 96.0% of the monthly total, and close to $24.7 million in revenue.
The state is also home to four retail sports betting locations, including ESPN BET at Hollywood Casino, the FanDuel Sportsbook in Kansas Star Casino, DraftKings at Boot Hill Casino & Resort, and Kansas Crossing’s Caesars Sportsbook. In November, these venues contributed $873,172 to the revenue total from a $12 million handle.
While the Kansas City Chiefs are based in neighboring Missouri, they’re also the most popular NFL team in Kansas. So far this season, the Chiefs won all but one of their 13 games.
The loss actually came in mid-November, with quarterback Josh Allen sealing the Buffalo Bills’ 30-21 win. With Kansas bettors likely backing the Chiefs during the game, this loss could have contributed to extra revenue for the state’s books to keep during the month.
The Chiefs are among the favorites to win Super Bowl LIX. The NFL is a particularly popular time of year for sports betting operators, with the American Gaming Association predicting bettors will wager around $35 billion on this season’s games. Like many states, Kansas reported a surge in betting activity from September onwards every year since it launched legal sports betting.
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