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.
PENN Entertainment and ESPN announced that account linking between ESPN BET and ESPN is now available for customers, creating an even more deeply integrated media and betting experience. By linking accounts, fans now have the ability to seamlessly track upcoming, live and settled bets within the ESPN app and on ESPN.com.
With this product enhancement, ESPN BET will soon bring fans more personalized bets and timely promotions based on their favorite sports, teams, players, and fantasy rosters. 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.
“Bringing this new feature to market is an important step as we work to create a fully interconnected media and betting ecosystem between ESPN and ESPN BET. Account linking allows us to better serve and engage our users by unlocking key personalization and promotional capabilities. This feature is just the beginning of deeper integrations that will further differentiate the ESPN BET experience,” said Aaron LaBerge, Chief Technology Officer at PENN Entertainment.
Mike Morrison, Vice President of ESPN BET and ESPN Fantasy, said: “Linking ESPN and ESPN BET accounts is part of the seamless, integrated betting experience we envisioned from the start. No other company in the betting space can offer the level of personalization or interconnected experience that ESPN BET provides.”
ESPN BET unveiled a newly-branded retail sportsbook at L’Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles on Friday, Sept. 20. The refreshed sportsbook with ESPN BET branding continues to provide customers with the ultimate sports viewing and betting experience. The opening of the ESPN BET Sportsbook furthers brand connectivity between PENN Entertainment’s (PENN) retail casino and online sports betting platform.
The ESPN BET sportsbook, located next to the hotel tower elevators, offers a gourmet tailgate-inspired menu and over 20 beers on tap which can be enjoyed while surrounded by 36 televisions and a massive 24-foot video wall. ESPN BET features 3 over-the-counter sports betting terminals, 15 sports betting kiosks, 4 slot machines, 6 video poker machines, plus both electronic and traditional table games.
“We are thrilled to bring the ESPN BET brand to L’Auberge Lake Charles, offering our customers a great new way to engage with our vast entertainment options. Leveraging the ESPN BET brand allows us to deliver the high-quality experience that both seasoned and novice bettors anticipate from our resort. We invite guests from Louisiana, Texas, and beyond to enjoy the premier sportsbook experience in the Southwest Louisiana,” said Harold Rowland, Vice President and General Manager at L’Auberge Lake Charles.
ESPN BET, which launched in November 2023, is the official sportsbook of ESPN. ESPN BET combines ESPN’s industry-leading brand and multiplatform reach with PENN’s proprietary in-house technology and deep sportsbook operational expertise. ESPN BET is currently available for online sports betting in 18 jurisdictions, including Louisiana. The ESPN BET sportsbook at L’Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles is one of several branded retail locations scheduled to open across PENN properties this fall.
SuperBook Sports has announced that they will no longer accept bets or deposits in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, New Jersey, Tennessee, Ohio, Maryland, and Virginia. SuperBook was licensed for online operation in those eight states.
“We regret to inform you that SuperBook Sports will no longer be accepting wagers, deposits or new accounts in Colorado, New Jersey, Arizona, Tennessee, Ohio, Iowa, Maryland and Virginia effective July 19, 2024 at 8:00 pm ET,” a statement released by SuperBook read.
SuperBook wrote it will continue to operate at Westgate SuperBook in Nevada and bettors in Nevada will be able to access mobile betting through the Westgate SuperBook mobile app.
The SuperBook sportsbook at Westgate in Nevada is one of the most popular sportsbooks in Las Vegas. It appears they were unable to parlay the retail success into online wagering success.
In Ohio, for example, SuperBook accounted for 0.08% of the state’s total handle and 0.02% of the gross revenue from January 2024 (legalization) to May 2024.
That put SuperBook on par with Parx and Betr and a long way from some of the mid-tier sportsbooks such as Caesars, Fanatics, and ESPN BET which hold about 5% of the share.
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