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.

Advertisement

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.

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.”

Advertisement

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.”

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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.