PENN Entertainment Monitoring Sports Event Prediction Markets

• CEO Jay Snowden confirmed PENN Entertainment is monitoring the sports event prediction markets
• Nothing imminent, but said if opportunity presents itself PENN will be involved
• PENN Entertainment and ESPN BET still have several quarters to evaluate partnership

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While nothing is imminent, PENN Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden confirmed during this morning’s earning call that the company will monitor the U.S. prediction market for potential opportunities.

Snowden commented on the opportunity this morning during PENN Entertainment’s Q1 earnings call, noting that the U.S. prediction market is a “niche” market that likely only providing incremental value in states where legalized online sports betting, such as ESPN BET, does not exist.

However, he did confirm that if the opportunity to enter the market becomes available, PENN Entertainment will participate.

Uncertainty Surrounding Prediction Markets

Snowden touched on the ongoing uncertainty in the U.S. prediction markets, with questions remaining regarding federal vs. state laws and who has the power to regulate the industry.

Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com maintain the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is the only regulatory body that has any power over the U.S. prediction markets, while states maintain the sports event predictions markets offered by these brokerages too closely resemble sports betting and can be regulated by state gaming commissions.

Either way, Snowden confirmed PENN Entertainment will monitor the proceedings surrounding the markets.

“It’s not priority one for us, we’ve got a lot in front of us in terms of execution and delivering on guidance for the remainder of the year. But we’re staying close to it, and if it ends up as an opportunity for the industry, you can expect us to be participating,” he said.

PENN and ESPN BET Partnership Still Being Evaluated

Snowden briefly touched on the ongoing PENN Entertainment and ESPN BET partnership, which is nearing its third-year anniversary in 2026.

As part of the deal, if certain revenue thresholds are not met after three years, the companies can either modify their partnership, continue on with no changes, or drop out of the partnership altogether.

The path the company will choose will “probably be obvious” to all involved by the time the third-year anniversary arrives in 2026, he said.

“I think it will probably be obvious not just to us, but obvious to others as well, to the path that makes the most sense. We’re staying focused, and our teams are staying focused, on working together to deliver a really great and differentiated experience. We’re confident it will deliver solid results through football season and going into 2026 we have the opportunity to really show why we did this deal in the first place,” Snowden said.

FanDuel Also Considering Prediction Market Move

Snowden’s comments mirrored those made yesterday by FanDuel CEO Peter Jackson, who also confirmed the company is considering a move into the U.S. prediction markets.

Jackson said the company is “closely monitoring” the actions surrounding the U.S. event prediction market and could bring its European betting exchange, Betfair, to the U.S.

“It’s worth reminding, we do operate the world’s largest sports betting exchange. We know this space well. The Betfair Exchange has for many years given us very good insights in terms of how this stuff can play out,” he said.

The Betfair Exchange, which is the world’s largest sports betting exchange, provides a similar product that is currently offered by Kalshi, Crypto.com, and Robinhood in the U.S.

The betting exchange could serve as a way to “prime the pump” in states that do not currently have legalized sports betting, Jackson said.

FanDuel has even gone as far to begin transferring employees with experience in building out these types of products and services from the Betfair Exchange to evaluate the opportunity in the U.S.