ESPN Bet to Close After $2 Billion, 10-Year Deal With PENN Entertainment is Terminated

• ESPN and PENN Entertainment today announced a mutual early termination of their U.S. online sports betting agreement
• The 10 year, $2 billion deal was signed in the summer of 2023
• ESPN Bet will close on Dec. 1, 2025

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ESPN Bet is coming to an end in less than a month.

PENN Entertainment and ESPN today announced a mutual agreement for an early termination of their 10-year, $2 billion deal for an exclusive U.S. online sports betting partnership the two inked in August 2023.

ESPN Bet will officially end on Dec. 1, 2025, and PENN Entertainment will rebrand its U.S. online sports betting to theScore Bet.

Mutual Agreement to End Partnership

Under the terms of the original deal, both ESPN and PENN Entertainment had the right to terminate the agreement after its third year if specific market share performance thresholds were not met.

ESPN Bet struggled in the U.S., never reaching its goal of being a top-three platform. ESPN Bet consistently maintained a top-six spot and reported a market share of less than 5% in the U.S.

When the deal was announced in summer 2023, PENN Entertainment agreed to pay $1.5 billion to ESPN over the initial 10-year term and grant ESPN approximately $500 million of warrants to purchase 31.8 million PENN common shares. As part of the deal, PENN Entertainment included potential financial incentives for ESPN dependent on ESPN BET reaching performance thresholds for North American online sports betting market share.

“When we first announced our partnership with ESPN, both sides made it clear that we expected to compete for a podium position in the space,” said Jay Snowden, CEO and President of PENN Entertainment. “Although we made significant progress in improving our product offering and building a cohesive ecosystem with ESPN, we have mutually and amicably agreed to wind down our collaboration. We plan to refocus our digital strategy on our growing iCasino business, while continuing to capitalize on our omnichannel advantage as the nation’s leading regional retail casino operator.”

Any outstanding payments to ESPN will cease in the fourth quarter of 2025. ESPN will work with PENN to facilitate a transition from ESPN BET to theScore Bet, which is expected to be rebranded on Dec. 1, 2025, to coincide with the ESPN BET closure.

Any ESPN BET account funds and future bets will be automatically transferred to theScore Bet after Dec. 1, 2025.

PENN Entertainment recently received a temporary online sports betting license in Missouri, which it will still use for its theScore Bet platform.

“Together, ESPN and PENN created a truly unique offering with unparalleled integrations across our various media assets. ESPN drove over 2.9 million new users into the PENN ecosystem, with a strong uptick in first time bettors this fall. We appreciate the collaboration we had with PENN and are now pursuing other media and marketing opportunities within this space,” said Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman of ESPN.

According to PENN Entertainment, a total of $38.1 million will be paid to ESPN in Q4 2025, which are all the remaining fees owed through Dec. 1, 2025. Additionally, a total of $5 million will be paid to ESPN following the termination date for traditional media to support theScore Bet and/or Hollywood iCasino offerings.

PENN will retain the database of 2.9 million digital users acquired during the ESPN partnership, including nearly 300,000 acquired this football season.

ESPN Bet Underperformed in U.S. Markets

Signs of frustration with the deal and ESPN Bet’s performance were evident earlier this year, when Snowden said during a Q4 earnings call in February that ESPN Bet was not on pace to be a top-three operator.

Snowden estimated just a 4.7% total market share for ESPN Bet in its live jurisdictions, excluding New York, by the end of 2025.

“When we announced our partnership with ESPN in the summer of 2023, both sides of this partnership made it very clear that we expected to compete for a seat at the podium. And we’re not on pace right now to do that. So, I would just say that our expectations as we’re moving through 2025 are that we’re continuing to show improvements in both the sports betting business, of course, on the online gaming business as well,” Snowden said during the call.

When PENN ceased its sports betting partnership with Barstool Sports in 2023, it was reported that the company also had less than a 5% market share in its jurisdictions.