PENN Shares Survey Data Suggesting ESPN Bet’s Lofty Goals Are Within Reach

• The world got their first look at ESPN Bet during the ESPN Edge Conference on Thursday night
• ESPN shared some survey results while PENN CEO Jay Snowden and ESPN VP of Sports Betting and Fantasy Mike Morrison were discussing ESPN Bet
• See the data that suggests ESPN’s three-year goal of a 20% market share may be within reach

On Thursday, November 9, ESPN held their ESPN Edge Conference in New York City. The conference covered a wide array of topics, including but not limited to: ESPN Edge, Innovation, ESPN Analytics, and the upcoming launch of ESPN Bet.

We, of course, were most interested in the ESPN Bet segment. The panel featured PENN CEO Jay Snowden and ESPN VP of Sports Betting and Fantasy Mike Morrison. The two touched on the ESPN ecosystem, the talent they plan to feature with ESPN Bet, and the seamless integration planned between ESPN Bet and other ESPN products among other things in teasing what’s to come on November 14 when they launch the new sportsbook.

In discussing the ESPN ecosystem they have to draw from, they shared an extremely interesting slide that caught my attention.

The moment I saw this slide, my mind went to their three-year goal of capturing a 20% market share. When they announced this goal, it was met with skepticism from certain industry experts. After all, they were entering the space, which features two well-established powerhouses in DraftKings and FanDuel, with less than a 5% market share.

What was promising was the fact that ESPN Bet is able to enter 17 states right away, thanks to PENN’s previous licensing in those regions and the known users across ESPN’s ecosystem. This survey data suggests that ecosystem could convert at an extremely high rate.

The results showed 92% of current bettors are likely to use ESPN Sportsbook, while 65% of potential bettors are likely to use ESPN Sportsbook. They point to their brand trust – the #1 most trusted brand in sports – as the reason for such positive feedback.

What ESPN Bet’s Survey Results Tell Us

At the conference, one of ESPN’s slides mentioned their reach of 200 million fans. (Yes, 200 MILLION!) Between their ESPN media app, ESPN+, ESPN Fantasy app, and their website (among others), the company has direct access to an extremely large group of wildly passionate sports fans.

If brand trust alone can lead to 92% of sports bettors and 65% of potential bettors signing up, PENN will be laughing.

This isn’t even considering the power of advertising the ESPN sportsbook within their media app. This is a tactic Snowden boasted the success of with their Ontario sportsbook, theScore Bet. PENN reported that 73% of the total handle at theScore Bet has come from ecosystem (theScore media app) users. We also haven’t even gotten into any of the sportsbook features expected at ESPN Bet, including one specific feature we are really hoping makes it over from their Ontario sportsbook—come back Tuesday to find out what feature we’re so excited about.

Pair all that with what will likely be a very generous signup bonus to be had through an ESPN Bet promo code, which will surely entice sports fans to give them a try, and this goal of a 20% market share sounds very reasonable.

What We Don’t Know About ESPN Bet Survey Data

I want to be clear right off the start: I am not attempting to discredit any of this data nor dampen any of the excitement around ESPN Bet’s launch. I am truly very excited about this launch for a myriad of reasons.

However, the slide with these survey results left me with a lot of questions:

• How many people participated in the survey?
• Who did they survey? (Not necessarily specific names, but what groups of people received the survey? People in their ecosystem? Random people through a survey tool? It’s likely the former, but would love some confirmation.)
• Were all respondents located in the 17 states where they will launch on Tuesday?
• How did they define respondents as “potential bettors?”
• How many people were not considered “potential bettors?”
• Did they further define “use” in the survey? Is it just whether people will sign up or not? Bet with them consistently?

There are likely really good answers to all the questions above, many of which would likely further the confidence I have in what’s to come on Tuesday. We’re unlikely to get them, though, so we will just have to watch and see what unfolds over the coming weeks.

I, for one, am extremely confident we are about to see a lot of people download the ESPN Bet app over the next few weeks.