ESPN taps DraftKings as sports-betting partner after ending PENN deal

ESPN signed a new deal making DraftKings its official betting site and odds provider, after ending a U.S. online sports betting partnership with casino operator PENN Entertainment. (Jeff Chiu, File/The Associated Press)

ESPN signed a new deal making DraftKings its official betting site and odds provider, after ending a U.S. online sports betting partnership with casino operator PENN Entertainment.

Starting December, online sports betting company DraftKings’ sportsbook and daily fantasy contests will be added across Disney’s majority-owned ESPN’s platforms, including its direct-to-consumer streaming service, the companies said on Thursday.

DraftKings will operate a betting tab within the ESPN app and promote ESPN’s recently launched streaming service to its customers.

ESPN and DraftKings declined to disclose the financial terms of the new multi-year partnership, which was first reported by Bloomberg News.

The new partnership comes the same day as ESPN and PENN cutting short their 10-year deal signed in August 2023, under which the sports network got US$150 million annually and warrants for PENN stock in exchange for marketing services and exclusive right to the ESPN BET brand in the U.S.

Payments from PENN to ESPN will stop in the fourth quarter of 2025. They will work together to rebrand the existing U.S. online sports betting (OSB) platform from ESPN BET to theScore Bet by Dec. 1.

PENN said it will remain an ESPN advertising client and the sports network will retain vested warrants that give it the right to buy almost 8 million shares of PENN stock at about $28.95 per share, while all unvested and performance warrants will be forfeited.

The casino operator would retain the customer information of the nearly 3 million people who signed up for ESPN BET, including 300,000 new users from the recent football season.

Under the new partnership, the ESPN BET brand will be repurposed by ESPN for its betting-related TV shows, online articles, and social media posts, which will then direct users to DraftKings Sportsbook for actual betting.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)