The broadcaster wants to grow revenue by serving sports gambling fanatics, while Penn was looking for a new sports betting partner after severing its partnership with Barstool, Brandt said,įor both companies, what's at stake is grabbing a piece of the rapidly growing sports gambling industry. The states that first will offer ESPN Bet are:Ĭreating ESPN Bet is a strategic move for both Penn and ESPN. They think they can offer a better product.' 'They want to make it like one-stop shopping where you go to check the score and there's your betting opinions right there.
'ESPN and Penn believe they can infiltrate this market,' Andrew Brandt, a sports business professor at Villanova University, told CBS MoneyWatch.
