Penn Leisure is rebranding one other 10 of its on line casino sportsbooks after promoting off Barstool Sports activities in August 2013 and coming into right into a 10-year, $1.5 billion take care of ESPN to leverage the sports activities media big’s likeness to its sports activities betting operations.
Penn Leisure continues to transform its former Barstool Sportsbook venues into ESPN Wager services. The regional on line casino operator introduced Thursday that 10 extra sportsbooks will likely be transitioned to ESPN Wager. (Picture: Penn Leisure)
The Pennsylvania-based regional gaming specialist introduced Thursday that 10 extra casinos it operates will see their sportsbooks develop into ESPN Wager places within the coming days and weeks.
ESPN Wager is coming to Ameristar On line casino Lodge Council Bluffs in Iowa, Pennsylvania’s three Hollywood casinos in Grantville, York, and Washington, the 2 Hollywood Gaming racinos in Ohio’s Youngstown and Dayton, Ameristar On line casino Black Hawk in Colorado, Ameristar East Chicago and Hollywood Lawrenceburg in Indiana, and Hollywood On line casino Charles City in West Virginia.
The forthcoming ESPN Wager services be part of ESPN Wager sportsbooks already working in Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, and Ohio.
Market Features
The “official sportsbook of ESPN,” Penn Leisure says the partnership permits the gaming agency to mix ESPN’s “industry-leading model and multiplatform attain with Penn’s deep sportsbook operational experience.” ESPN Wager is accessible on-line in 19 states.
Hollywood On line casino York, a so-called “mini-casino” in Pennsylvania, will debut its ESPN Wager facility this Saturday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1 pm forward of the kickoff of the NFL playoffs. The sportsbook in York County is certainly one of many within the Penn portfolio that was beforehand often called Barstool.
Penn Leisure first invested in Dave Portnoy’s Barstool Sports activities in early 2020 with $163 million for a 36% place. The on line casino firm paid one other $364 million in February 2023 to accumulate the remaining 64% stake.
Penn’s plan to attraction to younger males and switch them into sports activities bettors by leveraging Portnoy and Barstool’s social media attain turned out to be a shedding wager after many state regulators raised issues about Portnoy’s suitability to be concerned in a licensed gaming operation.
“We received denied licenses due to me,” Portnoy conceded after Penn offered him again Barstool for only a greenback. “We underestimated simply how powerful it’s for myself and Barstool to function in a regulated world the place playing regulators and The New York Occasions and Enterprise Insider write hit items.”
Penn continues to try to enhance its sports activities betting market share after the Barstool fiasco put it behind the eight ball. Gaming analysis agency Eilers & Krejcik estimates that ESPN Wager controls solely about 3-4% of the authorized sports activities betting {industry}. FanDuel and DraftKings account for about 74%.
ESPN integrating ESPN Wager odds into its each day programming has boosted Penn’s sports activities betting maintain. ESPN additionally permits its prospects to hyperlink their on-line accounts to the ESPN Wager cellular app.
“Bringing this new function to market is a crucial step in the direction of creating an industry-leading customized sports activities betting expertise throughout the ESPN ecosystem,” Penn Leisure CEO Jay Snowden stated throughout an earnings name in November. “This can assist to additional drive monetization by enhanced engagement, retention, and reactivation.”
William Hill Partnership
When Penn Leisure first rolled out sports activities betting at its bodily casinos in 2018, the sports activities wagering services had been moderately generic and bland. On the time, Penn had contracted William Hill, one of many oldest bookmakers in the UK, to run its sports activities betting services.
Caesars Leisure acquired William Hill in April 2021 after Penn had wager large on Barstool. Together with the $527 million Penn paid for Barstool, the corporate invested vital funds to transform its on line casino sportsbooks into Barstool-themed interiors.
