theScore Bet goes live in 21 jurisdictions after ESPN Bet rebrand
Penn Entertainment has launched its sportsbook, theScore Bet, in 21 US jurisdictions following its rebrand from ESPN Bet.
The launch follows Penn’s earlier decision to part ways with ESPN, paying the group US$38 million to conclude contractual obligations through November, and an additional US$5 million to support the transition to theScore Bet.
ESPN announced in November that it had instead partnered with DraftKings, with the sportsbook becoming the official odds provider of ESPN. The split from Penn occurred after ESPN Bet failed to gain a successful market share.
theScore Bet will have both online and retail locations, with users in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia able to access Penn’s online casino platform, Hollywood Casino, through theScore Bet’s platform.
States with legalized online sports betting will also have access to theScore Bet, including Missouri, which launched its regulated market on December 1.
Aaron LaBerge, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Interactive at Penn Entertainment, said, “We’re pleased to introduce theScore Bet to millions of fans across the US, and welcome new customers in Missouri. We look forward to creating the same fan connection with theScore Bet brand in the US as we’ve done in Ontario and delivering players more of what they want – rewards, offers, and creative promotions.”
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The Backstory
Why the brand changed course
Penn Entertainment’s latest pivot follows a short, high-profile run with ESPN that never delivered the market share the companies sought. On an earnings call, Penn said it would unwind the decade-long exclusive betting pact and shift its U.S. sportsbook to theScore Bet, a brand it acquired in 2021. In announcing the breakup, Penn framed the move as pragmatic after falling short of “podium player” ambitions and emphasized it would carry forward the customer data amassed during the ESPN phase. For context on the decision, see Penn’s detailed rationale in its termination of the ESPN agreement and plan to rebrand to theScore Bet.
The split did not mark a retreat from digital wagering so much as a retooling under assets Penn fully controls, including its tech stack, loyalty programs and a cross-sell engine built around regional casinos. The company also signaled a shift in marketing spend toward markets with stronger iCasino economics and toward Canada, where theScore is better known. That repositioning sets the stage for today’s relaunch under a single, Penn-owned sports betting identity in the U.S., with integrated access to Hollywood Casino in select states.
From ESPN Bet rollout to a reset
ESPN Bet’s trajectory shows why Penn is now reloading behind theScore. At launch in late 2023, the ESPN-branded book spread quickly, adding jurisdictions and tying itself to marquee local partners. For example, it expanded to the Washington market via Monumental Sports & Entertainment, as detailed in ESPN Bet’s go-live in Washington, D.C. That push underscored the distribution power of ESPN’s media footprint and team relationships, while enabling product tie-ins like unified account features across ESPN platforms.
Yet rapid availability did not translate into sustained share gains against entrenched leaders with heavy promotional budgets and mature products. Penn’s move to sunset ESPN Bet in favor of theScore Bet acknowledges that speed to market was not enough and that long-term differentiation would likely come from technology and database leverage it fully owns. The company retains those ESPN-era customers, a factor it highlighted as essential for cross-selling into casinos where margins are sturdier.
Owning the customer, the stack and the spend
Penn’s strategy pivots on control. By ending the licensing relationship, Penn sheds brand rent and gains freedom to tune promotions, product cadence and budgeting without external obligations. In the rebrand announcement, management underscored that it controls its brands, its tech stack and the database cultivated during the ESPN period. That lets Penn optimize marketing by cohort and geography and lean into omnichannel play where it sees the best returns. The company flagged a “significant” reduction in broad marketing spend, with redeployment to Canada and U.S. hybrid iCasino states seen as higher-yield targets. Key points on that plan are in Penn’s explanation of the ESPN dissolution and theScore Bet shift.
That control extends to product packaging, such as embedding Hollywood Casino access within theScore Bet in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Penn argues that once a younger cohort is in its database, the real value is moving those users across its ecosystem where customer lifetime value is higher. TheScore Bet relaunch is meant to put that thesis in front of millions of existing accounts with less friction, fewer partner constraints and clearer attribution on marketing ROI.
Canada as a proving ground
Penn’s confidence in theScore brand comes from Ontario, where theScore Bet and its complementary iCasino have been established for years. The company recently expanded that footprint, introducing a standalone online casino app built on the same platform that powers Hollywood Casino in the U.S. For details on that product and positioning, see Penn Entertainment’s launch of theScore Casino in Ontario.
Ontario offers a live lab for Penn’s integrated approach. The brand equity of theScore — long a sports media staple in Canada — has supported customer acquisition without outsized promotional burn, according to Penn. The expanded casino catalog, including exclusive titles and live dealer options, reinforces the cross-sell loop that Penn wants to replicate in U.S. states where iCasino is legal. As theScore Bet replaces ESPN Bet in U.S. jurisdictions, expect Penn to port learnings from Ontario on segmentation, retention and game mix that drive higher margins than stand-alone sports wagering.
Product hooks that couldn’t close the gap
ESPN Bet tried to differentiate with media-driven features that fused content and wagering. One example was the integration that pulled ESPN Fantasy lineups into the ESPN Bet app, letting users see tailored props and build bets around their rosters. ESPN also elevated odds visibility across stories, box scores and app modules to shorten the path from fandom to betting.
Those integrations showed promise in engagement but did not deliver the market share lift necessary to justify a long-term licensing tie-up for Penn. The industry’s most valuable customers seek sharp pricing, broad markets, reliable tech and robust loyalty economics — areas where a fully controlled stack and unified wallet can be more impactful than media adjacency alone. By consolidating under theScore Bet, Penn is betting that tighter product cycles and clearer economics will outperform media-led acquisition at the terms available with ESPN.
Signals from a shifting media-betting landscape
Penn’s pivot lands as other media-adjacent gaming plays recalibrate. Bally Live, for instance, is rebranding as Bally Sports Live to emphasize live sports streaming and interactive features. The timing — a day after Bally’s canceled an earnings call amid share volatility — underscores how investor scrutiny and operating realities are forcing platforms to refine their value propositions and capital allocation. Bally’s gambit focuses on live events, gamification and rewards tied to viewing, while Penn’s focuses on owned brands, omnichannel monetization and tech control.
The common thread is a move away from expensive brand licensing or diffuse strategies toward clearer, controllable funnels. For Penn, that means anchoring the sportsbook and iCasino under theScore Bet, consolidating marketing in markets where it sees profitable growth and deepening ties to its land-based casinos. The rebrand is the capstone on a year of tests that clarified what did — and didn’t — work. The next phase will reveal whether a homegrown brand with a proven Canadian playbook can scale in a U.S. market where the leaders have defended share with product depth, promotions and loyalty ecosystems of their own.
If Penn executes on the cross-sell and keeps acquisition costs in check, theScore Bet could become a steadier, more margin-friendly pillar than ESPN Bet delivered. If not, the lesson will be that even with media heft or platform control, cracking the U.S. sports betting duopoly requires either sustained promotional firepower, a regulatory tailwind in iCasino states or a product leap that changes the game. Penn is wagering that ownership and focus, not rented reach, give it the better hand.
