theScore Bet has announced plans to discontinue its operations in the US to focus solely on its operations in Canada following its success in the province of Ontario.
Alerting its US customers last Wednesday, theScore will halt its operations in the US on July 1, shifting its efforts and expanding its technology roadmap in Canada, striving towards migrating the Barstool Sportsbook onto the company’s in-house risk and trading platform.
theScore’s move comes almost eight months on from Penn National Gaming completing a cash-and-stock acquisition of the company worth $2.1bn. When the acquisition was made, Penn asserted that it looked to operate theScore as a standalone business.
However, last week’s move means theScore will focus its efforts in Canada, with Barstool – which is also owned by Penn – covering bases in the US.
Benjie Levy, President and COO of theScore, told SportsHandle: “This move enables us to maximize the value of both brands through our organic media and gaming approach. The key to our strategy is integrating theScore media app with Barstool Sportsbook, which we’re currently working towards.
“Bringing together theScore’s powerful mobile sports media platform with Barstool Sportsbook in a unified ecosystem, supported by our in-house technology and custom integrations, will strengthen the overall US product offering and broaden its reach.”
With operations in New Jersey, Colorado, Iowa, and Indiana, theScore will stop accepting customer deposits or new wagers in the US from June 15. It remains unclear if the sports betting skins in the four states will be transferred to Penn National.
It is also expected that theScore will encourage its US customers to open an account with Barstool, but it’s not currently clear if customers of theScore can transfer their account/remaining balance to Barstool.
Last August, alongside its proposed merger with Penn, theScore also launched its player account management (PAM) trading and promotion engine. theScore Bet plans to transition to the proprietary in-house risk and trading platform in Ontario during the third quarter of this year.
During last month’s quarterly earnings call, Penn National Gaming CEO Jay Snowden stated that the transition would expand betting markets and parlay options for theScore. The Barstool Sportsbook is expected to transition to theScore’s PAM and trading platforms by Q3 2023.
Snowden added as well that roughly 79% of sports bettors in Ontario used theScore’s app during the first month of sports betting operations.
