Odds Assist: Sports bettors would trust an ESPN sportsbook

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A recent survey by Odds Assist has found that almost three-quarters of sports bettors would use an ESPN sportsbook if one was available.

Commenting on the results, Dave Rathmanner, Founder & CEO of Odds Assist, has stated it is “inevitable” that whoever ends up partnering with ESPN should they create a sportsbook “would be successful”.

Between August 18 and August 20, Odds Assist ran an online survey asking sports wagering questions to 660 US respondents, aged 25 and over, to find out what impact the current economy is having on their betting. A screening question was used to make sure all respondents currently wager with a legal US sportsbook regularly.

One of the survey’s questions asked the respondents if they would use an ESPN sportsbook, to which 73.3% said they would, 10.9% said they wouldn’t, and 15.8% said they were unsure.

When asked if they would trust an ESPN sportsbook more than other sportsbooks, 71.5% of respondents said they would.

It has been known for some time that ESPN, and its parent company Disney, are interested in entering the sportsbook space. While ESPN has previously agreed to partnerships with DraftKings and Caesars Entertainment, it is yet to launch a sportsbook brand itself.

Odds Assist has stated that “though ESPN would be late to the game in terms of launching a sportsbook, it seems that the renowned brand would carry the company to having one of the largest market shares of all sportsbooks”.

Speaking to SBC Americas about the survey results, Rathmanner commented: “Since reports came out that ESPN wanted to license its name to a sportsbook, it seemed inevitable that whoever ended up partnering with them would be successful. These results confirm that with nearly three-quarters of bettors saying they would use an ESPN-branded sportsbook.

“Aside from having the biggest name in sports attached to it, an ESPN Sportsbook would also likely be promoted across ESPN’s television programming, website, and social accounts, all of which would be considerable drivers of customer acquisition.

“It’ll be interesting to see if an ESPN sportsbook can buck the trend of new operators entering the game not being able to gain much traction.”

OddsAssist added that “it wouldn’t be surprising to see a company like PointsBet, bet365, WynnBET, Rush Street Interactive, or another lesser-known sportsbook partner with ESPN to dramatically increase its customer base”.

The survey also discovered that over half of sports bettors who have used a credit card to wager have fallen into debt as a result.

Reflecting on this finding, Rathmanner has urged state regulators and operators to look at banning credit card deposits to help bettors avoid financial and problem gambling issues.