When Penn Entertainment linked up with ESPN last year, the synergy between the betting app and the Worldwide Leader in Sports was presented as the huge unique selling point of the partnership.
More than a year later, one of the biggest components of that synergy is now live.
Bettors can now link their ESPN and ESPN Bet accounts. With linking, bettors can now track their action within the ESPN app as well as while signed in on ESPN.com.
“Linking ESPN and ESPN Bet accounts is part of the seamless, integrated betting experience we envisioned from the start. No other company in the betting space can offer the level of personalization or interconnected experience that ESPN Bet provides,” said Vice Preside, ESPN Bet and ESPN Fantasy Mike Morrison.
With account linking, customers can now receive customized offers based on their favorite teams and sports.
“Bringing this new feature to market is an important step as we work to create a fully interconnected media and betting ecosystem between ESPN and ESPN Bet” added Chief Technology Officer at PENN Entertainment Aaron LaBerge. “Account linking allows us to better serve and engage our users by unlocking key personalization and promotional capabilities. This feature is just the beginning of deeper integrations that will further differentiate the ESPN Bet experience.”
Penn hired LeBerge, a Walt Disney Company veteran, in April specifically to improve the integrations across ESPN Bet and ESPN.
During the Penn Q1 earnings call, Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden said they were aiming to roll out the feature as early as possible during this NFL season.
“Once you do the account linking, that’s when you can get really sophisticated on personalized offers, within the Fantasy app, within the ESPN media app,” Snowden said at the time.
ESPN Bet is currently struggling when it comes to market share, ranking sixth among operators nationally with roughly 3%. The deal between ESPN and Penn believed the partnership could eventually boost that market share to 20%.
