ESPN has launched its anticipated direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming platform, and its ESPN Bet sports betting venture with PENN Entertainment has prominent positioning as the partners hope to build the sportsbook’s market share.
The DTC service officially hit the market on Thursday, Aug. 21, making ESPN’s full suite of 12 networks and services available directly to consumers in one place for the first time ever for $30 a month or $300 per year for the first year via the ESPN app or connected devices.
For ESPN, the new DTC service is a mast to nail their colors to. For PENN, which has a deal to pay ESPN $1.5 billion over 10 years for use of the brand name for ESPN Bet, it’s another boost in visibility and availability for a sportsbook which is looking to improve upon a slower-than-expected start to life in the market.
Bets tab offers direct integration
As well as viewing features like updated multiview options and a personalized SportsCenter For You, the ESPN App now offers integrated game stats and betting and fantasy sports information, whether viewers subscribe directly to ESPN or through traditional pay TV.
Every game stream in ESPN DTC has an option for a window with five tabs: Stats, Key Plays, Bets, Fantasy and Shop. Via the Bet tab, ESPN users on the ESPN app or the connected TV experience can follow wagering odds and market info. ESPN Bet account holders can also track their active bets and get quick access to ESPN Bet through the ESPN app directly or via a QR on the connected TV, as long as they are in a legal sports betting state.
ESPN Chair Jimmy Pitaro said this week that the aim is to get to a point where users do not need to be redirected to the ESPN Bet app, but can instead place bets via a pop-up window from the ESPN app itself.
The enhanced integrated experience is powered by ESPN and ESPN Bet’s existing account linking technology, which PENN has been building up for some time. Last November, ESPN introduced a new feature that enabled customers to seamlessly link their ESPN Bet app with ESPN’s main platform. Earlier this month, ESPN Bet revealed plans to launch Fan Center, a personalized hub housed inside the betting app that provides wagering markets based on ESPN users’ favorite teams and players.
PENN executives hope these integrations will result in more betting activity and more customer stickiness.
A market share fight and an uncertain future
PENN and ESPN will also hope that ESPN Bet’s prominence within the new DTC service will help its fight for U.S. sports betting market share by increasing visibility for non-users who may be tempted to sign up and reducing friction for existing ESPN Bet customers.
Despite public aspirations from PENN CEO Jay Snowden of reaching around 20% market share by 2027, ESPN Bet reputedly currently has a fraction of that, which Snowden has been upfront in admitting is worse that the company had expected. He said recently that PENN hopes ESPN Bet will have 4% of the U.S. market (excluding New York) by the end of 2025.
Amid those struggles, PENN’s decade-long licensing agreement with ESPN contains an opt-out clause that allows either side to bail after three years.
“If we’re not hitting the levels we need to, then as you’re approaching that third anniversary, both sides will have to do what’s in their best interest,” Snowden said in February. He added in May that it will likely be obvious which path makes the most sense by 2026, but insisted that PENN was confident that ESPN Bet would deliver solid results throughout the 2025 football season.
ESPN Chair Pitaro suggested to Business Insider this week, in the lead-up to the DTC launch, that whether the new upgrades move the needle could well be a big factor in determining the future.
“The opt-out you mentioned is mutual,” Pitaro said. “Let’s see if we can improve market share with this launch. And we will evaluate things at the end of football season.”
