ESPN is partnering with Penn Entertainment on an ESPN-branded sportsbook that will launch this fall. Plus: no Sunday World Series games for a second-straight year; more details on the Pac-12’s demise; and more sports media news.
ESPN-branded sportsbook to launch this fall
ESPN announced Tuesday that it is partnering with Penn Entertainment to rebrand the latter’s existing sportsbook — which currently carries the Barstool brand — under the ESPN banner starting this fall. The deal allows Penn to use the ESPN brand for ten years. ESPN had discussed a similar arrangement with Caesars and DraftKings two years ago; at the time, such an agreement was said to be worth $3 billion. Penn said Tuesday that it will pay ESPN $1.5 billion.
The renamed “ESPN BET” will serve as ESPN’s exclusive sportsbook and the home of the company’s betting content. ESPN previously had multiple partnerships with the aforementioned Caesars and DraftKings.
Given the once-taboo nature of sports betting, ESPN promised in its announcement Tuesday to stress the need for responsible gambling through its journalism and the creation of a “committee on responsible gaming.”
In conjunction with the ESPN deal, Penn has sold back Barstool Sports to owner Dave Portnoy. (ESPN PR, Penn 8.8)
World Series avoids Sunday games for second-straight year
Major League Baseball released its 2023 postseason schedule on Tuesday, with no Sunday night World Series games scheduled for a second-straight year. The Fall Classic is set to begin Friday, October 27 and run as late as Saturday, November 4, with off days on Sunday, October 29 and Thursday, November 2. Assuming the games are played as scheduled, the World Series will face NFL competition only once — going up against Raiders-Lions on ESPN’s Monday Night Football October 30.
The full postseason is set to begin on Tuesday, October 2 with the best-of-three Wild Card Series on the ESPN family of networks. The full schedule is available here.
Pac-12 had no other takers when it settled for Apple deal
ESPN and Fox Sports each made late bids for the Pac-12 media rights package, but none large enough to compete with the Apple proposal the league presented to its members last week, per Sports Business Journal. Per the report, Fox bid for a 13-game football package that would have been worth as much as $40 million per year. No details were given on ESPN’s offer. CBS also made a bid, but only for “around five” basketball games, and neither Amazon nor NBC bid on the rights.
The Apple deal would have provided Pac-12 schools in the neighborhood of $20 million per year, per reports — significantly less than the other “Power 5” conferences. Since it was presented less than two weeks ago, the Pac-12 membership has declined to just four schools. (SBJ 8.7)
Plus: NBA schedule, Fox future, Pro Football Hall, Tirico
- The 2023-24 NBA regular season and In-Season Tournament schedules are to be released next week, though no date has been set. The schedule is usually released in the first week of August.
- Fox Corporation executive Lachlan Murdoch said in an investor meeting Tuesday that his company remains committed to the cable television bundle, according to The Wall Street Journal. Fox is the only major linear media conglomerate without a significant direct-to-subscriber platform. (WSJ 8.8)
- ESPN last week announced that it has reached a multi-year extension to continue carrying the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony beyond 2025. (ESPN PR)
- NBC Sports announced last week that Sunday Night Football voice Mike Tirico will call the company’s first Big Ten-controlled college football game next month, ECU-Michigan on Peacock September 2. (NBC Sports PR)
