SBJ Betting: Seamless integration top of mind for ESPN Bet

Not surprisingly, Penn Entertainment spent most of its presentation and Q&A during Thursday’s earnings call on the upgrades that it will roll out in time for what will be a crucial football season, along with the deepened integrations that could make ESPN Bet a more palatable -- and intuitive -- choice for the more than 100 million regular users of the ESPN app.

In his first appearance in front of investors since taking over as CTO at the start of July , Aaron LaBerge, who previously held the same role at Disney/ESPN, teased what Penn execs long have envisioned as the secret sauce of their ESPN Bet app: The capability to not only promote across ESPN’s platforms but to also permit users -- and especially fantasy players -- to move seamlessly from one to the other as they research, place and follow their bets.

Penn said it will allow users to link their ESPN.com and ESPN Bet accounts beginning in November.

" The goal is that you can move between these apps really fluidly and get what you want, where you want it," LaBerge said. "For example, when we have account linking in November, if you place a parlay on ESPN Bet, it’s going to appear in the ESPN app. You have to do no work. It’s going to be seamless. If anyone here has placed a parlay of more than two or three legs, you know that’s a struggle. And so, it’s just going to be like magic for you to actually consume that within ESPN."

Linking also will allow ESPN Bet to surface wagers that an ESPN or ESPN Fantasy user is likely to be interested in, such as a prop bet featuring a favorite player or a parlay using multiple players from their lineup. “When you think about knowing ... preferences of all those people and then being able to target them, whether it’s introducing them to sports betting or, [for] people that are already sports betters, giving them personalized offers and then moving them seamlessly between the apps with no friction, it is a massive opportunity,” LaBerge said.

Moving forward with brick-and-mortar branding

Penn made news with the revelation that it plans to rebrand the retail sportsbooks at eight of its casinos in six states to ESPN Bet. Sportsbooks in Baton Rouge, at Kansas Speedway and at Plainridge Park (Mass.) harness track are scheduled to open later this month. Retail outlets in Columbus, Toledo, Perryville (Md.) and Lake Charles and Bossier City (La.) are slated to rebrand in September.

Those follow the higher profile rollout of the ESPN Bet space at Detroit’s Greektown casino, which changed over in time for the NFL Draft.

More noteworthy nuggets, observations from the Penn call

Penn intends to have its upgrades up and running in time for the start of college football, in the same calendar range it has circled for launch in New York, which it will in enter through the $25 million purchase of Wynn’s license .

Penn CEO Jay Snowden said the company isn’t likely to be aggressive with advertising and promotion, instead focusing on its ESPN integrations to drive awareness and sign ups. “The tax rate is high, as you know,” Snowden said, “and so we’re going to be very thoughtful ... around user acquisition and really lean in on the ESPN Bet ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, DraftKings' revelation last week that it plans to levy a surcharge on bets placed in the four states with the highest tax rates has led many to wonder whether other sportsbooks will follow. Snowden said ESPN Bet will not be one of them -- at least in the near term.

"It was unexpected from our perspective, but definitely interesting," Snowden said. “As you think about Penn's view on this, you should expect us to be observers. We have a lot going on in front of us right now over the coming quarters. So I would say, when you’re talking about a potential tax surcharge in early '25, that’s not even on our radar. ... We’re really focused on continuing to improve the product, continuing to drive top-of-funnel and loyalty and retention."

Snowden also declined to address thinly sourced reports of planned acquisition attempts of Penn’s interactive business, though he did punctuate that response with, “Don’t believe everything you read."

DraftKings' plan to add a surcharge to bets placed in states with higher tax rates stands as the biggest news of an otherwise calm Q2 earnings cycle.

I think this is more about politics than economics.

While there is a risk that some customers in those states jump to a competitor, that’s balanced by the benefit of the shot across the bow that DraftKings has fired at the many states that are contemplating tax increases. It’s harder to raise taxes on a business once voters know that the increase will be passed along to them.

If January rolls around and the other leading sportsbooks haven’t announced similar intentions, DraftKings can always table the idea and move on.

The annual June swoon that comes as the sports calendar thins out looks about as it did last year, with handle down 17% from May with Arizona and Illinois as the last states that haven’t reported results. Last year, handle fell 19% from May to June.

Year on year, handle continues to grow rapidly, with June up 30% in the states that were open both years.

The second quarter brought more creep of handle toward the established leaders in the 14 states that release figures from individual sportsbooks, with DraftKings increasing from a 34% to 37%, pulling even with FanDuel.

ESPN Bet dropped two points from Q1 to a 3% share. Fanatics and Caesars each dropped a point.

• Genius Sports "increased its full-year revenue forecast for the 10th consecutive quarter, buoyed by its profitable data rights agreement for NFL betting and a renewed deal with the English Premier League," notes Legal Sports Report.

• Genius Sports also extended its live betting data rights deal with Football DataCo through 2029, building on a relationship that began in 2019, reports SBJ's Rob Schaefer. Football DataCo is the data rights holder of the Premier League, English Football League and Scottish Professional Football League.

• Endeavor revealed in its Q2 earnings that it is seeking buyers for OpenBet and IMG Arena, notes SBJ's Chris Smith. The company had previously indicated plans to sell off segments as part of the ongoing take-private by Silver Lake, though it had not previously revealed which pieces of the business were most likely to be offloaded.

• Bettors in North Carolina have "staked 8% of all golf betting handles since the market opened in March," per info from the PGA Tour. North Carolina is top five for overall PGA Tour betting. Among legal betting states, North Carolina ranks third in total number of PGA Tour bets and users (New York and Illinois are the two).