New York is the largest US betting market. ESPN Bet is coming to the Big Apple.
Penn Entertainment operates the sports betting platform. It will pay Wynn Resorts $25 million for market access. Wynn paid the same amount to operate in New York state.
Wynn Interactive is a subsidiary of Wynn Resorts. It received a New York mobile sports betting license in 2021. Penn has missed out on the action from the nation’s largest sports betting market.
In two years since New York launched online sports betting, people in the state have wagered at least $35.7 billion. It has had a higher betting handle than any other side every month, except for during that period.
During this time, the state awarded licenses and speculation was rampant that Penn lost out on one for its Barstool Sportsbook. This is in result to controversy surrounding Dave Portnoy. Portnoy is the Barstool founder. The New York State Gaming Commission and the company never confirmed this.
However, last year, after paying $551 million, Penn sold Barstool back to Portnoy for only $1.
The transaction came to license one of the most recognizable brands in sports: ESPN. It came as Penn made a $1.5 billion deal over 10 years. In addition to this, $500 million in stock warrants.
ESPB Bet was in some 17 states and had roughly 2% market share. It launched after the National Football League season in mid-November. However, it saw a remarkable improvement almost right away. For example, it grabbed 7.4% market share in Pennsylvania in November, up from October’s 3.7%.
FanDuel and DraftKings still occupy a near duopoly nationally. BetMGM and Caesars follow them in the third and fourth positions. However, when ESPN Bet launched in November, Eilers & Krejcik captured 8% of the market. This is good enough to take a third-place position.
