United States: ESPN Bet (sports betting service) to be launched on 14/11/2023

The American pay-TV group ESPN (The Walt Disney Company) will launch its sports betting service "ESPN Bet" in the United States on 14/11/2023, announced the company on 02/11/2023.

ESPN Bet will initially be available in 17 states: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

ESPN and Penn Entertainment, a US gambling company specialised in casinos and horse racing, had indicated that Penn's sports betting service 'Barstool Sportsbook' would be renamed 'ESPN Bet' in the autumn of 2023, on 08/08/2023.

"Penn agreed to pay ESPN $1.5bn (€1.41bn) in cash over 10 years, as well as grant ESPN $500m (€471m) of warrants to purchase approximately 31.8 million common shares of Penn in exchange for media, marketing services, brand and other rights provided by ESPN," said Penn Entertainment at the time.