ESPN BET recently purchased the New York sports betting license vacated by Wynn Resorts after the iconic Las Vegas gaming brand continued to terminate its online sportsbook from its markets across the nation.
Welcome to New York
Wynn Resorts is wrapping up its online sportsbook in all its U.S. markets but will continue to operate its retail sportsbooks in Las Vegas and Massachusetts. This departure allowed Penn Entertainment an opportunity to scoop the license for $25 million so that it could launch its newly branded ESPN BET app in New York later this year.
“This is an important development that will bring ESPN BET to the largest regulated online sports wagering market in North America,” Penn CEO Jay Snowden said in a press release. “Together with ESPN, we’re building a brand that is synonymous with sports betting, and operating in the New York market is key as we grow ESPN BET across the U.S.”
When Will ESPN BET Go Live?
Before Penn Entertainment can launch ESPN Bet, it must receive regulatory approval from the New York State Gaming Commission.
“The Commission has been notified of the sale. Penn’s operation in NYS is pending regulatory approval, which has not yet occurred. We cannot opine on the timeline,” an NYSGC spokesperson said.
Because New York only allows nine online sports betting platforms, two major players, Fanatics and bet365, have been frozen out of America’s most lucrative sports betting market. That alone could have been a factor in ESPN BET getting in by keeping the competition out. But Fanatics will indeed join the fray sometime this year after purchasing PointsBet – currently operating in New York – in the middle of 2023.
No Hard Feelings
In a bit of irony, Jay Snowden, the CEO of Penn Entertainment, had vocalized his opposition to New York’s onerous tax levy on revenues when he was operating the company’s Barstool Sportsbook after acquiring the media company from Barstool founder, Dave Portnoy.
He called the 51% tax rate a “margin killer” and went on to say the following back in 2021:
“I don’t think a single operator will make money in New York,” Snowden told analysts when Penn still operated Barstool Sports. “So, I’ve always struggled with that. Would you rather be in or not? I think objectively speaking, you’d rather be in than not be in. But it’s one of those states where if you’re not in, you’re not crushed by that either.”
But Snowden, much to his credit, is a man who knows when he read the room wrong and isn’t afraid to reverse course. After selling the Barstool name and its media assets back to Portnoy for all of $1 after buying it for $550 million only a few years earlier – a condition of buying the ESPN name was the forced divestiture of Barstool due to its politically incorrect reputation – Snowden struck a deal with the sports media giant for $1.5 billion over 10 years.
The deal allows Penn Entertainment to use the ESPN name and be allowed to access and advertise the newly created sportsbook brand on all of its sites and broadcasts. And, as reported, Snowden also purchased that same New York sports betting license for $25 million, thereby agreeing to pay the 51% tax he decried as a dealbreaker not so long ago.
