Disney to End Its ESPN Bet Venture with Penn Entertainment

The two companies signed a 10-year, $2 billion deal and launched the product with much fanfare two years ago. The venture was a way for Disney to capitalize on the rapidly growing sports betting market using its ESPN brand.

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Penn, a casino owner based in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, closed its Barstool Sports business and signed with ESPN after clashing with Barstool's controversial founder, Dave Portnoy, over regulatory issues.

Penn shares rose 3.9% in early trading, while Disney shares were virtually unchanged.

Despite other attempts to enter the business, the $13.7 billion sports-betting market is dominated by Fanduel, a division of Flutter Entertainment, and DraftKings Inc.

A relatively late entrant, ESPN Bet has struggled to provide popular features offered by other operators. According to data from Alfonso Strafan, an independent analyst, the business ranks seventh in the US mobile sports-betting market, with less than a 3% share.

According to the company, Penn will offer sports betting in the US under the TheScore Bet brand starting December 1.

(Updates with changes to opening line in fourth paragraph.)

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