ESPN ends Penn deal, signs exclusive pact with DraftKings
ESPN has struck an exclusive, multi-year pact with DraftKings that will place the Boston operator at the heart of the network’s betting products from 1 December 2025, while winding down its ESPN BET deal with Penn.
The DraftKings integration is designed to sit natively alongside multiview, in-app statistics, vertical short-form video and personalised feeds, an attempt to keep fans inside ESPN’s ecosystem during live games.
DraftKings takes the reins inside ESPN
ESPN has named DraftKings its “exclusive Official Sportsbook and Odds Provider,” with integrations rolling across the ESPN app and other platforms from December and a fuller deployment through 2026. Fans will see DraftKings power a betting tab in the ESPN app and offer access to its sportsbook, daily fantasy contests and Pick6 at launch.
Announcing the agreement, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro commented: “Our betting approach has focused on offering an integrated experience within our products,” adding: “Working with DraftKings, a leader in the space, will allow us to build upon that foundation, continue to super-serve passionate sports fans and grow our ESPN direct-to-consumer business. We are excited about this new collaboration with DraftKings.”
DraftKings’ co-founder and chief executive Jason Robins called the tie-up a natural fit: “ESPN’s unmatched visibility across the world of sports make this collaboration a natural fit,” he said. “As an innovative leader in digital sports entertainment, DraftKings is uniquely positioned to integrate our technology and products with ESPN’s iconic brand and storytelling power. Together, we’re delivering a seamless, engaging, and responsible experience that elevates how fans connect with live sports.”
From Penn to DraftKings: ESPN changes course on betting
In 2023, then-Disney chief executive Bob Chapek told CNBC that ESPN would seek a partner rather than run a book itself: “We at ESPN have the ability to do that. Now we’re going to need a partner to do that, because we’re never going to be a book, that’s never in the cards for the Walt Disney Company,” he said. “But at the same time, to be able to partner with a well-respected third party can do that for us.”
The DraftKings deal effectively draws a line under ESPN’s 2023 betting venture with Penn Entertainment. At the time, Pitaro framed the strategy in straightforward terms: “Our primary focus is always to serve sports fans and we know they want both betting content and the ability to place bets with less friction from within our products,” he said.
Behind the scenes, the split with Penn came sooner than originally envisaged, clearing the path for the DraftKings arrangement and reinforcing ESPN’s preference for a single, tightly integrated betting partner embedded across its digital products.
Why the switch matters now
For ESPN, the DraftKings deal aligns betting, streaming and rights in one place. The network is in the middle of a broader re-engineering of its football footprint, preparing to fold more NFL content, live games, shoulder programming and whip-around formats, into its direct-to-consumer offering. The plan is to make the ESPN app a one-stop shop for watching, tracking and, where legal, betting on games.
DraftKings, meanwhile, gains unrivalled placement. It will be the odds brand fans encounter by default on ESPN’s platforms, supported by promotions for ESPN’s subscription product and the editorial firepower of the ESPN newsroom and talent roster. With operations spanning most legal US markets and Ontario, it arrives with scale, and a need to keep acquiring and retaining customers as the market matures.
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