Penn Relaunches theScore Bet in the US, Ending ESPN Bet Era After Two-Year Struggle

Penn Entertainment relaunched theScore Bet in the U.S. on December 1, replacing ESPN Bet. TheScore Bet is now live in 21 jurisdictions, including Missouri, where the sports betting market opened simultaneously. The launch marks Penn’s return to an owned-and-operated brand following unsuccessful experiments with Barstool Sportsbook and ESPN Bet.

In a press release, Penn said existing customers can log in to theScore Bet using the same credentials they used with ESPN Bet.
All account settings, balances, open wagers, and responsible gaming tools have been migrated. The company described the relaunch as a “connected media and betting experience” built around theScore’s content, real-time data, and established media audience.

Three Brands in Five Years

TheScore Bet’s launch marks the next chapter of a journey that began five years ago.

In early 2020, Penn purchased a 36% stake in Barstool Sports. Later that year, Barstool Sportsbook launched with immediate success.
This led to Penn ultimately acquiring 100% of Barstool in 2023 for a total value exceeding $500 million. However, while it marked a successful launch, Barstool never achieved the market share Penn had expected.

In August 2023, the company abandoned the Barstool experiment, selling the company back to its founder, Dave Portnoy, for $1, after investing more than half a billion dollars into the brand.

Penn immediately announced a 10-year, $1.5 billion licensing agreement with ESPN to launch ESPN Bet. At the Q2 2023 earnings call, the company set an ambitious goal of 20% market share for the new platform by 2027, significantly higher than Barstool’s share of 5% at the time.

ESPN Bet went live in November 2023, backed by one of the most recognizable sports brands in the world. But despite extensive marketing muscle, ESPN Bet failed to gain traction. At its peak, the sportsbook captured less than 3% of the U.S. online betting market share—far short of expectations.

Penn and ESPN mutually terminated the agreement in November 2025, only two years into the 10-year contract. Penn is expected to record an $825 million write-down on the failed venture.

Returning to a Brand Penn Already Owns

The ESPN Bet retreat pushed Penn back to a brand it already paid heavily for: theScore.

Penn acquired Score Media & Gaming, the parent company of theScore, in 2021 for roughly $2 billion in cash and stock. TheScore Bet began operating in the U.S. in 2019. However, Penn ultimately withdrew it from the market in 2022 as it shifted its U.S. sportsbook strategy toward Barstool Sportsbook.

TheScore remained active in Canada, where Penn migrated the brand onto its fully proprietary tech stack. Penn has said its long-term digital strategy is built around this technology, developed through theScore acquisition.

Investor frustration over these digital investments has been brewing for years. Activist hedge fund HG Vora publicly criticized Penn’s digital strategy. It pointed specifically to the billions spent on Barstool, ESPN Bet, and theScore. Earlier this year, HG Vora argued that Penn had engaged in “reckless spending” on projects that produced little meaningful market share.

Against that backdrop, theScore Bet’s return marks yet another strategic reset. Penn is betting that a wholly owned brand, combined with theScore’s existing sports media audience, can deliver better results than licensing or acquiring high-profile brands.

Still, the move highlights a broader reality of the U.S. sportsbook market: scale is hard to manufacture, even with massive media brands. Penn has spent roughly $4 billion across Barstool, theScore, and ESPN Bet over the past five years.

Whether theScore Bet can finally deliver the long-promised digital turnaround remains one of the most significant open questions heading into 2026.