ESPN Red is strong, standard-bearer, ESPN+ Gold is premium storytelling, exclusive, and now we have ESPN Bet Mint, which is fun and innovative — two traits we expect to come through when fans experience the new sportsbook.
ESPN unveiled official logos for its new sports betting platform, ESPN Bet, on Wednesday — just weeks before it plans to launch the sportsbook in 16 states.
The reveal is the first visual disclosure of the ten-year, $1.5 billion strategic alliance that ESPN and Penn Entertainment announced on August 8. The agreement called for Penn to rebrand its Barstool Sportsbook platform as ESPN Bet sometime this fall.
John Manzo, Communications Manager for ESPN, confirmed that the new sportsbook would launch in November. He added that ESPN Bet branding would be used “across the entire ESPN ecosystem, inclusive but not limited to in-app, digital, social, programming, and more.”
Manzo described the logo in greater detail and said customers should look for the “universally recognizable 'ESPN’” letters. Meanwhile, he said the sportsbook app “will be branded an 'E’ in the 'B,’ which creatively expresses the idea that ESPN, in partnership with PENN Entertainment, is launching a sportsbook for fans, but at its core is still ESPN, the most trusted brand in sports.”
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It’s Minty Fresh!
The Disney-owned sports giant also went with a new color scheme — mint green.
Or is it the color of money? After all, this is a sportsbook.
“The mint color was chosen to be welcoming, inclusive, unexpected, and fun,” Manzo said Wednesday.
In a separate statement, Chin Wang, Vice President of Visual Storytelling for ESPN Creative Studio, explained that the mint color chosen by ESPN “is a twist on the traditional ESPN colorways, but one we think compliments the overall portfolio well.
“ESPN Red is strong, standard-bearer, ESPN+ Gold is premium storytelling, exclusive, and now we have ESPN Bet Mint, which is fun and innovative — two traits we expect to come through when fans experience the new sportsbook,” Wang told media outlet Action Network.
It Won’t Be in NY or CT!
Under the agreement with Penn, Barstool Sportsbook will be rebranded as ESPN Bet in 16 states — Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Hollywood Casino will replace Barstool Casino in four online casino states — Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia — and will be fully integrated with ESPN Bet.
But ESPN Bet won’t be launching in two key states: New York and Connecticut.
The importance of the former is obvious — it’s the largest regulated market for sports betting in North America. But ESPN Bet won’t be launching there because Barstool wasn’t able to convince state regulators to issue it one of nine NY mobile sports betting licenses in November 2021.
Barstool’s controversial founder, Dave Portnoy, coupled with the sportsbook’s bro culture vibe and illegal promotional activities near college campuses in Ohio and Tennessee, likely doomed its chances at a license in New York. Consider that Barstool was denied a license, but smaller operators Bally Bet, PointsBet (soon to be Fanatics), and WynnBET all received one.
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It Faces Tough Competition!
To be sure, ESPN Bet is a little late to the party. DraftKings and FanDuel pretty much dominate every single US market for sports betting.
Nicholas Robbins, financial blogger at Motley Fool, called the launch of ESPN Bet “a potentially transformative venture” for Penn but warned that DraftKings “remains the go-to choice for 57% of bettors,” citing data from Drive Research.
“DraftKings’ stronghold shows that brand loyalty in online betting remains high,” Robbins wrote on Thursday. “To counter this, Penn must innovate, not just replicate. ESPN Bet must offer something that DraftKings doesn’t — exclusive sports analyses, insider information, and better integration with live sports events likely top the list as potential differentiators.”
Robbins added that ESPN Bet also faces a tech challenge — making a product superior to those being offered by DraftKings and FanDuel.
“The platform must offer an intuitive design, robust performance, and quick, secure transactions,” Robbins said. “Any hiccups and users won’t hesitate to switch back to their old favorites.”
