ESPN’s New Game: Getting Sports Fans Ready for Parlays, Odds, Bets

One of the newer arrivals in the world of online sports betting is making a wager of its own.

Disney’s ESPN is no stranger to the world of gambling. The sports-media giant has aired a show devoted to sports odds and in the past struck partnerships with both Caesars Entertainment and DraftKings that helped it offer its subscribers links to betting. Now it’s ready to put its own name behind the parlays.

“What our competitors can’t touch is what we are going to offer, which is integrating with ESPN content,” says Aaron LaBerge, the chief technology officer of Penn Entertainment, and the former CTO for ESPN and Disney Entertainment.

ESPN and Penn struck a landmark deal in August of last year that will have the latter pay the Disney sports-media giant $1.5 billion in cash over 10 years, and grant it $500 million of warrants to purchase approximately 31.8 million common shares of Penn. The Penn cash will come in handy in an era of skyrocketing sports rights fees and declines in ESPN’s long-established business of collecting fees from cable and satellite distributors for several linear channels of sports programming. In turn, betting may become a bigger part of ESPN fans’ overall experience, particularly as the company moves more decisively into streaming with the launch of its own stand-alone broadband outlet, expected to debut next year.

There’s good reason to roll some dice.  The U.S. sports betting market is seen rising to $32.6 billion in 2032, according to Polaris Market Research, compared with a little more than $15 billion in 2024.  What’s more, ESPN BET is expected to launch soon in New York, pending regulatory approvals, a move that is seen expanding its digital footprint by 15%.

So ESPN and Penn have spent time making their connections more clear. In ESPN’s fantasy-sports content, users may pay more notice to wagering opportunities thanks to deep links and offers within ESPN’s own fantasy-sports hub.  And ESPN digital users will find it easier to bet and to get their sports fix without having to jump back and forth from content to wagering, says LaBerge.

Fantasy fans represent a major potential constituency for sportsbooks, LaBerge says

“If you go to the ESPN app to check scores or leagues,” betting links will appear in personalized feeds, he says. “You don’t have to go back to another app. You don’t have to pull up a browser and have four other tabs. It will just happen for you automatically.”

Fantasy fans represent a major potential constituency for sportsbooks, LeBerge says. “They are already super invested in their players, and so giving them bets around their players without having to do any work to package that up” plays directly to their interests. “You want your players to do well and you want other teams’ players to do poorly. Imagine a parlay bet that features your top offensive talent.”

ESPN isn’t afraid to let some of its most popular on-air personalities take part in the new business. On Thursday, the company released a new commercial for ESPN Bet featuring Stephen A. Smith, the lead commentator on “First Take.”  In a 30-second spot, Smith visits a local deli and starts debating with the owner and customers about football. Other ESPN mainstays who have taken party in pitches for Penn include Scott Van Pelt, Kendrick Perkins, Mike Greenberg, “Stanford” Steve Coughlin, and Elle Duncan.

Over time, LaBerge says, betting could make its way into other areas of TV and streaming. “There’s an incredible opportunity,” he says, to weave wagering into “popular culture and some other areas as well.”