ESPN Bet mobile sports betting app surpasses 1 million downloads in first week
ESPN Bet debuts on Nov. 14 at various times in 17 states.Mobile Sports Betting has attracted significant interest from bettors, with gaming analysts estimating that the sports betting app was downloaded more than a million times in its first week.
Analysts at JMP Securities Equity Research report that ESPN Bet was downloaded more than 1.1 million times between November 14 and November 20.
The launch easily set a new record for sports betting app downloads in the first week of the product. The previous record was approximately 468,000 downloads of FanDuel during last year’s Super Bowl. The NFL Championship Game on February 13, 2022 coincides with the launch of online sports betting in New York.
ESPN Bet accounted for about 7 out of 10 sports betting app downloads last week, said analysts at JMP Securities who focus on gaming, online gaming and gaming technology. FanDuel is a distant second, accounting for roughly 10% of sports betting downloads.
Apple's App Store shows that ESPN Bet was the most downloaded app on iOS last week. It outperformed other leading apps, including BigFuture School, Temu: Shop Like a Billionaire, and ChatGPT. There are currently 1.8 million apps available for download in the App Store.
Marketing Blitz
ESPN heavily markets the sports betting app, which is owned and operated by Penn Entertainment, as part of its television programming and social media messaging. In return, Penn will provide the sports programming network $1.5 billion for branding, and ESPN will integrate sports betting into its content.
ESPN Bet ads air during SportsCenter and during Monday Night Football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, a rematch of Super Bowl LXXVII.
ESPN Bet now also controls odds on ESPN shows and websites. These odds were previously offered by Caesars Sportsbook.
Payne’s Big Bet
The ESPN Bet app is a rebranded sports betting app from Penn Entertainment. The Hollywood casino operator announced in August that it would divest ownership of Barstool Sports and Barstool Sportsbook. The company made this business decision primarily due to ongoing regulatory concerns about Barstool founder Dave Portnoy.
Payne spent more than $500 million to acquire the social media and pop culture organization a few years ago before selling Barstool back to Portnoy for just $1. Penn then agreed to pay ESPN $1.5 billion for the rights to use the sports media brand in its sports betting operations.
The Barstool Sportsbook app is licensed in 17 states where ESPN Bet debuted last week. These include Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
An ESPN Bet report from JMP Securities explains that the 1.1 million downloads include automated downloads from previous Barstool Sportsbook users.
Gaming analysts say the development of sports betting apps in the coming weeks and months will reveal whether ESPN Bet can compete with leading sportsbooks. Currently, DraftKings has a 45% market share, FanDuel has a 32% market share, and BetMGM has a 10% market share.
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Source: www.casino.org
