ESPN BET Is Actually The Recreational Gambler’s Dream Sportsbook And Casino

I stand before you to tell you this: ESPN BET and its Hollywood Casino offering are the best combo package in the sports betting/online casino world for the recreational player as it stands today.

Yes. That’s right. ESPN BET.

I feel like I’m admitting something weird or deviant by copping to this, like I collect human fingernails or I’m Sam Rockwell guest-starring on White Lotus.

Because let’s face it: The PENN Entertainment/ESPN BET experiment hasn’t exactly been a home run. It hasn’t really even been a single. I mean, at best, it’s been a … walk in the bottom of fourth with nobody on down by six?

I mean, just read the words of Jay Snowden, PENN CEO, from last month’s earnings call. 

“Both sides of this partnership made it very clear that we expected to compete for a seat at the podium,” he said, regarding PENN’s partnership with ESPN for ESPN BET. “We’re not on pace to do that right now. Our expectations as we’re moving through 2025 are that we’re continuing to show improvement in the sports betting business.”

It did not get more reassuring from there.

“But [if] for whatever reason, we are not hitting the levels that we need to, then obviously, as you’re approaching that anniversary, we have a three-year clause in the contract that both sides will have to do what it’s in their best interest,” he said, referring to the fact either side can opt out and go their separate ways.

ESPN BET, in its two short years of existence, has not met expectations. In fact, it’s become a bit of a punching bag in the industry.

The bottom line, as the tweet above points out: not a lot of handle.

For instance, in New York, in January: Total ESPN BET handle there was $59.2 million, which accounted for 2.4% of the state’s $2.48 billion. The sportsbook finished sixth, behind FanDuel and DraftKings — which accounted for a combined 75% of the market — and then behind BetMGM, the ascendent (and also newer entry) Fanatics, and Caesars.

This is #NotGood.

And yet … a better, crisper, more +EV recreational sportsbook you will not find, IMHO.

Withdrawals, promotions

Let’s start with withdrawals. I’m in New Jersey, and I have my choice of nearly two dozen sportsbooks and almost 30 casinos.

Some withdrawals take 20 minutes or so. Most take a few hours. Some take a few days.

ESPN BET’s withdrawals hit my PayPal account in — and I’m being literal — less than 10 seconds.

“We look at it as it’s your money, and we aim to make that a focus, and make it as easy as possible for you to get it in and out of the app,” Jason Birney, the vice president of operations at PENN Interactive, told me. 

Another aspect of the lightning-quick withdrawals: This is one of the major pain points for those in the responsible gambling community. With slower withdrawals — and at most online sportsbooks and casinos — you have the option of “reversing” the withdrawal. At ESPN BET, it’s not really an option due to the speed.

“I think some of our RG efforts are happening in the forefront versus some of our competitors,” Birney noted.

And while the withdrawal speed is a very welcome feature, ESPN BET’s daily promotions are even more impressive.

Listen: I’m a bit of a nit, OK? Most of my gambling bankroll is spent playing low-dollar daily fantasy sports tournaments, and I long ago discovered most online casinos in New Jersey offer daily promotions, ergo, maybe I can fund my DFS play with some free promo cash.

Most of the promos across the landscape are ridiculous, for one reason or another. 

One reason? Two free spins on a (literal) nickel slot isn’t going to do much to build the bankroll.

Another? Getting $5 of free play is lovely, but having to play 10x, 20x, or even as much as 30x makes it damned near impossible to collect.

But ESPN BET? Legitimate +EV offerings, every day. Play $10 in this or that slot, get $10 in credits with a 1X playthrough. Play nine hands of blackjack, get the 10th hand free. Play 20 hands of blackjack at $5 per, get $12 worth of free spins on a slot.

“Our loyal players are very aware of it,” he said of the promos. “I spent 20 years in the traditional casino environment and we focus on taking care of our players, making sure that there’s value there. Same now on the online side. Some of the things we have conversations about on the casino side are when free spins are awarded. So much of the competition offers up a 20-cent free spin or a 40-cent re-spin, but you’re asked to get that after spending, you know, 10 $1 spins. If we’re going to give somebody value, we make sure that we’re giving the equivalent value of what we’re asking them to put in.”

And it’s not just iCasino (which is available on both the ESPN BET app and the standalone Hollywood Casino app in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan). The sports betting side also offers up no-brainer promos.

They have the now-normal collection of 20% and such SGP boosts, but each week, I’m finding free $5 bets or “make a bet, get a bet” types of promos.

In short: free money, at least a few times a week.

But even the regular ol’ SGP boosts come with a twist, as most sportsbooks cap the max bet at $5 or $10.

“We have $50 max bets on a lot of our profit boosts,” Birney noted. “We decided when we went out there with our SGP and parlay profit boosts that it would be a marker for us that we wouldn’t mess with people. It wouldn’t be different every day — you’d know every day that you come in, you got a $50 max wager opportunity at that 20% or 30%, depending on whether it was parlay or SGP. I think that our more loyal guests have figured that out, and we see that retention.”

And as far as the actual sportsbook goes? Very clean interface, super fast between screens, -110s abound, never encountered the spinning wheel of death. Good enough for me.

Off the podium

It really makes me wonder: Between what I’ve laid out above and the ESPN name, why can’t the app get to that “podium” position?

For starters, it’s been a slow go to get ESPN customers to migrate over to the ESPN BET app.

But that may be changing as we speak, as March Madness tips off.

“Every player that’s coming in to fill out a bracket between now and Thursday, they’ll actually receive the odds for their chosen winner and a deep link integrated directly into our app feeding them in,” Birney said earlier this week.

But that issue — migration — is front and center for watchers of the industry.

“ESPN is a one-of-a-kind media asset and monetized this status post-PASPA via affiliate relationships with multiple sportsbooks,” said Lloyd Danzig, managing partner at Sharp Alpha Advisors, a venture capital firm focusing on the gambling industry. “The current challenge is that most betting-inclined ESPN viewers have already developed routines and loyalties to other platforms that are hard to break, even with superior promotions and product. Given that market leaders also have more robust betting menus, it’s tough sledding for challenger brands without a differentiated approach. The inertia of consumer habits is a powerful force.”

As to those “robust betting menus”: Deutsche Bank’s Carlo Santarelli, in a note to investors this past January, did mention they were getting better, and even an incremental move in the right direction could do wonders for PENN’s stock, which is trading around $17, off a 52-week high of $23 (and a 2021 high of $130).

“In 2024, ESPN Bet added enhancements to its offerings, added player prop market depth, completed the account linking between ESPN and ESPN Bet, and added to the aesthetics of the app,” he wrote. “Accordingly, we believe the product, from an ability to compete perspective, is broadly where it needs to be heading into 2025 to play catch up to peers. Most within the investment community view the prospects for success as low and as such, even a modicum of momentum could catalyze shares.”

What can I say?

I don’t want to sound like a shill for ESPN BET, but … they have a very good product that no one is talking about. I am the most recreational of recreational gamblers, and ESPN BET is a perfect vehicle for what I’m trying to do with my gambling dollar.

Furthermore — and let’s not even get into sweepstakes and prediction markets and the like — I want a much more competitive legal sports betting/online casino ecosystem. I do not want to wake up in five years and see DraftKings, FanDuel, and tumbleweeds.

I want competition, because with competition comes new ideas and free come-ons and everything good for the gambling consumer.

If that makes me a cheerleader for ESPN BET, so be it.