It’s an exciting time for bettors across the country who soon will have access to ESPN BET, the newest player in the online sports betting space. 

It’s the newest entity of Penn Entertainment with ESPN, which previously operated Barstool Sportsbook in more than a dozen states. 

While Barstool Sportsbook never reached its full potential—and only carved out a small share of the markets it operated in—there’s optimism that the enormous brand name behind ESPN BET—the worldwide leader in sports—will be able to battle against the industry giants in Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM.

It'll have a nice head start, with current licenses in 15 different states—including major markets in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia—that will make it a mainstay in those states. 

Expectations Are Going High

We expect millions of bettors to sign up for a new account and see what’s available with the newest online sportsbook in the industry. It’s also expected that ESPN BET will apply for licenses in additional states—namely New York and Connecticut—as it looks to grow its brand in a highly competitive market.

Most details are unknown at this point, but the expectation is that ESPN BET will largely mirror what Barstool Sportsbook did. That’s some cause for concern, as the user experience and limited bonuses and promotions are mainly what kept Barstool Sportsbook from competing with the industry’s major operators.

That being said, we feel optimistic about what ESPN BET mobile app is going to provide its players. 

Beyond the massive investment that both Penn Entertainment and ESPN are putting into the operations, we expect that ESPN BET will provide players with unique boosts and promotions on the thousands of games aired on the Worldwide Leader in Sports. 

Considering that includes games like the NBA Finals, Monday Night Football, the College Football Playoff championship, bowl games, the Masters, and more, bettors will have a leg up on the competition when betting on some of the industry’s biggest games of a given sports year.

Is ESPN BET So Great?

Everyone loves the shiny new toy, and ESPN BET will certainly be that once it launches in late November. What’s nice about online sportsbooks is that bettors can sign up for as many of them as they want (assuming they’re operating in the state you’re playing in), so bettors can—and will—sign up for an ESPN BET account and see what kind of sportsbook promo code and XXXXXXXXX s provided, how competitive the odds are compared to others, and what the user experience looks like. 

The cross-functionality with other ESPN apps such as scores, live-streaming, and more will also make this a highly usable online sports betting.