ESPN is going to make sure that there are no issues with their upcoming partnership with Penn Gaming.
On Wednesday, ESPN announced that they were partnering with Penn Gaming to open a new sportsbook “ESPN Bet.”
“Our primary focus is always to serve sports fans and we know they want both betting content and the ability to place bets with less friction from within our products,” said Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN. “The strategy here is simple: to give fans what they’ve been requesting and expecting from ESPN. PENN Entertainment is the perfect partner to build an unmatched user experience for sports betting with ESPN BET.”
To secure the deal, PENN will make $1.5 billion in cash payments to ESPN over the next 10 years and grant ESPN around $500 million worth of its shares.
To make sure that regulators are not worried about ESPN insiders becoming a conflict of interest with the gambling company, Jeff Passan, Adrian Wojnarowski, and Adam Schefter will be kept far away from gambling-centric show according to a report from Front Office Sports.
ESPN insiders will be kept far away from gambling-focused programs like “Daily Wager,” sources told FOS.@MMcCarthyREV's story on how journalists like Schefter, Woj, and Passan play into ESPN Bet » https://t.co/vZJ4TrMTrv pic.twitter.com/0E4J7uY1nP
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) August 9, 2023
Earlier this year, Fanduel found themselves in hot water when their NBA insider Shams Charania was accused of moving betting lines with information during the NBA draft.
It appears that ESPN does not want any of these issues to arise for their sportsbook.
