At the 11th Annual Truist Securities GLLR Summit in Boston last week, the buzz surrounding the debut of ESPN Bet dominated conversations among gaming enthusiasts. The anticipation even found its way into the analysis by Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas, who dedicated a significant portion of his conclave summary to the groundbreaking sports betting app.

Penn Entertainment Celebrates Success as ESPN Bet Emerges in 17 States with 4.9-Star Ratings

ESPN Bet, a joint venture between Penn Entertainment and ESPN, has already gone live in 17 states and provinces, garnering praise for its impressive download metrics, which have surpassed the 2 million mark. Penn Entertainment expressed its satisfaction with the app’s performance, highlighting a stellar 4.9-star rating from online reviews.

Investors are eyeing a 5% market share for ESPN Bet, despite the absence of early financial reports. Jonas observed that early data indicated that Penn was expanding the market, demonstrating an encouraging influx of female players, which he interpreted as a testament to the influence of the ESPN brand.

While the retention of customers remains uncertain, executives at Penn are optimistic, noting increased spending on wagers even as promotional funds dwindle. Despite a challenging November in terms of hold, Jonas observed strong initial wagering volumes and anticipated growth in promotional allocations.

Addressing concerns raised by Jonas, Penn executives assured that issues such as the speed of cash withdrawals and parlay treatment of pushed legs are being actively addressed, with expectations of the application becoming an “industry standard” in the first quarter of the coming year.

ESPN’s Bet Mode Set to Debut for Super Bowl

Looking ahead, ESPN plans to introduce its Bet Mode within the media app in time for the Super Bowl. The long-term vision includes integration with ESPN’s existing fantasy sports app.

The spotlight shifted to New York state, where ESPN Bet aims to secure a pivotal presence. Discussions are underway to acquire an Empire State license from an existing operator, with hopes of approval and entry in the coming year. However, the app faced a setback in Connecticut, losing out on an online license to newcomer Fanatics due to unfortunate timing.

According to an earlier analysis by Chad Beynon from financial services company Macquarie, ESPN Bet is off to a promising start, securing a notable market share in states like Iowa, Maryland, and Indiana. Despite being in its early days and not yet on par with established brands like BetMGM, DraftKings, or FanDuel, ESPN Bet has shown steady growth, posting a 16% increase in average handle in the three outlined states and surpassing 1.1 million downloads in its first week across 17 total states. 

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DraftKings CEO, Jason Robins, has expressed confidence in the company’s position in the online gaming market, stating that the recent launch of ESPN Bet does not pose a threat to DraftKings’ trajectory. 

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins Stresses Product Excellence

Speaking at the 3rd Annual Craig-Hallum Online Gaming Conference, Robins acknowledged the competitive landscape but emphasized DraftKings’ focus on maintaining a strong product and staying true to its playbook.

Despite the significant impact of ESPN Bet’s launch, with over a million downloads in the first six days, Robins remains optimistic about DraftKings’ market standing. He highlighted the company’s history of facing waves of competition and its ability to navigate through them successfully. Robins mentioned that ESPN Bet seems to be playing for the long term rather than making a short-lived splash, and he welcomed the potential for market growth brought by new players and innovations.

Robins stressed the importance of having the best product, citing it as a key factor in DraftKings’ ability to outperform in the market. He believes that a superior product leads to organic benefits in terms of customer acquisition and lifetime value. The CEO expressed confidence in DraftKings’ playbook, emphasizing that sticking to it will yield positive results regardless of competitive challenges.

Robins Unveils DraftKings’ Next Moves with Progressive Parlays, iGaming Success, and More

Looking ahead, DraftKings is set to launch progressive parlays in the coming weeks, offering sports bettors a chance to win consolation prizes even if all legs of their parlays do not hit. Robins sees this as a differentiated product that will meet customer demand.

On the iGaming front, Robins considers it a hidden gem for DraftKings, noting the company’s success in gaining market share, especially in the face of initial doubts about reaching close to 30%. He expressed enthusiasm about the untapped potential of iGaming, highlighting the company’s bullish stance and significant investments in the product.

Robins also briefly touched on the potential for international expansion and new product verticals in the longer term. While acknowledging these opportunities, he emphasized the current focus on the existing market and the upside within the United States, emphasizing the benefit of maintaining a singular focus:

“I think, we would be executing well anyway, but I have to say it is at least in part due to the fact that we are really focused on one geography and on winning there. And I think if you look at some of our competitors, they are not so or they are focused on other lines of business.”

In other recent news, DraftKings launched Pick6, a new peer-to-peer fantasy sports game available in six US states, including Maryland, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

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Last week marked the debut of ESPN Bet, the newly rebranded sports gaming app owned by Penn Entertainment. The new sports gambling app launched for 17 US states, entering important markets such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland and Michigan, among others. The latest launch comes after a $1.5 billion deal announced between Penn Entertainment and ESPN, granting the gaming company the permit to use the name for the sports gambling app for the next decade.

The recent launch of ESPN Bet immediately impacted positively the stock of the leading gaming and entertainment company. On Monday, the Bank of America upgraded the rating for Penn’s stock from neutral to buy. Shaun Kelley, the leading analyst for Bank of America, highlighted the positive change and spoke about the strong launch of ESPN Bet across the country.

In a note to clients, he explained that the new sports gambling app is gaining popularity quickly, moving its way up charts and reaching more clients. Kelley outlined that ESPN Bet has been among the top apps on the Apple store since Tuesday last week. Moreover, he outlined that the sports gaming app has accumulated a 4.8 rating on the App Store along with a staggering 865,000 downloads.

“ESPN Bet is dominating initial download activity and charts, proving it is cutting through to customers. ESPN Bet has been #1 or #2 of all free apps on the iOS store since last Tuesday, with 865K cumulative downloads and a 4.8 app store rating, even without data from NFL Sunday.“

Shaun Kelley, analyst for Bank of America

Penn’s Stock Price Target Increases

The upgrade in Penn’s casino stock from neutral to buy by Bank of America undoubtedly underlines the expected growth of ESPN Bet and highlights its successful launch. When it comes to the price target, it increased from $27 to $30 as of Monday. Additionally, as of Monday, Penn Entertainment’s stock was more than 7% higher.

According to Kelley, ESPN Bet “creates an asymmetric risk-reward.” He explained that the app performed much stronger than expected when it came to initial downloads. Moreover, Kelley pointed out that its promotional offers showed discipline. Finally, he highlighted the importance of Penn’s core gaming business which demonstrated stable third quarter earnings.

While ESPN Bet is just penetrating the regulated gambling sector, it is up against fierce competition in the face of giants such as DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, among other sportsbooks that have already established their presence in different states across the country.

Yet, ESPN Bet anticipates offering a one-stop-shop experience for sports fans and bettors alike, offering not only betting options but highlights, scores and stories, a move that is likely going to help it engage with new customers.

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Brendan Allen is a huge -400 to win the UFC on ESPN+ 90 main event. He’s 22-5 overall with five wins in a row in the UFC, four of which happened by submission. The bad news for him is that his next opponent is another grappling expert. The main in question is Paul Craig who’s 17-6-1 overall with 13 wins by submission.

Brendan Allen vs. Paul Craig UFC On ESPN+ 90Odds

When, Where, and How to Watch?

• Place: UFC Apex in Enterprise (Las Vegas), Nevada
• Date: Saturday, November 19, 2023
• Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
• How to Watch: ESPN+

Reasons Why Brendan Allen is a -400 Favorite

Brendan Allen is a fighter whose fights are great to watch. The evidence of this is that he won the Performance of the Night bonus in two of his last three fights. He’s a fantastic grappler who won each of his last three fights by submission.

This guy also lands a lot of punches and kicks as well. He lands 3.96 significant strikes per minute, which is actually a very high number, especially considering that he’s primarily a grappler. In his most recent fight, he knocked down Bruno Silva, and he did the same on a couple of other occasions.

When it comes to his wins by KO/TKO, he’s got five victories by this method, the last of which happened in 2020 against Tom Breese.

Paul Craig Ready to Upset the Odds (Again)

Paul Craig a.k.a. “Bearjew” is a guy who got us used to staging upsets. So far in his 10+ years-long MMA career, we saw him defeat a number of big favorites, most notably Magomed Ankalaev, Jamahal Hill, and Nikita Krylov.