ESPN Bet’s mint green and navy logo will be prominently displayed across multiple ESPN channels, including in-app, on social media, and in television programming. This branding initiative aims to enhance the visibility and recognition of the “ESPN” brand.
The mobile sportsbook application itself will be branded as the letter “E” within a “B”. This creative representation symbolizes the partnership between ESPN, the largest sports media brand in the US, and Penn Entertainment, in launching a sportsbook for fans while acknowledging ESPN’s reputation as the most trusted sports brand.
The ESPN mobile application, developed over a span of five months, is scheduled for a November launch. This follows the $1.5bn deal between Penn and ESPN to introduce an ESPN-branded online sports betting service, which was announced in August.
In the same month, ESPN’s vice-president of sports betting, Mike Morrison, revealed the company’s exploration of the sports betting space in anticipation of the repeal of the 2018 PASPA law. As part of the deal, Penn sold the Barstool sportsbook back to its controversial founder, Dave Portnoy, which had previously served as the operator’s sports betting platform in the US.
The ESPN Bet Disney-Penn deal involves Penn making $1.5bn in cash payments to Disney over a ten-year period and granting Disney $500m in warrants to purchase Penn stock. In return, Penn receives marketing, media, and branding rights from ESPN. ESPN also has the opportunity to increase its share in Penn if the app achieves its market share targets, and ESPN can appoint a non-voting observer to the Penn board as part of the agreement.
