After months of anticipation, ESPN Bet has soft-launched in New York.
The debut comes just days after the New York State Gaming Commission signed off on Penn Entertainment’s acquisition of Wynn Interactive to join the NY sports betting industry.
A spokesperson with Penn confirmed with PlayNY that ESPN Bet went live earlier Thursday morning “with an official rollout tomorrow.”
ESPN Bet ready to ‘expand the market’ in NY
With its long-awaited launch, ESPN Bet NY reinstates the New York landscape to its nine-operator standing.
ESPN replaces WynnBet, which shut down its sports betting operations at the end of July.
Just in time for Week 4 of the NFL betting season, ESPN Bet goes live in the Empire State with much optimism, if comments from Chris Rogers were any indication earlier this week.
Speaking to the NYSGC on Monday, Rogers – Penn’s executive vice president, chief strategy and legal officer and secretary – emphasized that the new NY sportsbook “will expand the market” in New York.
“That’s been our experience in other jurisdictions where we’ve launched. We think we’re attracting a new bettor. And while there could be some shifting and cannibalization of existing operators, we think we are growing the market.”
Can ESPN Bet hang with NY sports betting heavy-hitters?
Rogers added that jurisdictions saw handle increase after ESPN Bet launched, noting that “we believe we are attracting new customers who are new to betting.”
Just how that will translate to New York remains to be seen.
Yet Penn CEO Jay Snowden has expressed plenty of optimism that ESPN Bet can hang with the heavy-hitters in New York.
Earlier this year, just after Penn began its acquisition of Wynn Interactive, Snowden said that Penn and ESPN were “building a brand that is synonymous with sports betting, and operating in the New York market is key as we grow ESPN Bet across the US.”
ESPN Bet will certainly have its work cut out for them. After all, market leaders FanDuel and DraftKings have accounted for 73% of the nearly $49 billion in bets placed in New York since online sports betting launched in January 2022. What’s more, the two sportsbooks have combined for almost 80% of the more than $4.3 billion in revenue.
