That’s because sports loyalists and sports bettors watch and read differently. A seamless user experience could be a win, McTernan said.īut Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College, said this could backfire for ESPN, especially if gambling starts to drive its content. Or you’re in the app watching a clip of your favorite commentator previewing a game and you can easily bet on it. “You know, you’re checking your fantasy team for fantasy football and you can easily make bets about your players,” he said. For ESPN Bet, that’s its media content on ESPN. New betting platforms have to offer something special, McTernan said. The harder thing is retaining them for years,” he said. “I think it’s easy to give people money and have them gamble on your platform. When the Caesars Sportsbook app launched last year, users got up to a $3,000 deposit match. Bernie McTernan, a senior analyst at Needham & Co., said that helped the app scoop up 40% of the market, only to drop into the single digits after people burned through the incentives. “Does that entice you? It’s a little difficult to say,” Bender said.īecause sports betting is less about brand recognition and more about how well the platform works. ESPN hopes it can steal them away because of its status. It’s hard for new platforms to enter the market because users generally stick to one, maybe two sports betting apps. “They’re the ones that have been able to grow their businesses a lot better.”

“Those are the companies that have the time advantage,” he said. It’s been five years since sports betting became legal, and most states now allow it. Jordan Bender, an analyst at JMP Securities, said in that short time just two companies - DraftKings and FanDuel - have gobbled up about 80% of the market. The company is hoping it can grab a piece of the nearly $85 billion global sports betting market. ESPN and its partner Penn Entertainment on Tuesday launched a sports gambling platform, ESPN Bet, in 17 states.

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