Pour one out for ESPN BET, degenerates. The sportsbook that was supposed to change everything lasted exactly two years before getting mercy-killed on December 1st, 2025.

In its place? theScore Bet. And ESPN? They're already in bed with DraftKings. The sports betting industry moves fast.

The Quick Hit

• RIP ESPN BET: Shut down December 1, 2025
• New identity: Rebranded to theScore Bet (same accounts, same funds)
• The breakup: Penn and ESPN mutually terminated their 10-year, $2 billion deal early
• ESPN's new partner: DraftKings is now ESPN's official sportsbook partner

What the Hell Happened?

In August 2023, Penn Entertainment and ESPN announced a blockbuster partnership. Penn would pay ESPN $2 billion over 10 years for exclusive rights to the ESPN BET brand. It was supposed to be a game-changer — the biggest sports media brand in America attached to a sportsbook.

Two years later? They're calling it quits.

On November 6, 2025, Penn and ESPN announced a "mutual agreement" to terminate the partnership early. ESPN pulled its name and marketing power from the platform. On December 1st, ESPN BET officially became theScore Bet.

The reasons aren't entirely clear, but the timing is suspicious. The sports betting market has cooled significantly. Customer acquisition costs are brutal. And Penn's stock never recovered after the initial ESPN hype.

What Changes for Bettors?

If you had an ESPN BET account, here's the good news: nothing really changes.

• Your login credentials stay the same
• Your account balance transfers over
• Any open bets remain active
• Your rewards tier and PENN Cash carry forward

The only difference is the logo on your app. Instead of ESPN BET, it now says theScore Bet. Same platform, same odds engine, same everything else.

theScore Bet Is Now in 21 States

The rebrand happened on the same day Missouri launched sports betting (nice timing, Penn), so theScore Bet is now available in 21 U.S. jurisdictions:

Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington DC.

If you're in one of those states, you can download theScore Bet and keep betting like nothing happened. Because nothing really did.

ESPN's New Relationship with DraftKings

Here's where it gets interesting. On the same day ESPN BET died, ESPN announced DraftKings as its new official sportsbook and odds provider.

This means:

• DraftKings odds will appear on ESPN.com and ESPN apps
• DraftKings branding will be integrated into ESPN programming
• ESPN personalities will reference DraftKings lines

For DraftKings, this is huge. They just absorbed the media integration that was supposed to make ESPN BET a juggernaut. They get ESPN's massive reach without paying $2 billion or running the sportsbook.

Winners and Losers

Winners:

• DraftKings: Gets ESPN integration without the $2B price tag
• Bettors: No disruption, same service under new name
• theScore: Finally gets their name on a major U.S. sportsbook (they were bought by Penn in 2021)

Losers:

• Penn Entertainment: Wasted two years and a lot of money on a failed experiment
• ESPN BET employees: Branding team probably needs new business cards
• The "ESPN changes everything" narrative: Turns out the ESPN name wasn't worth $2 billion after all

The Bottom Line

ESPN BET is dead. Long live theScore Bet.

If you were an ESPN BET customer, just update your app and keep betting. Nothing changes except the logo. If you weren't, this rebrand probably doesn't matter to you at all.

The bigger story is what this says about the sports betting industry. Even the biggest partnerships can fail. Even $2 billion deals can be terminated early. And in the end, the major operators — DraftKings and FanDuel — just keep consolidating power.

The sports betting market is maturing, and the shakeout is happening in real-time. ESPN BET is just the latest casualty.