{"id":48384,"date":"2025-08-06T17:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T17:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/48384\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T17:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T17:43:08","slug":"espns-equity-stake-in-the-nfl-ignores-this-major-gambling-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/48384\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN’s equity stake in the NFL ignores this major gambling conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESPN is making major moves, notably acquiring the NFL Network and RedZone<\/a> in exchange for a 10 percent equity take in the Worldwide Leader in Sports.<\/p>\n

It is one of several newsworthy items involving ESPN over the past 24 hours. That includes the launch date of their direct-to-consumer streaming service<\/a>, the broadcasting rights for the WWE<\/a>, and the hiring of sports and lifestyle content creator Katie Feeney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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While all of these are interesting, there is a lot to untangle here about this unique deal between ESPN and the NFL. But one thing stands out more than everything else, and it’s not getting discussed enough.<\/p>\n

More: ESPN streaming service: Everything to know from cost to offerings<\/a><\/p>\n

If the NFL now owns 10 percent of ESPN, what exactly does that mean for the sportsbook ESPN Bet<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Fans have long felt concerned about a conflict of interest<\/a> with ESPN Bet, which Jason Kelce has even alluded to on the air<\/a>. But this takes it to the a new level with the NFL now owning such a significant share in the media company.<\/p>\n

As noted by former ESPN employee Joon Lee, the football league will now “directly profit” from sports gambling due to the association with the sportsbook.<\/p>\n

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PENN Entertainment is paying $1.5 billion over 10 years (or $150 million per year) plus an additional $500 million for ESPN to license the brand.<\/p>\n

ESPN Bet currently has an estimated 3.2 percent (and as low as 2.3 percent<\/a>) market share, per Sportico<\/a>. That is far below the target market share of 10 percent (and the goal of 20 percent by 2027) anticipated upon launch two years ago.<\/p>\n

Here is an obvious question: How can the league suspend players for gambling<\/a> when it also owns 10 percent of a sportsbook<\/a>? Is it possible that ESPN shutters ESPN Bet now that the NFL has an ownership stake?<\/p>\n

Potentially, but it’s not just because of the obvious reason we’re discussing here. It is also worth noting that PENN lost “nearly $110 million<\/a>” in Q4 of last year<\/a>, according to Joe Pompliano.<\/p>\n

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ESPN and PENN have an opt-out clause in its 10-year deal at the end of next year, and PENN CEO Jay Snowden has already mentioned using it is a consideration (via Front Office Sports<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we announced our partnership, both sides made it very clear that we expected to compete for a seat at the podium. And we\u2019re not on pace right now to do that,\u201d Snowden said. \u201cWe have tremendous plans in place for 2025 and 2026. But if, for whatever reason, we\u2019re not hitting the levels that we need to, then obviously as you\u2019re approaching the third anniversary, you have a three-year clause in that contract that both sides will have to do what\u2019s in their best interests. And so that\u2019s always out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The marriage between ESPN and the NFL is clunky for many reasons, but its even more complicated by the ESPN Bet property. For several reasons, an opt-out might make sense for all parties.<\/p>\n

As of right now, however, ESPN Bet is adding more features (like FanCenter<\/a>) to its product to add to the gaming experience.<\/p>\n

When the concept was introduced earlier this week, in fact, football was specifically mentioned (via PENN Entertainment<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\u201cFanCenter introduces a completely new level of personalization for ESPN BET players and represents our biggest product leap yet,\u201d said Aaron LaBerge, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Interactive at PENN Entertainment. \u201cIt taps into our players’ fandom in smart, creative ways while connecting seamlessly with ESPN’s industry-leading fantasy football platform. This is what sets ESPN BET apart and football season is the perfect time to roll it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, that’s got to leave folks with a complicated feeling considering the NFL now has a minority stake in ESPN. But what exactly are they going to do about it?<\/p>\n

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Just yesterday, fans learned that the hit podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out would leave the DraftKings Network for a new licensing deal with New York Times and The Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This decision could help Torre continue to investigate sports gambling without a clear conflict of interest, as he did when reporting on an alleged gambling ring<\/a> involving NBA players Malik Beasley and Terry Rozier.<\/p>\n

Our prediction is simple: Without litigation, even if there is a conflict of interest, ESPN and PENN will continue to work together at ESPN Bet so long as they’re making money.<\/p>\n

But if they continue to lose money like they did at the end of last year, we may see the end of ESPN Bet before this ever becomes a serious problem for the NFL.<\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared on For The Win: ESPN’s equity stake in the NFL ignores this major gambling conflict<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ESPN is making major moves, notably acquiring the NFL Network and RedZone in exchange for a 10 percent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[41163,64,63,32325,794,21071,41164,16100,593,85,41162,41165],"class_list":["post-48384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-10-percent","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-conflict-of-interest","tag-espn","tag-jason-kelce","tag-joon-lee","tag-malik-beasley","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-sports-gambling","tag-terry-rozier"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}