To encourage customers to sign up with the new brand, ESPN Bet has unveiled several promotions for new depositors.
They include a “Bet anything, get $250 in bonus bets” promotion, allowing customers to receive the full amount in free bets after depositing as little as $5 and betting as little as $1.
The offer is available across a variety of traditional and affiliate media, including via Newsweek, Sportsbook Wire, Bookies.com and Action Network.
Social media commentary
Elsewhere, users on X have shared screenshots of additional offers being made available by ESPN Bet.
Sports betting tipster Nickspicks shared an offer of a $1,000 deposit match, available to new ESPN Bet customers until 31 December.
He and other users, however, were quick to point out the wagering requirements attached to the bonus funds, which require a 20x play through for sports betting and 50x play through for online casino.
The deal looks similar to those previously offered via Barstool Sportsbook, according to X users, with Nickspicks describing the newly launched ESPN Bet as “Barstool with a face lift”.
As for ESPN’s social media activity, the company has rebranded its SportsNation account – boasting around 5.4 million followers – to @ESPNBet.The profile has been posting sports betting-related content since 10 November. All previous posts published before that date appear to have been deleted.
ESPN Bet background
In August, Penn Entertainment secured the rights to use the ESPN Bet brand in a 10-year agreement worth $2bn.
The deal saw Penn secure exclusive rights to the ESPN Bet trademark, with its operations to be supported by ESPN’s extensive media presence.
Under the deal, Penn will provide ESPN with annual cash payments of $150m for the next 10 years, in addition to $500m worth of its own shares.
After a three-year period, ESPN will also have the right to nominate a board member for Penn.
Both parties reserve the right to terminate the agreement if the brand’s US online sports betting market share is below a certain threshold after three years.
The deal marks Penn Entertainment’s second attempt to grow its sports betting presence via an agreement with a sports media company.
In order to extricate itself from its previous agreement with Barstool Sports, Penn sold all of its common stock in Barstool back to the site’s founder, Dave Portnoy, at a substantial loss.
