McDonald’s. Walmart. Apple. The New York Yankees. ESPN.
Sometimes, you can be so big that you don’t have to be an innovator. You don’t have to be forward-thinking. You can just be such a behemoth that you can just pay a premium to gobble up what you need to remain successful, and then you remain successful.
ESPN certainly fits that bill. They weren’t at the forefront of the sports betting expansion in America. Of course, they weren’t. The Walt Disney Company doesn’t necessarily scream natural partner with a sportsbook.
But did you really think ESPN would never partner with a gambling organization?
Was Tuesday’s announcement that ESPN would partner with PENN Entertainment a surprise? Absolutely it was. Especially when you consider part of the deal included ESPN taking over the Barstool-branded sportsbooks and Barstool founder Dave Portnoy completely reacquiring his company was potentially the bigger story.
But was it shocking? Hell no it wasn’t shocking.
Think about it. ESPN once started its own mobile company when it realized cell phones were going to have staying power, for Pete’s sake. The idea that it was going to sit idly by while other companies made hundreds of millions of dollars in the sports betting space is preposterous. Hell, not that long ago, ESPN was paying Katie Nolan a million dollars a year to host SportsCenter…on Snapchat. ESPN had its own chain of restaurants with hopes of being the sports world’s Planet Hollywood or Rainforest Café.
ESPN was built, and continues to thrive, on being everywhere. It pours all sorts of resources not only into television but in both radio and podcasts, into social media, websites, digital, and anywhere else you can think.
I know that in 2019 Bob Iger said he didn’t see ESPN “getting involved in the business of gambling”. And that was in 2019. And prefaced it with “the near term”.
The Overton Window is a phrase used in politics where shifting the window on a certain issue from “unthinkable” and “radical” to “sensible” and “popular”. And it doesn’t have to be strictly to politics. ESPN was forced to wait for the sports gambling Overton window to shift to “acceptable” and “sensible”.
And it did. Now, when the iron is hot, ESPN has struck. Were they in on the ground floor like DraftKings or FanDuel? Absolutely not. But behemoth status comes with the ability to notbe on the ground floor. ESPN can afford to pay the behemoth premium.
I know that there is going to be a fear that guys like Adrian Wojnarowski, Adam Schefter, and other ESPN reporters can affect the betting lines, similar to the accusations Shams Charania faced during the NBA Draft. Make no mistake about it, ESPN is simply giving PENN Entertainment a license to use its brand. PENN is coughing up the dough – and a lot of it – to utilize the ESPN brand. The end. I’m sure there will be utilization of ESPN’s talent for events, marketing, promotions, etc…but the idea that Adrian Wojnarowski could be compromised by looking to create more value for PENN Entertainment seems unlikely.
ESPN deserves a bit more credit than it has been given, especially over the past calendar year. People lost their minds when the company inked Pat McAfee to a megadeal during the midst of mass layoffs.
While avoiding my best Brian Windhorst impersonation – why would they do that? Doesn’t it all make sense now?
Pat McAfee is going to be the face of ESPN Bet. You are going to see and hear McAfee associated with the brand ad nauseam. Even more so during the football season. He is going to make the endeavor a lot of money…which is why ESPN gave him a lot of money.
ESPN partnering with a sportsbook was a foregone conclusion. If you thought otherwise, you’re naïve. The future of sports media content is in sports betting. I know it. You know it. Let’s not pretend ESPN didn’t know it. The focus now becomes making it a more successful undertaking than FOX Bet, which recently ceased operations.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
