ESPN and PENN Entertainment announced that 10 additional retail sportsbooks at key PENN properties will be rebranded to “ESPN BET Sportsbook” in early 2025 (subject to all regulatory approvals), increasing the total number of ESPN BET branded sportsbooks at PENN properties to 19.

The new ESPN BET locations will serve customers across Pennsylvania, Colorado, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, and West Virginia under PENN’s popular Hollywood and Ameristar Casino brands.

The list of properties that will be rebranded as “ESPN BET Sportsbook” includes:

Ameristar Casino Hotel Council Bluffs – Iowa

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Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course – Pennsylvania

Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway – Ohio

Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course – Ohio

Hollywood Casino at The Meadows – Pennsylvania

Hollywood Casino York – Pennsylvania

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Ameristar Casino Resort Spa Black Hawk – Colorado

Hollywood Casino and Hotel Lawrenceburg – Indiana

Ameristar Casino East Chicago – Indiana

Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races – West Virginia

PENN’s existing ESPN BET retail locations span properties in Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, and Ohio.

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ESPN BET, the official sportsbook of ESPN, combines ESPN’s industry-leading brand and multiplatform reach with PENN’s deep sportsbook operational expertise. ESPN BET is currently available for online sports betting in 19 states.

Kansas reported record-breaking sports betting figures for November, the third month of bets on the 2024-25 NFL regular season. Sunflower State bettors wagered $291 million, a 5.5% increase from the previous record in October. Last month, the handle came to $275.9 million. The handle total also marks an 11.5% year-on-year increase from $260.9 million in November 2023.

Kansas’ six online sportsbooks contributed the most. They drew in a $279 million handle, making up almost 96.0% of the monthly total, and close to $24.7 million in revenue.

The state is also home to four retail sports betting locations, including ESPN BET at Hollywood Casino, the FanDuel Sportsbook in Kansas Star Casino, DraftKings at Boot Hill Casino & Resort, and Kansas Crossing’s Caesars Sportsbook. In November, these venues contributed $873,172 to the revenue total from a $12 million handle.

While the Kansas City Chiefs are based in neighboring Missouri, they’re also the most popular NFL team in Kansas. So far this season, the Chiefs won all but one of their 13 games.

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The loss actually came in mid-November, with quarterback Josh Allen sealing the Buffalo Bills’ 30-21 win. With Kansas bettors likely backing the Chiefs during the game, this loss could have contributed to extra revenue for the state’s books to keep during the month.

The Chiefs are among the favorites to win Super Bowl LIX. The NFL is a particularly popular time of year for sports betting operators, with the American Gaming Association predicting bettors will wager around $35 billion on this season’s games. Like many states, Kansas reported a surge in betting activity from September onwards every year since it launched legal sports betting.

PENN Entertainment and ESPN announced that account linking between ESPN BET and ESPN is now available for customers, creating an even more deeply integrated media and betting experience. By linking accounts, fans now have the ability to seamlessly track upcoming, live and settled bets within the ESPN app and on ESPN.com.

With this product enhancement, ESPN BET will soon bring fans more personalized bets and timely promotions based on their favorite sports, teams, players, and fantasy rosters. Account linking can be accessed either via a prompt within the ESPN BET app or by visiting settings within the latest versions of the ESPN BET or ESPN apps or ESPN.com.

“Bringing this new feature to market is an important step as we work to create a fully interconnected media and betting ecosystem between ESPN and ESPN BET. Account linking allows us to better serve and engage our users by unlocking key personalization and promotional capabilities. This feature is just the beginning of deeper integrations that will further differentiate the ESPN BET experience,” said Aaron LaBerge, Chief Technology Officer at PENN Entertainment.

Mike Morrison, Vice President of ESPN BET and ESPN Fantasy, said: “Linking ESPN and ESPN BET accounts is part of the seamless, integrated betting experience we envisioned from the start. No other company in the betting space can offer the level of personalization or interconnected experience that ESPN BET provides.”

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