ESPN Tacitly Admits Sports Gambling Is a Problem, But They’ll Still Profit from It

ESPN Bet will go down in history as a shambolic failure. As Covers noted in August after quarterly earnings were reported, “PENN has yet to post a positive Adjusted EBITDAR quarter since its November 2023 launch of ESPN BET” (EBITDAR stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and restructuring or rent costs). Both DraftKings and FanDuel had roughly 30 percent market share in the second quarter, compared to a paltry 3 percent for ESPN Bet (when they launched in 2023, ESPN said they projected 20 percent market share). They even admitted that ESPN Bet was total flop in their commercials for it, where one doofus was imagining ESPN stats and betting all in one place, while the other person is desperately telling them it already exists, to no avail.

It’s always difficult to discern how a sprawling goliath like ESPN makes its decisions, but it seems like losing money while the entire internet dunked on them with screenshots of very serious NBA gambling scandal chyrons above ESPN Bet advertisements was a pretty good one-two combo to convince them to cut this failed venture loose. ESPN paid for the pleasure of harming their brand with ESPN Bet and they undercut every single SportsCenter anchor trying to speak seriously about the NBA betting scandal. This is yet another story of this era defined by capital failing labor and broader society at large.

The reputational damage they have sustained since Jontay Porter was suspended is a lot more lasting than hitting return to sender on a $150 million deal, yet ESPN is still excitedly tying their brand to gambling. The change is just accepting that they suck at this business and it’s a far better use of their time to sign a licensing agreement with one of the first mover advantage companies and get back to their primary job of destroying what’s left of sports journalism. ESPN advertises itself as an entertainment product you can flick on and shut your brain off, while great reporters like Don Van Natta Jr. still do great journalism for them. It’s a real bummer watching this once-proud media outlet that helped raise me beclown itself as I age into adulthood. Pablo Torre leaving ESPN because they wouldn’t let him do their daily podcast like he wanted to, then becoming a gigantic force in sports journalism and winning Edward R. Murrow awards for his own podcast tells you a lot about this company’s commitment to journalism and any kind of independent integrity.

Namely that it can be bought off for $150 million over ten years. The gambling industry has purchased the soul of all sports, so it’s hard to hit ESPN harder than say, the NBA, as what has long been hailed by the leagues as the devil is now welcomed with open arms into their homes. And the Feds soon followed (demonstrating one advantage of legalization: sportsbooks can report betting shadiness to leagues a lot quicker than we did during the age of bookies and offshore books). The question of whether professional sports are legitimate contests or financial instruments only gets more salient by the day and with each arrest of a professional athlete, aided along by companies like ESPN Bet making gambling ads and segments as ubiquitous as oxygen. Sports are now advertised not as a thrilling meritocratic contest demonstrating the awe-inspiring talents of humanity, but as a financial instrument to find an edge on.

This pivot tacitly tells everyone that ESPN does see the problem with associating their supposed journalistic brand with gambling, but that the solution is to just make their brand less visible alongside sports gambling, all while promising to join with DraftKings to deliver “a seamless, engaging, and responsible experience that elevates how fans connect with live sports.” This is perhaps America’s most predatory industry, where the supposed adults in the room effectively expose everyone to a gas leak, but then absolve themselves of liability by saying words like “responsible” while including a 1-800-Gambler number under Stephen A. Smith’s ESPN Bet blimp. It’s hard not to feel like this is all leading to some big existential crisis for sports, a la the 1919 Black Sox, and ESPN is clearly determined to be a part of it.