Skip to main content

ESPN and ESPN BET Account Linking Now a Reality

Andrew Reid

Last Updated: November 6, 2024 2:40 PM EST • 1 min 63 sec read.

A general view of the ESPN Monday Night Football logo as we look at the integration of ESPN and ESPN BET accounts.
A general view of the ESPN Monday Night Football logo. Photo by: Denny Medley-Imagn Images.

Since it launched last November, ESPN BET has been in direct competition with many of our best sports betting sites as it looks to carve out a larger piece of the pie. It took another step toward that goal on Nov. 1. 

As of last Friday, ESPN BET and ESPN have become more deeply integrated via account linking for customers. Once linked, customers will be able to track upcoming, live, and settled bets within the ESPN app and on ESPN.com. 

PENN Entertainment, which provides the licensing for ESPN BET, hopes that the integration will allow users more personalized promotions and bets based on their fantasy teams and favorite sports. 

“Account linking allows us to better serve and engage our users by unlocking key personalization and promotional capabilities," said Aaron LaBerge, the chief technology officer at PENN Entertainment. "This feature is just the beginning of deeper integrations that will further differentiate the ESPN BET experience.”

ESPN BET moves

The integration is just one of the recent moves ESPN BET has made in an attempt to carve out a larger market share from our best sports betting apps. 

Mike Morrison, the vice president of ESPN BET and ESPN Fantasy, believes the change makes it so ESPN BET offers something unrivaled in the industry.

“Linking ESPN and ESPN BET accounts is part of the seamless, integrated betting experience we envisioned from the start," he said in a Penn Entertainment . "No other company in the betting space can offer the level of personalization or interconnected experience that ESPN BET provides.”

The company had been aiming for a 20% market share in the early years of its operation. But it was still short of that goal as of August. Eligible U.S. customers who want to help the company along to that goal can look into ESPN Bet promo codes.

While it wasn't in time to hit the start of the NFL season, the app finally joined the nation's largest sports betting market as of Sept. 26.

ESPN BET went live in the New York sports betting scene, and hopes remain sky-high that it can turn around disappointing financials through the beginning of the year. 

Other steps to improvement 

Part of the battle to get that market share is to make sure the company is as much of a household name as its main competitors, such as DraftKings and FanDuel.

It took a couple of critical steps toward doing that this summer, including signing on as the official sports betting partner of the PGA Championship. The deal will result in ESPN BET being front and center through the 2025 tournament in North Carolina (where a booming North Carolina sports betting market exists). And then again during 2026 in Pennsylvania, where bettors will be able to take advantage of several Pennsylvania sports betting apps. 

Later in the summer, ahead of the NFL and college football seasons, the company went to prime time with ESPN Bet Live on the flagship ESPN channel.  

Outwardly, it hasn't been all positive news. The company announced it would lay off 100 employees as part of its drive to grow ESPN BET in July, not long after approving board pay packages and re-electing members despite shareholder pushback. 

The gamble is significant, but the company seems determined to give its all.

Written By:
Andrew Reid
Andrew is a Publishing Editor at Sportsbook Review. He graduated from Acadia University with a degree in Kinesiology, working as a personal trainer and in injury rehab, and then attended the College of Sports Media in Toronto to attain a diploma in Radio and Television Sports Broadcasting. Andrew has been involved in the sports betting and fantasy sports space since joining the FNTSY Sports Network in 2014, where he worked as a producer, director, and occasional on-air talent on various shows focusing on sports betting and DFS content. Prior to joining SBR, he spent multiple years with the USA Today Network as an editor and writer. Living in Newfoundland, Andrew frequents grey market sportsbooks, but in the past, when he's lived in regulated areas, he's become well-versed with all of our best sportsbooks. As strictly a casual bettor, he enjoys making touchdown parlays with friends (bro-lays), sweating out golf cut parlays during majors, playing same-game parlays for fun, and chasing long-shot bets. He also enjoys using sportsbooks that have solid iGaming and casino platforms. As the old guy on staff, he has an affinity for industry news, which confuses some, but shh ... quiet ... the news is on.