ESPN BET Reveals Logo With Sports Betting Launch on Horizon

The countdown to the launch of ESPN BET is on, and ahead of the media mogul's sports betting brand going live, it launched its official logo. The development shows that ESPN BET's launch is relatively imminent.

ESPN went away from its traditional red color scheme for its ESPN BET logo in favor of a mint theme.

“The mint color is a twist on the traditional ESPN colorways, but one we think compliments the overall portfolio well,” vice president of visual storytelling for ESPN creative studio Chin Wang said. “ESPN Red is strong, standard-bearer, ESPN+ Gold is premium storytelling, exclusive, and now we have ESPN BET Mint, which is fun and innovative. Two traits we expect to come through when fans experience the new sportsbook.”

According to an ESPN press release: “The mint color was chosen to be welcoming, inclusive, unexpected, and fun.”

The release goes on to say that the ESPN BET logo will be seen "across in-app, digital, social, programming, and more."

Is launch imminent?

Thanks to a quickly developing partnership with Penn Entertainment, the ESPN BET brand is supposed to take over all Barstool Sportsbook locations in the United States in November. Barstool previously had an agreement with Penn but was kicked to the curb when ESPN came knocking.

ESPN signed a 10-year, $1.5-billion deal with Penn Entertainment, and both sides have been eager to get the ball rolling on what is expected to be a lucrative legal sports betting endeavor. Launching during the NFL season was an obvious must for the media giant.

It appears that following the media buzz surrounding the logo reveal, the mentioned Nov. 20 launch date - just ahead of the juicy Monday Night Football Super Bowl rematch clash between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs - is a logical jumping-off point. All signs point to ESPN BET being active just prior to, or on that date.

ESPN BET will instantly become a contender for market share in 17 states across America at the same time during what will certainly be the dawn of a new era for ESPN. Those markets include:

• Pennsylvania
• Michigan
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Colorado
• New Jersey
• Virginia
• Tennessee
• Arizona
• Iowa
• West Virginia
• Louisiana
• Kansas
• Maryland
• Ohio
• Massachusetts

That list should just continue to grow, as ESPN is the biggest name in sports and an obvious candidate to launch its sports betting brand in any of America’s 35 legal sports betting jurisdictions.

What remains to be seen

The only remaining question is, how much of a factor will ESPN BET be? A recent survey by Odds Assist identified 54% of 1,000 American bettors over the age of 25 said they planned to sign up for the ESPN brand once it's up and running in their state.

However, it remains to be seen how much of a threat ESPN BET will be to DraftKings and FanDuel, the biggest holders of the market share in the competitive U.S. legal sports betting space.

ESPN has an estimated audience of 370 million and 25 million ESPN+ subscribers, so theoretically it can definitely compete with those heavy hitters.