Casino owner PENN Entertainment has dropped Barstool, the sports website, agreeing to a $2 billion dollar deal with ESPN to create ESPN Bet. The online Barstool Sportsbook will be rebranded as ESPN Bet in the fall, PENN said in a statement Tuesday. It secured exclusive rights to the ESPN Bet trademark for 10 years, with an option to be extended for another 10. PENN will make $1.5 billion in cash payments to ESPN over the next decade and grant ESPN around $500 million worth of its shares. To get out of some its “non-compete and other restrictive covenants” with Barstool, PENN sold all of its Barstool common stock to the sports site’s founder, David Portnoy.

Source: CNN August 08, 2023 23:13 UTC