00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 All right, a lot of people are going to be infiltrated
00:06 with this new logo for ESPN's new betting app.
00:10 It's called ESPN Bet.
00:11 There it is.
00:13 At least that's the first look.
00:15 We don't know a lot more on it, Sam,
00:16 but I know that in the next few months,
00:18 get ready because we're gonna be seeing this everywhere.
00:21 - Yeah, absolutely, Craig.
00:24 You can expect a huge, huge ramp up.
00:27 Kind of the news broke just a few months ago
00:29 that it feels like yesterday that all of a sudden
00:33 Penn was gonna ditch Barstool for the ESPN brand
00:35 and pay billions of dollars to do so.
00:37 And like you said, we haven't really heard much.
00:40 It's actually pretty significant, I think,
00:41 that we're even talking about a new logo.
00:43 Like this is the most news we've gotten out of the app
00:46 and how it's actually gonna work,
00:48 which is pretty interesting.
00:49 They came out yesterday with a mint colored logo.
00:52 They said it was chosen to be welcoming,
00:54 inclusive, and unexpected.
00:56 There's been some pushback online about the logo itself,
00:59 but there always is.
01:00 And I kind of think it's, I don't know,
01:02 at least not what I expected.
01:03 So that's something.
01:04 But the app is gonna basically use the skeleton
01:07 of the old Barstool app,
01:08 which actually is still functioning.
01:09 And that app was wildly unsuccessful,
01:12 failing to capture even double digit market shares
01:15 in most markets, including its home markets in Pennsylvania
01:18 and Massachusetts, where Barstool is located.
01:21 So the ESPN version is expected to launch
01:24 around mid-November before Thanksgiving.
01:28 It's right around week 11 of the NFL.
01:30 Would be interesting 'cause ESPN has Monday Night Football.
01:33 If they did it around that matchup,
01:35 a Super Bowl rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs
01:38 and the Philadelphia Eagles,
01:40 obviously there'll be a lot of eyeballs on that.
01:42 And like you said, there'll be a lot of eyeballs
01:44 on this app.
01:45 They've been tight-lipped on details,
01:47 but the Penn CEO, Jay Stoddard, has come out
01:50 and been vocal about, hey, maybe we can have an advantage
01:54 by launching now.
01:55 And maybe everyone has already used their promos
01:57 at the start of the season, the free 150 matches or whatever
02:00 and they're gonna be looking for a new sports betting app
02:03 to offer them around this time
02:05 when maybe they've played through all their promos
02:06 or lost their money.
02:07 So whether or not that's actually gonna be an advantage
02:10 to them is, I'm not as optimistic as he is about that,
02:15 but the real big piece of it
02:17 that is gonna be really interesting is,
02:19 how does ESPN marry the content?
02:21 Obviously they have Daily Wager, ESPN Plus, streaming.
02:24 It's a behemoth.
02:25 So based on kind of some conversations that I've had,
02:29 there seems to be some, I would be surprised
02:32 if older folks who have been in ESPN a longer time,
02:34 maybe the Michael Wilbonds of the world
02:36 are promoting this app and getting out there
02:40 from a betting standpoint,
02:41 as much as maybe the younger folks,
02:43 like a Ryan Clark or something.
02:44 I know it's, betting tends to be popular
02:47 with a younger audience.
02:48 So ESPN obviously has been trying to focus on new talent
02:51 as of late, so I wouldn't be surprised
02:53 to see a big ramp up among the younger folks
02:56 versus the older folks.
02:57 But this will be really important for ESPN and Disney.
03:01 Disney stock is not doing so well right now.
03:04 The earnings came out recently
03:05 and the company's down about 20% on earnings
03:08 from the first nine months of the year.
03:09 So this is really important for them.
03:11 ESPN is not just gonna say, okay, maybe we'll try on this.
03:15 It took them years to find a sports betting partner.
03:18 Obviously they're getting 2 billion out of this
03:20 over 10 years from Penn.
03:22 It does have an opt-out clause after the first three years,
03:25 if they don't get at least 10% of the market share
03:28 or around 10%.
03:30 So obviously Barstool failed to do that.
03:32 So this is kind of setting your sights high for ESPN
03:35 and for Penn, if this doesn't work out,
03:38 it might be a new management that comes in the door after.
03:41 (upbeat music)
03:44 [MUSIC]
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