Pat McAfee didn’t miss the opportunity to comment on ESPN Bet during a segment on his show this Thursday.
As an advertisement for the ESPN-sponsored and Penn Entertainment-operated sportsbook flashed on the screen, McAfee paused his discussion.
“Things are going great here,” McAfee quipped sarcastically, gesturing towards the ESPN Bet logo. “Not at all.”
This remark came in the wake of a challenging earnings report for ESPN Bet. The company reported a substantial net loss of $114.9 million and a revenue decline of 3.8% year-over-year in the first quarter — marking the first earnings call to include data from ESPN Bet.
“Admittedly, we have not been as tight and accurate with our financial forecasts in the early days of ESPN BET, which is not representative of our long-term track record or internal expectations at Penn,” Penn CEO Jay Snowden explained during the earnings call, according to SportsHandle.
The fallout from the earnings report saw Penn Entertainment’s stock plummet by as much as 15% on Thursday, closing the day nearly 9% down.
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McAfee continued his commentary, half-jokingly encouraging the sportsbook. “ESPN Bet’s got a lot of room to grow,” he said. “Hey, good luck. Let’s go ESPN Bet. You get knocked down, you come back. Legit. Good luck. We’re pulling for it because we are on ESPN and obviously we’re a part of ESPN, so we would like ESPN stuff to succeed.”
He then added a caveat, “Now, granted, ESPN Bet, I don’t think ESPN people are running the book,” before rallying again, “With that said, let’s go. You’ve got ESPN on it.”
ESPN made a significant entry into sports betting in August with a 10-year, $150 million per year ($1.5 billion total) licensing agreement with Penn, launching the service in November 2023.
“While we are pleased with the early ESPN Bet adoption and engagement results, our focus heading into this football season will be on enhancing our product offerings, including a refreshed home screen and expanded parlay offerings,” Snowden stated in a release, as reported by Sportico.
