ESPN Bet is the brand that took over Barstool Sportsbook, and it rolled out in November 2023 as Penn Entertainment’s new online betting platform using the ESPN name. Penn had already owned Barstool Sports and its sportsbook, but after this shift, the Barstool Sportsbook name was phased out and replaced by ESPN Bet in the states where Penn operates.

Before the change, Penn Entertainment had built Barstool Sportsbook by first buying a big stake in Barstool Sports in 2020 and then taking full ownership by 2023. That deal let Penn use the Barstool name and personalities for its betting app and retail sportsbooks, which popped up in multiple states and at Penn casinos, especially in places where sports betting was just getting legalized.

Things took a turn when Penn decided a bigger, more mainstream sports brand would give it a better shot in the crowded betting market, and that’s where ESPN came in. Penn signed a major long-term deal with ESPN to create ESPN Bet, giving it the rights to use ESPN’s logo, app integrations, and media power so the sportsbook could be promoted across ESPN shows, websites, and broadcasts.

As part of making this all work, Penn unwound its Barstool Sports relationship on the sportsbook side and sold Barstool Sports back to its founder, Dave Portnoy. That move let Barstool go back to being an independent media company focused on content, while Penn shifted its gambling business under the ESPN Bet brand without Barstool’s more controversial image hanging over regulatory and partnership talks.

After the dust settled, ESPN Bet became the active betting brand where Barstool Sportsbook used to operate, and Barstool itself returned to its roots making blogs, podcasts, and videos. In simple terms, Barstool Sportsbook didn’t just disappear for no reason—it was rebranded and effectively replaced by ESPN Bet, while Dave Portnoy took Barstool back and kept it in the media lane instead of the gambling lane.

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