Which States Is ESPN Bet Legal In?

ESPN Bet offers sports betting to customers in 19 states:

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

PENN Entertainment secured multi-year agreements granting ESPN Bet market access in states where Penn operates land-based casinos. The deal made PENN Entertainment the exclusive sports betting and online gambling partner of ESPN for 5 years and opened the door to expansion in numerous states.

ESPN Bet Promo Code

ESPN Bet Bonus Offer

ESPN Bet welcomes new customers with a first bet reset worth up to $1,000. Claiming the offer is simple:

• Sign up for an ESPN Bet account
• Deposit funds
• Place a cash wager on any sport

If your first bet loses, you’ll receive a 100% refund worth up to $1,000 in bonus funds. ESPN Bet issues the refund as five bonus bets, each equal to 20% of the losing wager. For example, if you place a $100 wager and lose, ESPN Bet will give you five bonus bets worth $20 each.

ESPN bonus bets have three limitations bettors should note:

• They are non-withdrawable (can only be used to place wagers at ESPN Bet)
• Successful wagers placed with bonus bets only return the net winnings as withdrawable cash
• Unused bonus bets expire seven days after receipt

ESPN Bet Promotions

ESPN Bet promotions intend to generate engagement between customers and the ESPN sports betting brand, particularly by providing opportunities to bet with or against personalities. Such offers fit well into ESPN’s other engagement strategies, including pregame shows and in-game feeds allowing bettors to watch the game live.

The ESPN team has never been short on creativity, and that mindset also extends to promotions. Other, more traditional promotional types include Bet & Get, Parlay Insurance, and small bonus cash offers.

ESPN Bet tends to offer custom promotions for customers based on their preferences, so bettors must log in to see the complete list of offers available to them. With that said, ESPN Bet offers a ton of daily promos, ranging from getting bonus bets for placing parlays to lost bet insurance.

The heavy promotional schedule will likely continue while ESPN Bet scrambles to catch up to its established competitors, so bettors should check in often.

ESPN Bet Loyalty Program

ESPN Bet automatically enrolls all new customers into PENN Entertainment’s official loyalty program.

PENN Play is a multi-tier rewards system that allows bettors to earn comps, luxury gifts, travel perks, hotel stays at PENN Entertainment retail facilities, cash, and much more.

Slow earn rates and limited perks for online bettors reduce PENN Play’s value for fans who don’t visit PENN properties often. However, bettors who live near PENN properties can earn monthly PENN Cash and PENN Play Credit bonuses with minimal effort and take advantage of the many in-person benefits the program offers.

Read more about PENN Play here:

• ESPN Bet Rewards Program: PENN Play

ESPN Bet Deposit Options

ESPN Bet sportsbook accepts a standard assortment of betting deposit methods:

Withdrawing From ESPN Bet

ESPN Bet processes most withdrawals via the following methods:

• Online Banking: Withdraw directly into your bank account. Average turnaround time is listed as 3-5 business days, but is often much faster.
• ACH / eCheck via VIP Preferred: Withdraw to a checking account linked to VIP Preferred. Transactions typically take up to 3-5 business days.
• PayPal: Bettors must first use PayPal for a deposit to withdraw. Funds are usually available quickly (1-2 business days).
• ESPN Bet Play+ Card: Players who already have Play+ cards can instantly withdraw funds to the card. Users can then either use those funds for purchases, to withdraw cash at ATMs, or transfer them back to their originating source.
• Paper Check: When other withdrawal methods aren’t an option, paper checks are a decent fallback. Note that checks may take up to 14 days to arrive, and there is a minimum withdrawal requirement of $250.
• Cash at the casino cage: Bettors can deposit and withdraw funds from participating casino locations. Pickup requests may take a day or two to be approved, but once they are, the funds will be available almost immediately. Just be sure to bring a government-issued ID and transaction voucher number.

The minimum withdrawal amount for all listed methods besides paper checks is $10.

ESPN Bet Customer Service

Bettors can visit the ESPN Bet Help Center for answers to common questions or contact a live support rep through the following methods:

• Email: Fill out a short form, including details related to the issue, and submit it. Expect a response within 24 hours.
• Live chat: Chat with a live agent. This option is available 24/7, 365 days a year.
• Request a callback: Post a message with your phone number to have an ESPN Bet rep call you back.

BettingUSA experienced significant issues contacting customer support on the day after ESPN Bet launched, but it would be premature to make any lasting judgments at that early stage. The support team was likely dealing with an extraordinarily high volume of phone calls, live chat requests, and e-mails.

Still, one would expect a sportsbook bearing the ESPN banner and powered by PENN National to anticipate high support request volume after launching a new product in 17 states simultaneously.

A help ticket submitted through a request form at ESPNBet.com over the lunch hour received no answer that same business day.

Likewise, a call to the support number went straight to an automatic voice message that neither identified itself as ESPN Bet nor shared which method a representative would use to respond. It simply stated:  

“No support agents are currently available to take your call. Please leave your name, e-mail, and phone number, and we will get back to you shortly.”

Ultimately, BettingUSA reached a representative via live chat after waiting in the queue for just over half an hour. The help rep was knowledgeable, courteous, and quickly resolved the issue.

The journey from needing help to reaching a human took longer than it should have, but BettingUSA will reserve judgment until ESPN Bet has had a little time to settle in. Few online sportsbooks launch without any last-minute hiccups in a single state, let alone 17 states in one day.

Plus, the one area where ESPN Bet customer service really excelled under the Barstool Sportsbook brand was speed. Live chat requests were scooped up almost immediately, and email response times were more than adequate. At times, email exchanges were so fast that it felt like chatting through DMs. It will be ideal if ESPN Bet continues the Barstool tradition in that regard.

That said, speed does not equate to quality. In fact, it almost seemed like customer support agents were instructed to get users off the line as quickly as possible under the Barstool brand. Customer support is definitely an area where ESPN Bet needs to improve over its predecessor.

ESPN Bet App Review

The ESPN Bet app previously ran on software developed by Kambi, the former supplier to DraftKings and a reputable provider in its own right. However, it has since migrated to an in-house technology stack. The changeover was planned ever since PENN Entertainment acquired Score Media and Gaming in 2021. The new ESPN sports betting platform is provided by Score Media’s flagship product, theScore.

PENN Entertainment promised a bevy of notable improvements, including a more streamlined user experience, an increased number of wagering markets and betting types, faster load times, improved cashouts, and deeper integration with theScore.

So far, the reinvigorated ESPN Bet sportsbook app appears to be living up to its high expectations, mostly.

For a standard professional sports game, bettors can expect more than 50 prop betting options, with each betting category neatly divided into digestible chunks.

More importantly, the odds appeared to have improved. ESPN Bet now offers better lines, on average, than BetRivers, a sportsbook that still uses Kambi technology. ESPN Bet’s moneyline vigorish on professional sporting events is just ~3-4%, although it is higher for smaller markets (5-6%).

Prop pricing is also respectable, clocking in at around 5-6%. However, similar or better pricing can be found at several other online sportsbooks.

ESPN Bet now offers more odds boosts than ever before, and the exact amount of the boost is clearly displayed on the app. In addition, ESPN Sportsbook Exclusive bets remain a staple of the app and occasionally offer significant value.

The Bet Slip is also improved. Now, when bettors select a wager it is instantaneously recorded on the Bet Slip, and players can either use predetermined bet sizes or their own custom amount to place wagers. Should players want to convert their straight bet into a Parlay+ (the ESPN Bet version of a Same Game Parlay), they can simply click on the game from the Bet Slip and add wagers.

One really notable feature is that ESPN Bet always uses the same lines for Parlay+ bets that it does for straights. Other books often hide Same Game Parlay odds from a bettor’s view.

Alternatively, bettors looking to add parlay legs from other games can easily hide the Bet Slip until they find another bet they’d like to add. When players are ready to place a wager, it’s usually accepted at breakneck speed. The only exception is when there is line movement, which does happen quite frequently.

Other unique features include a slider that allows bettors to quickly find alternative spreads and totals as opposed to manually searching through long lists.

A standard layout and quick signup process make registering and getting started easy. Users can use two menus to navigate through the app to view promos, manage account settings, view open bets, set spending limits, get help, and visit specific sports.

One major complaint under the old brand was that live streaming services and advanced stats could not be obtained directly from the wagering app. Instead, fans had to access them through theScore. The ESPN Bet app hasn’t yet made any improvements in that regard, but it’s hard to imagine ESPN and PENN National allowing their app to go without live stats for too long.

Bettors can download the ESPN sports betting app for iOS and Android devices by pointing their mobile browsers to espnbet.com and tapping the big “download” button.

ESPN Bet Mobile Betting App Screenshots

ESPN Bet In-Play Betting

ESPN Bet offers a clean and functional but unexceptional in-play betting interface. The ESPN Bet app covers mainstream and niche sports in the US and abroad with standard full-time outcomes, in-play props, and play-by-play flash betting markets.

ESPN Bet’s event coverage is adequate but still falls well short of its biggest competitors, especially during non-peak hours. Customers will suffer no lack of in-play betting options for professional American sports, but the pickings are noticeably slimmer for international sports during non-peak hours.

ESPN Bet in-play betting vigorish is comparable to the market leaders. For example, a comparison of in-play lines on NCAA games between ESPN Bet and DraftKings revealed both charging commissions in the range of 5-6%. When comparing their vigorish for major US professional leagues, DraftKings’ in-play betting lines had a slight advantage, sitting at around 5%, while ESPN Bet’s lines tended to stick to around 6%.

The in-play software is a mixed bag. At times, the lines update quickly, with minimal lockout periods. Other times, bettors will be subject to the spinning wheel of death for 10-15 seconds a clip. Occasionally, loading times will soar to over a minute, especially when there’s a lot of in-play action.

Overall, the in-play software is improved, but ESPN Bet still has some obvious kinks to iron out.

One area where ESPN Bet should stand out above its competitors is the unique content it can put out alongside in-play betting events.

While other sportsbooks may offer standard pregame shows, only ESPN Bet can provide its own unique and in-depth sports commentary. If ESPN Bet gets detailed live stats in place and keeps the vigorish reasonable, it will give its more established competitors a run for their money when it comes to in-play betting.

ESPN Sports Betting Markets

Sports coverage and market depth tend to be similar across most sports betting sites, but ESPN Bet will likely continue to expand its wagering options as it gets established.

When PENN Entertainment offered online sports betting under the Barstool Sportsbook brand, it boasted extensive market coverage. For example, it offered the rarely seen “The Hanson,” which is a bet that allows bettors to predict the collective point total for all Sunday NFL games.

ESPN Bet also covers niche sports like Lacrosse, beach volleyball, and cycling.

• ESPN Bet Odds Boosts: Users can visit the “Boosts” tab anytime for odds-boosted selections with higher-than-usual payouts.
• Parlay+: The ESPN Bet same game parlay variation is called Parlay+ and pushes the same game parlay concept to the extreme. Not only can bettors combine wagers from a single Parlay+ eligible game, but they can combine bets across multiple Parlay+ games plus single bets from non-Parlay+ games.

Bettors should be warned that ESPN Bet’s heavy emphasis on action bets comes with a price. The vig on multi-leg parlays and crazy Parlay+ wagers can be extraordinarily high. At least the Quick Pick 6 feature is gone, and good riddance, as these random six-leg parlays were subject to an incredibly high vigorish and encouraged reckless wagering.

That being said, a survey of standard moneylines at ESPN Bet revealed that it offers lower juice than most of its competition. Hopefully, ESPN Bet keeps that tradition in place.

Other standard types of wagers on offer include typical point spreads, moneylines, totals plus many alternative lines, half-time results, player totals, in-play betting, and many props.

ESPN is still a bit light on market depth, but that is also likely to change. When it operated under the Barstool Brand, PENN National offered more derivative wagers than most other books.

For example, it was not uncommon to find upwards of 100+ alt totals for an NBA game, and at least 75+ alt spreads for NFL and NBA games under the Barstool brand, using the same technology platform as ESPN Bet. That said, ESPN Bet’s wagering menu has contracted slightly since its launch, and it’s missing a few elements other books offer, like alt lines on player props.

The list of sports covered runs the whole gamut of college and pro sports:

More About ESPN Bet

PENN Entertainment and ESPN, Inc. introduced ESPN Bet to the world in July 2023. In a joint press release, the two entertainment behemoths announced a partnership to operate retail sportsbooks and offer online sports betting nationwide under the ESPN Bet brand.

PENN Entertainment brings market access and betting experience to the table as the parent company of brick-and-mortar casinos across the nation. Market access is a critical component of the deal because most states with legal sports betting only issue licenses to online sportsbook operators partnered with local land-based casinos.

Meanwhile, ESPN provides name recognition and endless advertising opportunities in front of a massive sports-watching audience. It seems like a perfect match for market dominance, but the FOX Bet example demonstrates that US bettors are too sophisticated to be wooed by mediocre sportsbooks with name-brand logos and big advertising budgets.

FOX Bet was the product of a similarly powerful partnership consisting of FOX Sports and FanDuel’s parent company, Flutter Entertainment. Despite Flutter’s success with FanDuel and massive marketing opportunities, FOX Bet closed just four years after its launch after barely making a dent in the states where it was active.

PENN Entertainment had a similar experience with Barstool Sportsbook. It paid $163 million for a 36% stake in Dave Portnoy’s Barstool Sports empire and launched Barstool Sportsbook. That deal also seemed like an excellent match, but PENN sold Barstool Sports back to Portnoy for just $1 three years later.

The ESPN Bet app initially launched as a rebranded version of the existing Barstool Sportsbook platform, but that doesn’t mean ESPN Bet is just the same product with different packaging. PENN National significantly upgraded the Barstool app before launching ESPN Bet and can modify the technology in-house any way it wants.

ESPN Bet FAQ

Expert Opinion: Is ESPN Bet Legit?

ESPN Bet is a safe, legal, and legitimate online sportsbook. As the official online sportsbook of ESPN and PENN Entertainment, ESPN Bet is a known quantity operated by a deeply experienced company. PENN Entertainment has sports betting licenses in many states and years of experience as a sportsbook operator.

Furthermore, its newly reissued ESPN Bet app is built entirely from proprietary tech. That means ESPN Bet can introduce features not found elsewhere, try new things, and respond quickly to consumer demand.

ESPN Bet achieved a smooth launch in November 2023, a noteworthy feat considering it went live in 17 states simultaneously. The ESPN Bet app is on the simple side compared to other major sportsbooks, but it’s off to a good start. Now, ESPN Bet must improve beyond the basics if it wishes to compete effectively against its biggest competitors.