ESPN strikes $1.5B deal to jump into sports betting with Penn Entertainment
ESPN strikes $1.5B deal to jump into sports betting with Penn Entertainment
https://apnews.com/article/espn-sports-betting-penn-entertainment-d46ad2725065a2c502db0fbca7754892
"Penn also announced that it sold Barstool Sports, an irreverent sports media site, back to its founder Dave Portnoy. Penn took a 36% stake of Barstool Sports in February 2020 for about $163 million and subsequently acquired the remainder of the company for about $388 million in February 2023. Neither Penn nor Portnoy disclosed terms of the divestment deal.
In a video posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, Portnoy radiated excitement over the site’s regained independence. The regulated gambling industry, he said, “was probably not the best place for Barstool Sports and the kind of content we make.” Portnoy added that he will “never” sell the company. As part of the divestment deal, Penn would be owed 50% of the gross proceeds from any future sale or “monetization” of Barstool."
