What ESPN Bet Offered Bettors — and Why the Brand No Longer Exists
If you searched for ESPN Bet’s sports and betting markets in 2026, the most important fact isn’t a market list — it’s that the brand you’re looking for technically doesn’t exist anymore. PENN Entertainment completed the rebrand of its online sports betting platform from ESPN Bet to theScore Bet after ending its licensing agreement with Disney-owned ESPN. For bettors who built habits around ESPN Bet’s app, props, and BetVision streaming, understanding what changed matters more than a simple features list.
Smart Bet Insider tracks sportsbook brand changes, market coverage, and state-by-state legal access so bettors aren’t caught off guard by rebrands like this one. This guide breaks down what ESPN Bet’s sports and market coverage looked like, why the brand disappeared, and what you can actually bet on today under its new name.
A Quick History: From Barstool to ESPN Bet
Before it carried the ESPN name, the sportsbook had already gone through one rebrand. ESPN Bet originally launched in 2020 as the Barstool Sportsbook, co-branded with the then-Penn-owned Barstool Sports. That partnership ended in 2023, clearing the way for PENN to license the ESPN name instead.
The ESPN version of the sportsbook launched with major ambitions. ESPN drove over 2.9 million new users into the PENN ecosystem, with a strong uptick in first-time bettors during its opening football season, making it one of the fastest-growing sportsbook brands of its era. That growth is exactly why its disappearance in late 2025 caught so many casual bettors off guard.
The ESPN Bet Sports Coverage List (Historical)
At its peak, ESPN Bet offered a deep betting menu across all major U.S. and international sports, including soccer, tennis, MMA, NFL, and NBA as core categories, alongside standard coverage of MLB, NHL, college football, and college basketball.
How Its Coverage Stacked Up
One independent line-shopping study tracked roughly 200 NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football markets across ESPN Bet and six competing sportsbooks over a 17-day stretch in spring 2026, benchmarking it directly against DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, Fanatics, and BetRivers. That kind of coverage depth is why the brand’s disappearance is significant for anyone comparing today’s options — it wasn’t a niche or limited product, it was a full-menu competitor.
Market Types: Beyond the Moneyline
ESPN Bet didn’t just cover a wide range of sports — it covered a wide range of bet types within each one. Beyond moneylines, spreads, and totals, the app offered props, alternate lines, parlays, futures, and in-game betting, with niche options like the “No Touchdown Parlay” highlighting how the sportsbook pushed variety into its market menu.
Branded and Novelty Markets
Part of ESPN Bet’s appeal was its personality-driven markets. The sportsbook leaned on branded bets such as Stephen’s A-list, Molly’s Moneylines, and Mad Dog’s Dogs, giving recreational bettors a way to follow picks tied to familiar media personalities rather than raw odds alone.
The BetVision Limitation
The standout technical feature was BetVision, which let users stream select NFL games directly in the app while placing and tracking bet slips on the same screen. That said, live streaming inside the app stayed confined to a handful of niche soccer leagues, tennis, and college basketball, with no NFL, NBA, or MLB live stream available because the broadcast rights didn’t transfer through the sportsbook license.
Why ESPN Bet Became theScore Bet
The rebrand wasn’t cosmetic — it followed a full business separation. PENN Entertainment and ESPN mutually agreed to an early termination of their U.S. online sports betting agreement, with PENN rebranding its U.S. sports betting offering to theScore Bet, targeting a December 1, 2025 launch to coincide with Missouri’s sports betting debut.
What Changed for Existing Users
For existing users, the transition was seamless on the account side. Login credentials stayed the same, open wagers carried over unchanged, and responsible gaming limits remained in place, though users lost the ability to link their ESPN accounts once the switch to theScore Bet occurred.
A Media Partner Swap, Not a Product Rebuild
theScore Bet simply plugged in a different media ecosystem. TheScore Bet is natively integrated with theScore, a leading sports media app that offers real-time updates and alerts, along with personalized content feeds, mirroring the role ESPN’s content once played inside the old app.
What Can You Bet on Now?
If you’re searching for ESPN Bet’s sports and markets in 2026, the practical answer is to look at theScore Bet, the sportsbook that replaced it. Rather than relying on an old list of the sports ESPN Bet once carried, bettors should evaluate the current product directly. theScore Bet currently offers betting across basketball, baseball, football, hockey, tennis, and golf, with sport-specific markets documented in its current betting guides.
Sample Markets by Sport
Within those sports, the available wagers go well beyond basic moneylines. Standard options include spreads or run lines, totals, player props, parlays, same-game parlays, live/in-play betting, and futures.
theScore Bet’s NBA markets, for example, include player points, rebounds, assists, and three-pointers alongside same-game parlays and championship futures. Its MLB coverage includes pitcher and batter props, first-five-inning markets, same-game parlays, and World Series futures.
App Features Carried Over
Several features from the old app carried into the new one. theScore Bet offers a Parlay Lounge for finding and placing bets on trending markets, Profit Boosts to increase winnings, and bet tracking for live and settled wagers, along with early cash-out on active bets.
Depth Varies, and So Does Your State
Market depth varies by sport — a major league can carry dozens of markets per event while a niche sport’s menu stays far narrower. Availability shifts again once a game moves from pregame to live betting, so the same matchup can look different an hour before kickoff.
Location matters too. theScore Bet only allows wagers while you’re physically in a licensed jurisdiction, and its current U.S. footprint spans 20 states, from Arizona and Colorado to Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. California bettors won’t find theScore Bet live there yet, since the state’s size and regulatory complexity have kept traditional online sportsbooks on hold, leaving prediction markets as one of the only practical alternatives in the meantime.
Track the Shift Before You Bet
If you’re trying to line-shop ESPN Bet against competitors today, you’re actually comparing theScore Bet, and that distinction matters for account access and promo terms. Bettors outside theScore Bet’s licensed states are left choosing between waiting for legislative action or using offshore platforms in the meantime.
Smart Bet Insider tracks exactly this kind of shifting landscape: which brands are live where, which rebrands affect existing accounts, and which offshore books remain the most reliable fallback in states without a regulated market. Checking a source that tracks live changes avoids signing up for a brand that no longer technically exists.
A Familiar Product, Under a New Name
ESPN Bet’s sports and market coverage was genuinely competitive — broad sport selection, deep prop menus, and a live-betting experience that held up against the industry’s biggest names. None of that disappeared; it simply moved under theScore Bet’s name after PENN and ESPN ended their partnership.
So if you’re looking for “ESPN Bet sports” today, think “theScore Bet sports and markets” — then check the specific sport, wager type, and your current location rather than relying on an outdated list. For ongoing tracking of sportsbook changes, state legalization news, and where to bet in states still without a regulated option, Smart Bet Insider remains the resource built for exactly that kind of moving target.
FAQs
Does ESPN Bet still exist?
No. ESPN Bet became defunct in November 2025 and was merged into theScore Bet, following PENN Entertainment’s decision to end its licensing agreement with ESPN.
What happened to my ESPN Bet account?
Accounts transitioned automatically to theScore Bet with no action required, and login credentials, open wagers, wagering history, and responsible gaming settings all carried over unchanged.
What sports did ESPN Bet cover?
ESPN Bet covered all major U.S. leagues — NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college sports — along with soccer, tennis, and MMA, offering a full-menu sportsbook rather than a limited niche selection.
What can I bet on with theScore Bet today?
theScore Bet covers basketball, baseball, football, hockey, tennis, and golf, with markets ranging from spreads and totals to player props, same-game parlays, live betting, and futures for each sport.
Did ESPN Bet offer live streaming?
Only partially. In-app streaming was limited to niche soccer leagues, tennis, and college basketball, with no NFL, NBA, or MLB live stream available because those broadcast rights didn’t extend to the sportsbook license.
How many states is theScore Bet available in now?
theScore Bet’s current U.S. footprint spans 20 states, including Arizona, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, with wagers restricted to bettors physically located within those licensed jurisdictions.
Where can I bet if theScore Bet isn’t licensed in my state?
Bettors in states without a regulated sportsbook typically rely on established offshore platforms while state legislatures debate legalization. Smart Bet Insider tracks state-by-state legal status and reliable offshore alternatives for exactly these situations — always consult a legal professional for advice specific to your circumstances.