theScore’s Levy family stepping down as Penn Entertainment announces leadership transition

Wednesday, January 31, 2024 9:02 PM
Photo:  Shutterstock
  • Mark Keast, CDC Gaming

Penn Entertainment Inc. announced Wednesday that the founding family behind theScore – John Levy, Benjie Levy, Aubrey Levy, and Noah Levy – will be stepping down from their roles at PENN Interactive.

The company in a statement said this is a “planned leadership transition,” with the company in the “final stages” of its search for a new head of interactive.

John Levy will be departing in the middle of this month, while Benjie, Aubrey, and Noah will leave in April.

“This transition plan comes at a natural inflection point, with the migration to our proprietary-technology platform complete, theScore’s media and betting business delivering record results, and ESPN BET off to a strong start,” said Jay Snowden, CEO and president of PENN Entertainment, in a statement.

“The Levys are a family of successful entrepreneurs and are truly pioneers in the sports-media and gaming industry. With this deep, talented, and experienced bench at PENN Interactive firmly in place, we are well prepared for a seamless transition and continued growth of our position as a leader in online gaming and sports media.”

John Levy founded theScore in Canada, first a television broadcasting property, which then transitioned into a sports-media and betting-industry product. theScore was the first media company to create and launch a sportsbook in Canada.

PENN acquired theScore in October 2021, ahead of the regulated Ontario igaming market going live in April 2022, and integrated theScore with its PENN Interactive unit under the leadership of Benjie Levy as head of interactive and John Levy as executive chairman of theScore.

The company recently completed the successful migration onto a proprietary-technology stack, as well as the recent launch of ESPN BET in the U.S.

Said Benjie Levy in a statement, “Working at PENN has been extremely rewarding as we brought these two organizations together to execute on our uniquely integrated media and betting strategy.”

John Levy also issued a statement. “The enduring success of theScore is due to the passionate and committed team that helped launch, develop, and innovate our products to provide the best possible fan experience,” he said. “Empowering fans with a seamlessly integrated media and betting experience has been core to our mission since day one. That strategy has led to the success of theScore and theScore Bet in Ontario and ESPN BET in the U.S. and will continue to differentiate this online gaming business going forward.”