Penn Entertainment’s flurry of activities this week continued Wednesday. The Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based casino company announced a partnership designating Penn’s online sports betting venture ESPN Bet and its Canadian-based theScore Bet as official sports-betting partners with the National Hockey League.
Earlier this week, Penn announced groundbreaking ceremonies for construction projects for its properties in Columbus, Ohio, and Aurora, Illinois.
“There’s definite excitement in being one of the first leagues to partner with ESPN Bet and Penn Entertainment,” said NHL Vice President, Business Development Jason Jazayeri. “From day one, we’ve said our media-rights deal with ESPN and the Walt Disney Company has been a big win for our fans and our league and this new collaboration is further testament to the value of our partnership. The NHL is younger, faster, and more exciting than ever and delivers tremendous opportunity for fan engagement and responsible-gaming experiences.”
As official league partners, ESPN Bet and theScore Bet will have access to entitlements including IP rights, media and marketing integrations on NHL programming, and premium NHL experiences.
ESPN Bet launched Nov. 14 in 17 states.
“Becoming an official partner allows us to more broadly engage hockey fans, develop compelling integrations, and leverage NHL programming. This is also a key partnership for theScore Bet in Ontario, where the popularity of hockey is unmatched,” said Penn Interactive Senior Vice President, Marketing and Content Aubrey Levy.
Penn’s entitlements begin immediately with the NHL regular season and include the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the 2024 NHL Winter Classic, the 2024 NHL Stadium Series, and 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend. The partnership also includes collaborations for game-integrity procedures.
