Penn National Gaming Acquires theScore – Deal Analysis

Deal Overview

Penn National Gaming completed its $2.0 billion acquisition of Score Media and Gaming Inc. — operator of theScore sports media app and theScore Bet sportsbook — in October 2021, in a deal announced just days after Canada legalised single-game sports wagering. theScore’s media app was the most downloaded sports app in Canada and the third most popular in North America, with users spending an average of 113 minutes per month in-app. Penn National’s rationale was explicit: acquire a media platform with 9 million highly engaged sports fans, combine it with Penn’s existing sportsbook technology, and convert media engagement into sports betting revenue through an integrated ecosystem — at a CAC (customer acquisition cost) dramatically lower than paid marketing channels.

The Media-to-Betting Conversion Thesis

Penn National’s theScore acquisition was one of the purest expressions of the media-gambling convergence thesis in US iGaming M&A. Early data from theScore Bet showed that users who had the theScore media app alongside the betting app produced 88% higher handle per user, placed 3x more bets, and showed 91% better day-30 retention than theScore Bet users without the media app. These metrics validated the core thesis: sports media engagement is a powerful predictor of betting intent, and owning both the media platform and the betting product creates retention and LTV advantages unavailable to betting-only operators.

The ESPN Bet Chapter and Current Status

Despite the compelling thesis, Penn’s post-acquisition trajectory illustrated the difficulty of executing media-betting integration at scale. Penn rebranded theScore Bet in the US as ESPN Bet through a partnership with Disney in 2023, paying significant fees for ESPN brand access. ESPN Bet underperformed in US market share against FanDuel and DraftKings, and in November 2025 Penn announced the shutdown of ESPN Bet and a relaunch of the theScore Bet brand in the US. The theScore media platform has been retained and continues to serve as a funnel for Penn’s iGaming and sportsbook products. Penn retains 2.9 million users acquired during the ESPN Bet period and continues to focus on its Hollywood-branded iCasino product.

Key Facts

• theScore media app users: 9M+ at acquisition
• Average session time: 113 minutes/month (highly engaged user base)
• Deal consideration: US$17.00 cash + 0.2398 Penn shares per theScore share
• Canadian single-game sports wagering legalised: immediately prior to deal announcement
• theScore Bet user retention advantage (vs non-media users): 91% better at day 30
• ESPN Bet launched: 2023 (Penn/Disney partnership)
• ESPN Bet shut down: December 2025
• theScore Bet US relaunch: announced November 2025

Market Signal

The Penn/theScore deal is the defining case study in media-betting convergence M&A — both the compelling logic and the execution risk. The thesis was correct: media engagement does convert to betting revenue. The challenge was brand execution in a US market where FanDuel and DraftKings had insurmountable marketing scale advantages. For iGaming operators evaluating media acquisition opportunities, Penn’s experience demonstrates that media platform acquisition value depends heavily on the betting product quality and marketing execution capability of the acquiring operator, not just the media asset itself.

← Back to iGaming M&A Database | Browse US iGaming Businesses for Sale | Sell Your Sportsbook