TheScore Bet will end its sports betting program in the U.S. and focus on Canadian operations as of July 1. Come June 15, theScore Bet will no longer accept customer deposits or new wagers in the U.S.
The Toronto-based company has prospered north of the border since the launch of the Ontario iGaming market in April. With the discontinuance of U.S. betting, theScore can focus on resources in Canada where it is the most popular sports media app. TheScore gets 50 percent of the Ontario downloads, with Bet365 a distant second at 36 percent, according to Sports Handle.
Penn National Gaming acquired theScore at the end of last year with a $2.1 billion cash-and-stock deal. One of the goals of the deal was to migrate Barstool Sportsbook onto the in-house risk and trading platform.
“This move enables us to maximize the value of both brands through our organic media and gaming approach,” Benjie Levy, president, and COO of theScore, told Sports Handle. “Key to our strategy is integrating theScore media app with Barstool Sportsbook, which we’re currently working towards. Bringing together theScore’s powerful mobile sports media platform with Barstool Sportsbook in a unified ecosystem, supported by our in-house technology and custom integrations, will strengthen the overall U.S. product offering and broaden its reach.”
TheScore said it became the first media company to debut sportsbook operations in the U.S. since the PASPA decision in 2018.
During the third quarter of 2022, theScore Bet will switch to the company’s proprietary in-house risk and trading platform in Ontario. The transition “will lead to expanded betting markets and parlay options, Penn National Gaming CEO Jay Snowden said. Barstool Sportsbook will shift to theScore’s player account management trading and promotional engine in late 2023.
“A large part of what we love about Barstool and theScore is their authentic voice, their scrappy nature, and their entrepreneurial spirit,” Snowden said in 2021.
Beyond theScore, the decision may serve as a harbinger for a larger pattern of consolidation across the industry. The top three mobile sportsbook operators in the U.S., DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM, control at least 70 percent of the overall market share, according to various estimates.
By creating partnerships, companies such as Penn National Gaming and theScore can focus on their respective niches in the North American market.
“The timing is right to focus our U.S. efforts on marketing Barstool Sportsbook and our Canadian efforts on marketing theScore Bet,” Levy said.
