Penn CEO On Prediction Markets: 'It’s Obviously Not Priority One For Us'
ESPN Bet owner is keeping an eye on nationwide sports betting via event trading, but it's not on the front burner
Before today’s brief newser, I wrote about the mess at Kalshi as the Pope was being announced, over at The Closing Line.
Prediction markets clearly have the attention of analysts for companies that are in US sports betting space, as the topic keeps coming up in earnings calls.
Penn Entertainment — which operates ESPN Bet — is the latest to field a question about sports event trading, currently happening via platforms like Kalshi and Robinhood.
Here’s what Penn CEO Jay Snowden had to say today on its earnings call:
Question: … On the interactive side, wondering if you could chime in on your view of the predictive markets and if you think your customers would be interested in that product, and kind of how you view it from a regulatory standpoint? …
Snowden: Yeah, I would say you’ve heard from others, probably similar from us. We’re staying very close. There’s a lot going on right now in prediction markets as to federal regulations versus state-level regulations. It is interesting. It does exist, as you guys know, has for a long time over in Europe.
I think it is definitely more of a niche market for a variety of reasons. I think it’s largely incremental, especially if it’s something that’s being offered in states where online sports betting is not currently legal. So I think more to come on that. It’s obviously not priority one for us. We’ve got a lot in front of us right now in terms of execution and delivering on guidance for the remainder of the year, and continuing to improve on all the areas that Aaron and Todd mentioned, both in interactive and retail.
Given the struggles of ESPN Bet, the idea that prediction markets are back of mind should not be shocking to hear from Penn. After entering into a deal with ESPN in late 2023, Penn is struggling to gain market share and is the sixth-biggest sports betting operator in the US by handle and revenue.
On Friday, we have the earnings call for DraftKings, and it’s verging on a 100% chance we will hear a question about prediction markets. FanDuel took several questions about sports betting via prediction markets on Wednesday.