ESPN BET is the fifth most used sportsbook in the US, behind DraftKings (14%), FanDuel (13%), bet365 (12%) and BetMGM (10%), with 9% of all gamblers in the country using the account to place a bet online in the past week. Gamblers here refer to those who have taken part in any gambling activity other than/in addition to the lottery over the past 30 days.
This is a solid position given how competitive and crowded the online sports betting space is in the US. In this piece we examine who the ESPN BET users are, what sports they bet on, and whether the association with an established media brand has helped give the betting provider a shot in the arm.
How being tied to an established brand impacts ESPN BET
ESPN BET is still new to the US sports betting market, but it carries the ESPN tag – a brand that is synonymous with sports – has this given the sportsbook an advantage? It likely has, according to consumer intelligence from YouGov Profiles.
Among Americans who have a very positive view of ESPN, the media brand, Consideration scores for ESPN BET stands at 13%, comparable to scores for DraftKings (15%) and FanDuel (14%) within this audience. But among Americans overall, the Consideration score for ESPN BET is half that of these competitors.
But it is worth noting that this can work both ways. Among Americans with a strongly negative rating for ESPN, nearly 0% say they would consider ESPN BET. By comparison, 5% of this audience say they would consider DraftKings and FanDuel respectively.
Luckily for the brand, Americans with a strongly positive rating of ESPN number nearly double the share of Americans with a strongly negative rating for the media brand (23% vs 10%).
Other key insights into the ESPN BET audience
Global Gambling Profiles reveals some unique insights about these ESPN BET users, who we benchmark against industry leaders DraftKings and FanDuel for a better understanding of the audience. Compared to these two, ESPN BET users are much more likely to be young – 43% of them are aged between 21-29, who make up less than 30% of DraftKings and FanDuel user bases respectively.
ESPN BET also has a slightly higher share of women in its user base, although the gap is nowhere near as big as that witnessed in the age breakdown of the audience. Just under a third of ESPN BET weekly users are women compared to 27% of DraftKings users and 28% of FanDuel users.
Another key point of difference between ESPN BET and its competitors lies in the sports their audiences favor for betting. While basketball is a common favorite across all platforms, ESPN BET sees a notably distinct preference for soccer, with 49% of its users betting on the sport compared to just 29% for DraftKings and 32% for FanDuel. This highlights a significant divergence in audience interests, potentially driven by demographic factors like ESPN BET’s younger and more diverse user base.
Similarly, ESPN BET demonstrates a remarkable affinity for eSports, with 41% of its audience betting on the category, nearly doubling the engagement levels seen among DraftKings (24%) and FanDuel (26%) users. This reinforces ESPN BET’s appeal to a younger demographic, often more attuned to emerging sports categories.
On the other hand, traditional favorites like American football dominate the DraftKings and FanDuel audiences, with 58% of users on each platform betting on the sport, compared to just 36% on ESPN BET. This variance underscores ESPN BET’s unique positioning, catering to non-traditional and emerging sports preferences while maintaining relevance in mainstream sports betting markets.