In a statement to its customers on Wednesday, theScore Bet announced that it will discontinue its sport betting operations in the US on July 1. The operator said it will stop accepting customer deposits and new wagers in the US by June 15.
The move is part of an overall strategy by theScore’s parent company, Penn National Gaming (PNG), to utilize its brands more efficiently — deploying its Barstool Sportsbook brand in the US and having theScore Bet focused on Canada, where it is a media giant in the Canadian sports scene.
Data from the website Sensor Tower showed theScore Bet was among the most popular and most frequently downloaded sportsbooks in March.
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US-Canada Plans Have Been Well-Publicized
The strategy was first announced after Penn National acquired Toronto-based Score Media and Gaming, aka theScore, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $2 billion in October 2021.
Since Penn’s acquisition of theScore, the company’s plan has been to lead with Barstool Sportsbook in the US and theScore Bet in Canada, given our strong brand equity there.
“Since Penn’s acquisition of theScore, the company’s plan has been to lead with Barstool Sportsbook in the US and theScore Bet in Canada, given our strong brand equity there,” the Score’s President and COO, Benjie Levy, said in a statement.
“With theScore Bet launched and thriving in Ontario, and as we approach a major undertaking this summer with the launch of our proprietary risk and trading service, the timing is right to focus our US efforts on marketing Barstool Sportsbook and our Canadian efforts on marketing theScore Bet.”
Dan Sabreen, theScore Bet’s Vice President for Communications, offered some details of the transition process. “theScore Bet customers in the US will be directed to open Barstool accounts,” Sabreen told US Gaming Review. “They will not be able to transfer an account [or] balance over to Barstool Sportsbook.”
Levy added that the move enables the company to “maximize the value of both brands through our organic media and gaming approach.”
“Key to our strategy is integrating theScore media app with Barstool Sportsbook in the US, which we’re currently working towards. Bringing together theScore’s powerful sports media platform with Barstool Sportsbook, supported by our in-house technology will strengthen the overall US product offering and broaden its reach.”
Where theScore Bet is Currently Live in the US
At present, theScore Bet is live in four US states — Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, and New Jersey.
The brand made its US debut when it launched in New Jersey in September 2019, through the racino license of the Monmouth Park Racetrack. One year later, theScore Bet launched in Colorado through a partnership with The Gilpin Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado.
Also in September 2020, theScore Bet launched in Indiana as one of two online casino skins for the Ameristar Casino Hotel, a riverboat in East Chicago. While the other online skin is run by DraftKings, Barstool runs the retail sportsbook at Ameristar.
The most recent US sportsbook launch came in Iowa in February 2021. In that state, theScore Bet is partnered with the riverboat Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs. Ameristar operates its own branded retail sportsbook, but theScore Bet and Barstool are the online skins.
It’s not clear what will happen to the licenses that theScore Bet is using in the four US states, but they are owned by PNG.
