ESPN Bet announced a new FanCentre feature yesterday (4 August), a personalised betting hub for fantasy football players.
ESPN Bet announced its new FanCenter feature yesterday (4 August), a personalised betting hub for fantasy football players.
The product enhancement, set to launch this summer, is a personalised hub within the ESPN Bet app that allows customers to easily find betting markets based on their favourite teams, players and ESPN fantasy football rosters.
The Penn Entertainment-operated feature, powered by ESPN and ESPN Bet’s account-linking technology, was highlighted by the group as offering fans “the ultimate interconnected media, betting, and fantasy experience”.
It comes as Penn, which has leant heavily into media-led gaming, looks to improve its product offering ahead of a critical NFL season.
The company is facing a make-or-break year, which following an earlier proxy battle and continued tepid online market share in the US, could potentially see its $2bn licensing deal with Disney cancelled next year if things don’t improve, according to analysts.
Aaron LaBerge: FanCenter introduces ‘new level’ of personalisation
Aaron LaBerge, Penn’s chief technology officer and head of interactive brought in from Disney, said: “FanCenter introduces a completely new level of personalisation for ESPN Bet and represents our biggest product leap yet.
“It taps into our players’ fandom in smart, creative ways while connecting seamlessly with ESPN’s industry-leading fantasy football platform. This is what sets ESPN Bet apart and football season is the perfect time to show it off.”
The app now includes a “For You” page of curated player props, game markets and custom parlay offerings to help fans quickly find bets related to their preferences.
In addition, a new “Fantasy Bet Builder” has been built which highlights markets correlated to a user’s ESPN Fantasy roster, which allows them to place bets with little friction.
Meanwhile, ESPN Bet now integrates functionality with the app’s player insights feature, enabling users to quickly browse recent player stats and trends to inform their prop betting selections.
As well as the fantasy-related markets within FanCenter, a new “Find a Bet” icon within the ESPN Fantasy app will allow players to view markets related to their roster and add selections directly to their ESPN Bet slip.
More than 13 million playing ESPN Fantasy Football
The business highlighted that ESPN Fantasy Football set an all-time record last year with more than 13 million people playing the game.
Mike Morrison, ESPN Bet and ESPN Fantasy VP, added: “FanCenter is the perfect combination of fandom, fantasy and personalised betting all wrapped into the ESPN Bet betting experience.
“FanCenter showcases how we can serve fans across our platforms in a way that nobody else in the market can because of our industry-leading ESPN Fantasy platform and account-linking capabilities.”
The news follows a report in The Athletic that the NFL and ESPN had reached a blockbuster new deal that would see many of the league’s top media properties placed with the network in exchange for equity in the media giant potentially worth billions.