ESPN Bet to launch FanCenter ahead of 2025 NFL season, targeting fantasy-focused bettors

As the 2025 football season approaches, Penn Entertainment is introducing a major new feature within the ESPN Bet platform that blurs the lines between fantasy sports and real-money wagering. The product, dubbed FanCenter, is set to launch later this month and is described by Penn Chief Technology Officer Aaron LaBerge as ESPN Bet’s “biggest product leap yet.”

FanCenter will serve as a personalized hub within the ESPN Bet app, offering users tailored betting markets based on their favorite teams, players, and ESPN Fantasy Football lineups. The feature is being positioned as a tool to attract and retain a growing segment of sports fans who engage heavily with both fantasy leagues and sports betting.

“FanCenter introduces a completely new level of personalization for ESPN Bet players,” said LaBerge. “It taps into our players' fandom in smart, creative ways while connecting seamlessly with ESPN's industry-leading fantasy football platform.”

The new platform emerges amid internal research showing that fantasy players are nearly three times more likely to place bets compared to non-fantasy users. ESPN Bet, which operates through a licensing deal between ESPN and Penn Entertainment, intends to capitalize on this behavior by providing fantasy users with curated, bettable content that mirrors their fantasy rosters.

Penn Chief Technology Officer Aaron LaBerge

A central component of FanCenter is its immediacy. For example, a fantasy team featuring players such as Saquon Barkley, Ceedee Lamb, and Justin Herbert could generate customized parlay options across different NFL game days. 

These same users may be offered bets such as a Barkley anytime touchdown, an over on Lamb’s receiving yards, or a Chiefs defensive turnover. Rather than waiting for fantasy matchups to resolve by Monday night, bettors could potentially cash out winning tickets by Friday.

Other features include a ‘For You’ page with curated betting options, a ‘Fantasy Bet Builder’ that aligns with fantasy team selections, and a seamless connection between the ESPN Fantasy app and ESPN Bet via a new ‘Find a Bet’ icon. Users can also view player stats and betting trends to inform their prop selections, all within the same interface.

“FanCenter is the perfect combination of fandom, fantasy, and personalized betting all wrapped into the ESPN Bet betting experience,” said Mike Morrison, Vice President of ESPN Bet and ESPN Fantasy. “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.”

While ESPN Bet teased elements of this product last fall, the operator opted for a summer launch to coincide with both the fantasy football draft season and ESPN’s upcoming streaming service. The rollout also follows the November 2024 implementation of account linking between the ESPN main app and ESPN Bet, which saw increases in user engagement and betting activity. 

Analysts have noted that users with linked accounts tend to be more active and place a higher number of parlays. The move is also viewed as a push to strengthen ESPN Bet’s position in a highly competitive U.S. sportsbook market dominated by DraftKings and FanDuel, which together control about 75% of the national market share. According to Citizens’ data from June, no other sportsbook held a double-digit share.

The launch comes just days ahead of Penn Entertainment’s second-quarter earnings report, expected Thursday. Analysts forecast revenues of $1.73 billion, a 4.3% increase from the previous year, and a quarterly loss of $0.04 per share, an improvement from last year’s results. 

Penn CEO Jay Snowden

In May, Penn CEO Jay Snowden described the company’s digital division as approaching an “inflection point,” citing ongoing efforts to deliver a more distinct customer experience.

Still, Snowden acknowledged in a letter to shareholders that ESPN Bet’s performance had fallen short of early expectations, including a long-term target to secure at least 20% market share by 2027. 

As for FanCenter’s user base, LaBerge identifies three main groups: returning users who may have dropped off since ESPN Bet’s debut; the platform’s core fan base, who are likely to embrace the new features; and a critical third group, new users, particularly among the 13 million-plus who played ESPN Fantasy Football last season.

“FanCenter showcases how we can serve fans across our platforms in a way that nobody else in the market can,” Morrison added.

The official launch date for FanCenter has not been disclosed, though Penn confirmed that it is on track to go live before the start of the NFL season. All new features remain subject to regulatory approval.