ESPN Bet is no more.

ESPN Bet came and, on Dec. 1, ESPN Bet will go. It‘s no longer. PENN Entertainment’s big gamble to use the ESPN branding to build a sportsbook that could compete with the titans of the online sports betting industry didn’t pay off. In fact, it was a massive failure.

On Thursday, the sides announced a mutual agreement to terminate a partnership that began just two years ago. Under that 10-year deal worth $150 million per year, PENN was set to pay ESPN up to $1.5 billion in addition to giving the company warrants to purchase PENN stock. At the time it was announced in 2023, it was a big deal — a huge swing for a gaming company looking to grow its market-share in the sports betting space after a previous failed partnership with Barstool. It turned out to be another strikeout.

ESPN Bet owned just a three percent share of the sports betting market as of earlier this year, according to data from H2 Gambling Capital. Which paled in comparison to the 44 percent share held by FanDuel and 34 percent of DraftKings, and still came in behind BetMGM and Fanatics.

“When we first announced our partnership with ESPN, both sides made it clear that we expected to compete for a podium position in the space,” PENN CEO and president Jay Snowden said in the announcement. “Although we made significant progress in improving our product offering and building a cohesive ecosystem with ESPN, we have mutually and amicably agreed to wind down our collaboration.”

ESPN’s next move is a multi-year partnership to make DraftKings its official sportsbook and odds provider, because if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. As for PENN, the company is rebranding its sportsbook a third time, to theScore Bet. This time he company will likely need to adjust its expectations of competing with the big dogs. If a large market share wasn’t attainable with ESPN’s branding, it’ll be even tougher to acquire without. If everyone else is competing for third place, PENN is probably just competing to be a player now.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: ESPN Bet was a massive failure

Reporting by Prince J. Grimes, For The Win / For The Win

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect