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A large number of employees at theScore Esports have been laid off as parent company, PENN Entertainment, prepares to focus on theScore Bet relaunching in the US betting and gaming industry.
Several employees took to social media to post goodbye messages. Sean Wetselaar, manager of esports content at the company, wrote, “Our parent company made the decision to eliminate my role along with a vast majority of the staff this morning.”
Senior Features Lead Danielle Rosen also confirmed she would no longer be working at the company in a post on X.
She said that “I was lucky for so long, but the party is over.”
Several others made similar posts, noting they were leaving the company after years of contributing to theScore’s esports content. The team’s YouTube channel has over 2 million subscribers, producing more than 7,000 videos over the years.
PENN Moves theScore Away From Content Towards Gambling
PENN paid $2 billion to acquire theScore in 2021 and has been gradually shifting the company’s focus away from content production, with a greater emphasis on sports betting and iGaming.
In the summer, 75 staff members were laid off, with a company spokesperson stating, “These changes reflect the ongoing evolution of our digital business.”
While scaling back on content, the company launched theScore Casino in Ontario, and plans to expand its reach in Canada by launching in Alberta when the province opens up to regulated betting companies.
theScore Bet To Lead PENN’s Sports Betting In The US
PENN will also relaunch theScore Bet in the US, which will now be its primary online betting and gaming platform. After acquiring theScore in 2021, PENN withdrew theScore Bet the US a year later and decided to focus purely on the Canadian market.
This came at the same time as PENN signed a deal with ESPN to launch ESPN Bet in the US. It had planned to run the platform for ten years, but the venture was not able to make the desired inroads into the sports betting industry.
Earlier this month, it announced that it would terminate its deal with ESPN, bringing to an end the ESPN Bet experiment after only three years. It had paid ESPN $150 million a year to run the branded sportsbook.
This marks a second failure in sports betting following the unceremonious end to its partnership with Barstool Sports. PENN paid $550 million to acquire Barstool but ultimately sold the company back to its owner, Dave Portnoy, for just $1.
PENN has attracted much criticism from investors over its sports betting failures. Investor group HG Vora published a 116-page document earlier this year slamming upper management over their “value-destructive deal-making, reckless capital allocation and poor execution.”
PENN’s stock price is at a new low of $13.75 from $130 before it acquired theScore in 2021.
