Furthermore, it is possible ESPN could have required DraftKings to drop its own brand in favor of ESPN branding, which would have clearly presented its own hurdles.” But MoffettNathanson believes that “given DraftKings already had a non-exclusive partnership with ESPN, it isn’t clear to us that the $150 million annual payments at this point would generate the necessary ROI to commit to a new deal. PENN will now look to leverage ESPN’s leading sports platform as a much more efficient top-of-funnel approach to convert new users to its platform, especially with ESPN Fantasy players.
