ESPN and DraftKings Close to a New Partnership

ESPN owns a small piece of DraftKings. Now the network and the sportsbook are reportedly on the cusp of something big. Bettors would say it has to do with sports betting—they’d probably be right.

The scuttlebutt around the water cooler is that ESPN and DraftKings are close to something big, a new partnership perhaps. Details are not being revealed yet. But off the record, this could draw the Disney-owned sports network closer to sports betting end game, according to Bloomberg.

In any event, the principals aren’t talking aloud.

And don’t forget that Disney already owns a piece of DraftKings as part of its purchase of the entertainment side of Fox.

“We know that sports fans are craving not just more sports betting content, but they’re craving the ability to actually place bets in a seamless fashion from their online digital sports experiences,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told Bloomberg.

What Disney craves is a $3 billion deal for a sports betting partnership with ESPN.