ESPN BET Alternative: It's Called theScore Bet Now

ESPN BET Alternative: You Were Already Given One

An ESPN BET alternative search in September 2026 usually starts from confusion, not choice — the app changed names on its own. PENN Entertainment retired the ESPN BET brand on December 1, 2025 and moved every account to theScore Bet automatically, so the "alternative" most searchers are actually looking for already happened without anyone asking for it.

Most "brand alternative" searches come from a reader comparing options on purpose. An ESPN BET alternative search is different — the brand switched itself out from under people. PENN Entertainment retired the ESPN BET name on December 1, 2025, after mutually ending its trademark deal with ESPN, and rolled every account into theScore Bet without anyone asking for a replacement. Before naming real competitors, it’s worth being clear about which question is actually being answered.

The Alternative Already Happened: theScore Bet

theScore Bet isn’t a rival that beat ESPN BET to a customer. It’s the same operator — PENN Entertainment — running the same sportsbook, under the same state licenses ESPN BET held, rebuilt on PENN’s Canadian theScore media brand. Login, balance, bet history, and any pending wagers moved over automatically. Calling that an "alternative" is technically true and practically misleading: nothing about the product, the odds, or the regulatory backing changed. Only the name and the app icon did.

What actually changed: the ESPN trademark license and the ESPN app integrations. What didn’t: the operator, the state-by-state licenses, the account, and the funds sitting in it.

If the Goal Is a Genuinely Different Company

That’s a fair thing to want, and it has real answers. ESPN BET’s old footprint ran to roughly 19 states — Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Of the operators reviewed on this site, BetRivers is the closest state-for-state match: 15 states, overlapping almost all of that list, run by Rush Street Interactive rather than PENN. DraftKings (27-plus states) and FanDuel (24-plus) reach further, covering nearly the entire old ESPN BET map and then some, but that makes them a wider swap, not a closer one.

Closest overlap: BetRivers, 15 states, most of ESPN BET’s old list.

Widest coverage: DraftKings (27-plus states), FanDuel (24-plus), both including nearly all of it.

No Casino to Replace

ESPN BET never launched an online casino product — sportsbook only, in every state it operated. So a search for an "ESPN BET casino alternative" doesn’t have anything to compare against; theScore Bet inherits that same sportsbook-only scope, and any of the sportsbooks named above would be a new category, not a replacement.

States ESPN BET Never Reached

California, Texas, and Florida were never on ESPN BET’s list, and switching brand names doesn’t change that — none of the mainstream US sportsbooks are licensed for online betting in those states. Hard Rock Bet is a partial exception in Florida, operating under the Seminole Tribe’s gaming compact rather than a standard state license, a legal path ESPN BET never had access to either.

Whichever name ends up on the app, treat it as entertainment spending, not income, and confirm the operator is actually licensed in the specific state before depositing anywhere. 21+ where legal. Call 1-800-GAMBLER for help.

ESPN BET alternative — Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best ESPN BET alternative?

If the account in question used to be ESPN BET, theScore Bet already is the alternative — same PENN Entertainment operator and state licenses, funds and history carried over automatically on December 1, 2025. For a genuinely different company, BetRivers overlaps most closely with ESPN BET's old roughly 19-state list; DraftKings and FanDuel cover more states overall but aren't a narrower match, just a wider one.

Do I have to keep using theScore Bet, or can I pick a different sportsbook instead?

Nothing requires staying. The migration moved existing balances and open bets automatically, but withdrawing funds and signing up elsewhere — DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Fanatics, Hard Rock Bet, or BetRivers, depending on the state — is a normal, unrestricted choice.

Is there an ESPN BET alternative in California, Texas, or Florida?

Not as a sportsbook, and ESPN BET was never there to begin with. Its roughly 19-state footprint never included California, Texas, or Florida, because none of those states have legalized mobile sports betting for any operator. Hard Rock Bet is a partial exception in Florida specifically, but under a tribal gaming compact rather than a standard state license — not a slot ESPN BET ever held.

What about an ESPN BET casino alternative?

There is nothing to replace. ESPN BET was sportsbook-only and never launched an online casino product under that name, so this search doesn't have a "before" to compare against. theScore Bet inherits that same sportsbook-only scope.

Which alternative covers the most of ESPN BET's old states?

BetRivers is the closest state-for-state overlap, live in 15 states that include most of ESPN BET's old list — Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. DraftKings and FanDuel reach more states in total but that's a wider net, not a tighter match.

Is theScore Bet safe to use since it replaced ESPN BET?

Yes — it's the same PENN Entertainment license and state gaming oversight ESPN BET operated under, just under a new name built on PENN's Canadian theScore media brand. The rename was a marketing decision after PENN and ESPN unwound their trademark deal early, not a regulatory or financial problem.