ESPN Bet Applies for Missouri Online Sportsbook License

The soon-to-launch Missouri sports betting market just got a little more crowded.

ESPN Bet has officially filed an application with the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) for one of the state’s online licenses. The sportsbook has market access because its parent company, Penn Entertainment, has retail casinos across the state. They join five other operators who are seeking licenses, with DraftKings and Circa Sports already approved.

The deadline for sportsbook to submit their license applications is today.

Busy Year for ESPN Bet

Despite massive investments and a massive ESPN userbase, the sportsbook has been unable to turn a profit. While leadership has promised profits would be coming early in 2026, some investors are trying to push Penn to close the platform once the contract with ESPN runs out next year.

Despite the pushback, Penn has made a significant investment in ESPN Bet in 2025. They launched a new integrated experience which links all of a customers ESPN accounts. This allows bettors to research their wagers and fantasy teams in one place. 

Not long after, the sportsbook announced a new injury insurance policy for the NFL season. This will allow bettors to have their wagers refunded with bonus bets if a player involved is injured and leaves the game before halftime. Given the number of injuries the league sees, Penn hopes this small change will have a significant impact.

Can ESPN Bet Compete in the Show-Me State?

We love the new features ESPN Bet has added, but they won’t help the company compete in Missouri. All of the country’s top sportsbooks will be live in the market, including FanDuel and DraftKings. Those two operators own over 80% of the US market share and feature injury insurance policies of their own.

The market is also considering an application from Fanatics Sportsbook, which launched around the same time as ESPN Bet. However, their sportsbooks have seen massive success, leading them to close the gap on the industry’s top two sportsbooks. Their success has amplified ESPN Bet’s failure and could serve to be the proverbial “nail in the coffin” for ESPN Bet in Missouri.

Eight Licenses Expected to go Unfilled

While Missouri is on track to have around eight sportsbooks, that means eight online licenses will go unused. 

While a state not awarding all of its licenses isn’t uncommon, it shows a growing problem in the sports betting industry. Smaller operators are no longer interested in investing millions to join new markets, as they recognize the uneven playing field for sportsbooks will make profits impossible.

Among the eight operators looking to join the market, ESPN Bet and Underdog seem to be likely candidates to fail. 

As we have mentioned above, it appears ESPN Bet could be gone before 2027. 

Underdog has been successful enough in North Carolina to expand into Missouri, but they could also be in trouble. The DFS giant has seen a California crackdown on daily fantasy, and other states could soon follow. If their DFS revenue takes a hit, it will affect how much they can invest in their Missouri sportsbook.