Not only did Week 11’s Super Bowl rematch between the Eagles and Chiefs hit viewership highs, it became the most-bet Monday night game in terms of handle and third highest overall this season, according to Caesars Sportsbook (and we stayed away from any Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce puns). ESPN Bet appears poised to go after DraftKings and FanDuel after all signs point to a successful first week of action. Meanwhile, bet365 got a head start in North Carolina and also began operating in the bayou.
Bettors, Viewers Tush Push MNF; ESPN Bet Looking Good and Other Betting News
Bettors Tush Push Eagles-Chiefs to Top MNF Handle, Viewership This Season
Monday night’s Super Bowl rematch between the Eagles and Chiefs delivered on the field and in the sportsbooks. The Eagles avenged last year’s Super Bowl with a 21-17 win on ESPN. With Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the call, the Eagles used their soon-to-be trademarked “Brotherly Shove” twice, including once to get Jalen Hurts into the endzone. However, bettors didn’t need much of a push to make this the top-bet Monday night game in terms of handle this season.
According to Assistant Director of Trading at Caesars Sportsbook, Adam Pullen, the game was projected as a Top-10 game in terms of total handle. According to the sportsbook, it ended as the third-ranked game overall. It finished behind Week 4’s Chiefs and Jets at MetLife and Week 5’s Niners and Cowboys. Both of those games were on a Sunday night.
“You’ve got two great teams, a primetime kickoff, and the spread is close – that typically generates a high-handle game,” said Pullen.
It was also reported this week that the game was the highest-viewed this season. It was also the most-viewed TV show since the Super Bowl, which also featured these two teams. The game was seen by an average of 28.96 million people across ABC (15.55 million), ESPN (11.49 million), and ESPN2’s Manningcast (1.92 million). It’s the largest audience for a Monday night regular-season game since a November 1996 game between Green Bay and Dallas (31.45 million viewers). The previous best ESPN MNF viewership mark was 22.64 million viewers for this season’s Week 1 game that saw the Jets play the Bills in what was Aaron Rodgers’ four-play debut with New York.
Eagles, Chiefs Remain Betting Faves With Niners to Win Super Bowl
The Eagles (9-1) cemented themselves atop the NFC with the win. They are co-favorites with the Chiefs (7-3) and 49ers (7-3) to win the Super Bowl at +450, according to bet365.
Travis Kelce’s struggles without gal-pal Taylor Swift in attendance continued. He had a touchdown to help bettors cash his Anytime TD but had a key fumble in the fourth quarter. He ended with 7 catches for only 44 yards.
ESPN Bet’s First Week Appears a Success
While ESPN Bet spokespeople were mum when asked for details regarding the first week of the app’s launch in 17 states, there seems to be little reason to believe it wasn’t a successful start to this 10-year, $1.5 billion partnership between PENN Entertainment and the World Wide Leader.
PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN), which operates the betting app, saw an uptick in its stock shares after the launch. The online gaming provider moved from $22.92 per share on Nov. 13 to as high as $26.25 as of close on Nov. 20. The excitement also led Bank of America analyst Shaun Kelley to upgrade the stock from a hold to a buy. Kelley moved the target to $30 per share.
Kelly added on Monday, “ESPN Bet is dominating initial download activity and charts, proving it is cutting through to customers. ESPN Bet has been #1 or #2 of all free apps on the iOS store since last Tuesday, with 865K cumulative downloads and a 4.8 app store rating, even without data from NFL Sunday.”
More Features, Cross-Promotion Expected at ESPN Bet
It’s expected that ESPN Bet will become more and more integrated into ESPN’s traditional platforms. In addition to the scoreboards, including odds from ESPN Bet and Daily Wager being re-branded, talent commercials are planned. Daily Fantasy could also be on the horizon.
“We’re extremely proud to introduce ESPN BET and look forward to delivering an exceptional customer experience to fans across the U.S.,” said Jay Snowden, CEO & President of PENN Entertainment, in last week’s press release announcement. “Our successful launch is the culmination of months of hard work across both teams, and we could not be more excited to roll out ESPN BET in partnership with ESPN. PENN’s operational excellence paired with ESPN’s unmatched brand and reach is a powerful combination that will drive this compelling new sportsbook.”
Editor’s note: this writer does not hold stock in PENN Entertainment. He owns stock in ESPN’s parent company, Disney.
bet365 Inks Deal With Hornets; Enters Louisiana
Sports betting is not legal in North Carolina, but that didn’t stop the Charlotte Hornets from getting a head start. On Nov. 17, Hornets Sports & Entertainment (HSE) named bet365, a partner of SGPN, its official mobile sports betting partner.
The exclusive long-term partnership is subject to bet365 becoming licensed to operate in North Carolina. The deal provides bet365 with significant branding and signage at the Spectrum Center, as well as on hornets.com. Hornets social media platforms, the Hornets App, and the team’s TV and radio game broadcasts will also feature bet365.
“We are excited to announce this partnership with bet365,” said HSE Chief Revenue Officer Jacob Gallagher. “Since the day Governor Cooper signed sports wagering into law at Spectrum Center in June, we sought a partner that would help us provide our fans with new, additional opportunities to engage with their favorite sports teams. We are confident that bet365 is a great fit with our organization and can help us do that.”
In other news, bet365 took its first bets in the bayou on Tuesday, going live in Louisiana. Bet365 is available in seven states. The sportsbook is expected to be available in North Carolina when it goes live in 2024.
