Pat McAfee makes fun of ESPN BET after disastrous Penn Entertainment earnings

Pat McAfee couldn’t help but throw shade at ESPN Bet during a segment on his show Thursday. 

The host of “The Pat McAfee Show” stopped himself mid-sentence after an ad for the ESPN-sponsored and Penn Entertainment-operated sportsbook appeared on the screen. 

“Things are going great here,” McAfee said sarcastically as he pointed to the ESPN Bet logo on the screen. “Not at all.”

The company came up short of expert estimates, reporting a net loss of $114.9 million and a year-over-year revenue decline of 3.8 percent during a disastrous earnings call for the first quarter of the year — the first with data from ESPN Bet.

“Admittedly, we have not been as tight and accurate with our financial forecasts in the early days of ESPN BET, which is not representative of our long-term track record or internal expectations at Penn,” Penn CEO Jay Snowden said during the call, per SportsHandle. 

Penn Entertainment’s stock price fell by as much as 15 percent Thursday, settling in at a near 9 percent drop for the day at market close.

“ESPN Bet’s got a lot of room to grow,” McAfee said. “Hey, good luck. Let’s go ESPN Bet. You get knocked down, you come back. Legit. Good luck. We’re pulling for it because we are on ESPN and obviously we’re a part of ESPN, so we would like ESPN stuff to succeed.

“Now, granted, ESPN Bet, I don’t think ESPN people are running the book,” he added. “With that said, let’s go. You’ve got ESPN on it.”

Get the lowdown on the Best USA Sports Betting Sites and Apps

ESPN jumped into the sports betting game with a 10-year, $150 million per year ($1.5 billion total) licensing deal with Penn last August and launched in November 2023. 

“While we are pleased with the early ESPN Bet adoption and engagement results, our focus heading into this football season will be on enhancing our product offerings, including a refreshed home screen and expanded parlay offerings,” Snowden said in a statement, according to Sportico.