Big picture, this is likely the first step for Disney to reposition ESPN through new partnerships and even a potential new strategic equity partner that might help ESPN with distribution and content as well as capital to de-risk the asset for the company. The PENN/ESPN partnership also raises the question of whether Disney will hold on to its stake of less than 5% in DraftKings or look to unwind its position. Once youre up to speed, you can play real money blackjack at one of our top-rated online casinos. Playing online blackjack for free also helps you to develop your strategy without risking your own cash. Furthermore, it is possible ESPN could have required DraftKings to drop its own brand in favor of ESPN branding, which would have clearly presented its own hurdles.” Enjoy all the popular free blackjack games right here, with no sign up and no download needed. But MoffettNathanson believes that “given DraftKings already had a non-exclusive partnership with ESPN, it isn’t clear to us that the $150 million annual payments at this point would generate the necessary ROI to commit to a new deal. PENN will now look to leverage ESPN’s leading sports platform as a much more efficient top-of-funnel approach to convert new users to its platform, especially with ESPN Fantasy players.
