The challenges continue for troubled PENN Entertainment after a report this week concerning asset sales and discontinuing the struggling ESPN brand, coinciding with a 13% decline in the company’s stock value this year. 

Stocks Plunge Sharply 

The founder of theScore Bet, acquired by PENN in October 2021, expressed harsh opinions regarding PENN's handling of its acquired assets during last week’s NEXT Summit in New York. 

John Levy established theScore as a television broadcasting entity in Canada prior to its evolution into a sports media and wagering industry offering. theScore became the first media organization to develop and introduce a sportsbook in Canada. 

Levy Takes a Swing at PENN 

In a tale initially covered by Awful Announcing, Levy shared his initial public remarks following his departure from the firm he established in February 2024. 

PENN purchased theScore prior to the April 2022 launch of the regulated Ontario iGaming market and incorporated theScore into its PENN Interactive division, led by Benjie Levy as head of interactive and John Levy as executive chairman of theScore. 

Barstool Agreement a "Debacle" 

A year ago, PENN Entertainment unexpectedly revealed that theScore's founding family in Canada – John Levy, Benjie Levy, Aubrey Levy, and Noah Levy – would resign from their positions at PENN Interactive. Aubrey Levy had been exploring innovative avenues for theScore Bet's marketing, such as establishing a HOLE ZERO market activation at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open held at Oakdale Golf & Country Club in Toronto, which included a real 150-yard Par 3 golf hole constructed above No. 7 on the Oakdale course. 

The company indicated at that time this was all part of a "scheduled leadership change." 

Turbulent Connection 

At NEXT last week, Levy commented about the relationship with PENN after they bought theScore:

"I just think you had to give more trust to the people who brought you to the party, which was us. There was a bit of—we bought it and we’ll take it from here, thank you very much. When you’re as involved in the business as we always were and you can see where it was going, and when things you might have been doing were happening differently—it was very hard, very frustrating.”

PENN leveraged the Canadian firm's technology to launch Barstool Sportsbook in September 2020 and subsequently ESPN Bet in November 2023. 

PENN acquired Barstool Sports for $551 million and later sold it back to founder Dave Portnoy in 2023 for $1 after their business partnership faltered. PENN invested $1.5 billion in ESPN over a span of 10 years to create ESPN Bet. 

Selections From Pres 

Portnoy, colloquially referred to as “El Presidente”, visited Canada once during the partnership, in April 2022, exploring Toronto, creating a “Picks From Pres” section for theScore Bet, and even stopping by multiple pizza establishments in Toronto for updates on his well-known pizza review social media account. 

“They had to settle this whole Barstool relationship which was a fiasco right from the get-go,” Levy told the NEXT audience. “Dave Portnoy’s not a stupid guy. He’s very smart. But it’s all about Dave, and unless you manage him properly, unless you control that properly, you’re not going to get the synergies you need. He’d go to a university, have his pregame parties, get a shitload of signups, and then there’d be no follow-up.”

theScore Bet Achieving Success in Canada 

Levy described the relationship among theScore Bet, Penn, and Barstool as "tumultuous." 

In February, Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden informed investors and analysts that theScore Bet represented a "very good story" for the company regarding revenues, gross profit, and contributions, highlighting Ontario as their leading market, while indicating that their attention in Canada is now directed toward Alberta, which aims to launch a competitive iGaming market in 2026.