Numerous staff at theScore Esports have been laid off as mother or father firm, PENN Leisure, prepares to concentrate on theScore Guess relaunching within the US betting and gaming business.
A number of staff took to social media to publish goodbye messages. Sean Wetselaar, supervisor of esports content material on the firm, wrote, “Our mother or father firm made the choice to get rid of my position together with a overwhelming majority of the employees this morning.”
Senior Options Lead Danielle Rosen additionally confirmed she would not be working on the firm in a publish on X.
She mentioned that “I used to be fortunate for therefore lengthy, however the celebration is over.”
A number of others made comparable posts, noting they have been leaving the corporate after years of contributing to theScore’s esports content material. The group’s YouTube channel has over 2 million subscribers, producing greater than 7,000 movies over time.
PENN Strikes theScore Away From Content material In direction of Playing
PENN paid $2 billion to accumulate theScore in 2021 and has been step by step shifting the corporate’s focus away from content material manufacturing, with a larger emphasis on sports activities betting and iGaming.
In the summertime, 75 employees members have been laid off, with an organization spokesperson stating, “These modifications mirror the continued evolution of our digital enterprise.”
Whereas scaling again on content material, the corporate launched theScore On line casino in Ontario, and plans to develop its attain in Canada by launching in Alberta when the province opens as much as regulated betting corporations.
theScore Guess To Lead PENN’s Sports activities Betting In The US
PENN will even relaunch theScore Guess within the US, which is able to now be its major on-line betting and gaming platform. After buying theScore in 2021, PENN withdrew theScore Guess the US a 12 months later and determined to focus purely on the Canadian market.
This got here concurrently PENN signed a cope with ESPN to launch ESPN Guess within the US. It had deliberate to run the platform for ten years, however the enterprise was not capable of make the specified inroads into the sports activities betting business.
Earlier this month, it introduced that it will terminate its cope with ESPN, bringing to an finish the ESPN Guess experiment after solely three years. It had paid ESPN $150 million a 12 months to run the branded sportsbook.
This marks a second failure in sports activities betting following the unceremonious finish to its partnership with Barstool Sports activities. PENN paid $550 million to accumulate Barstool however in the end bought the corporate again to its proprietor, Dave Portnoy, for simply $1.
PENN has attracted a lot criticism from traders over its sports activities betting failures. Investor group HG Vora revealed a 116-page doc earlier this 12 months slamming higher administration over their “value-destructive deal-making, reckless capital allocation and poor execution.”
PENN’s inventory value is at a brand new low of $13.75 from $130 earlier than it acquired theScore in 2021.
