TheScore founders to exit Penn Interactive
The Levy family – John, Benjie, Aubrey and Noah – will exit Penn Interactive over the coming weeks. Penn Entertainment said this forms part of a planned leadership transition.
John Levy will be the first to leave, stepping down in mid-February. Benjie, Aubrey and Noah will follow in April.
“This transition plan comes at a natural inflection point, with the migration to our proprietary technology platform complete, TheScore’s media and betting business delivering record results and ESPN Bet off to a strong start,” Penn Entertainment CEO and president Jay Snowden said.
“The Levys are a family of successful entrepreneurs and are truly pioneers in the sports media and gaming industry. I am very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish with them, including the development of an extremely deep and talented bench at Penn Interactive.
“With this experienced, best-in-class team firmly in place, we are well prepared for this to be a seamless transition and to continue growing our position as a leader in online gaming and sports media.”
TheScore and Penn: The ESPN Bet story
Confirming the departures, Penn also said it is in the final stages of its search for a new head of interactive. An update is due in the not-too-distant future.
Benjie Levy has served as head of Penn Interactive since October of 2021. This came when Penn acquired Score Media and Gaming (TheScore) and integrated the business into its Penn Interactive unit. John Levy also assumed the role of executive chairman of TheScore.
Since the acquisition, there have been several notable achievements for Penn. These include the launch of TheScore Bet in Ontario and migrating onto a proprietary technology stack.
However, above all is arguably the launch of ESPN Bet in November of last year. This is the product of a $1.5bn (£1.2bn/€1.4bn) partnership with Disney-owned ESPN struck in August 2023. ESPN Bet replaced the Barstool Sportsbook operation, with the Barstool brand being sold back to its founder, Dave Portnoy.
Levy family: Penn experience “extremely rewarding”
“Working at Penn has been extremely rewarding,” Benjie Levy said. “Our focus on creating industry leading technology and products has been second only to our efforts in building a world-class team and fostering a special place to work.
“We could not be more proud of this team and what we have accomplished together. We look forward to watching as they continue to build upon the successful foundation we established at TheScore.”
John Levy added: “The enduring success of TheScore is due to the passionate and committed team that helped launch, develop and innovate our products to provide the best possible fan experience.
“Empowering fans with a seamlessly integrated media and betting experience has been core to our mission since day one. That strategy has led to the success of TheScore and TheScore Bet in Ontario and ESPN Bet in the US and will continue to differentiate this online gaming business going forward.”