ESPN Bet is off to a bad start [Video]

How is ESPN Bet doing so far? To quote the Bubble Boy, “Not too good.”

Before going any farther with this, here’s a disclaimer. NBC has a gambling deal with DraftKings; PFT the online operation has had no gambling deal, ever.

We’ve had opportunities. We’ve passed, for various reasons. Among other things, I’ve got lingering concerns that too many people will view sports betting as a way to make money and not what it truly is — a form of entertainment that entails, for the vast majority of those who do it, a high degree of certainty that you will lose money.

And that’s fine. People lose (spend) discretionary income in all sorts of ways. But it’s a reliable way to make money only for the house.

Except for Penn National, that is.

After its deal with Barstool went belly up, Penn pivoted to ESPN Bet with a deal that pays $1.5 billion over 10 years, along …