PENN's own sportsbook brand, relaunched across 21 US states after the ESPN BET partnership ended
Visit theScore Bet →theScore Bet welcome bonus in Canada
Context for Canada: Canada regulates gambling province by province, so what is lawful depends on where you are. Ontario runs the country's open market: private operators register with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and operate under an agreement with iGaming Ontario, alongside the provincial operator OLG. Most other provinces keep online gambling with their own provincial operator. ONE ONTARIO RULE AFFECTS WHAT YOU SEE HERE: the Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming prohibit advertising or marketing that communicates gambling inducements, bonuses or credits to the public - operators may still OFFER them, but may only advertise them on their own gaming site or by direct marketing to players who have actively consented. Permitted advertising must disclose material conditions up front, must not call an offer free unless it truly is, and must not call it risk-free where you stake your own money. If you are in Ontario, expect to find the current terms of any offer on the operator's own site rather than anywhere else, and treat a headline figure quoted elsewhere - including here - as something to verify at source.
Here is the current theScore Bet welcome offer for players in Canada. Bonus terms change and are set by theScore Bet for each market — always confirm the live offer on its own site. See every licensed betting site in Canada →
Pros
- Genuine licensing across 20 US states plus Ontario AGCO regulation
- A sizeable First Bet Reset up to USD 1,000 in the US
- Large casino welcome packages in both the US and Ontario
- Correctly complies with Ontario's ban on sportsbook sign-up bonuses
Cons
- No sportsbook sign-up bonus for Ontario customers (a legal requirement, not a brand shortcoming)
- US bonus bets are not withdrawable and must be used within 7 days
- The brand has changed twice in two years - theScore Bet, then ESPN BET, then theScore Bet again
- PENN is expected to record an USD 825 million write-down on the ended ESPN partnership
Our verdict
theScore Bet is PENN Entertainment's own sportsbook brand, run through Score Media and Gaming, which PENN bought in August 2021 for around USD 2 billion. It is regulated state by state across 21 US jurisdictions and registered with the AGCO in Ontario - a genuinely accountable structure. The recent history matters, and it is why the link on this page was broken until now. PENN and ESPN agreed in November 2025 to end their ten-year US sports betting partnership only two years in, with PENN expected to take an USD 825 million write-down. On 1 December 2025 ESPN BET was retired and its customers were moved to theScore Bet: the same app, the same login, with balances, open wagers and responsible-gambling settings carried across. If you had an ESPN BET account, it is a theScore Bet account now. One practical correction while we are here. The domain we previously listed for this brand, bet.thescore.com, no longer exists at all - anyone who followed it from this page reached nothing. The live site is thescore.bet. We found that with a DNS audit built after a similar failure elsewhere on this site, and it is the kind of rot that goes unnoticed precisely because nobody rechecks a link they added once.
How we rated it
Trust & licensing (27%)8.3
State-by-state US regulation across 21 jurisdictions plus AGCO registration in Ontario, under PENN Entertainment, a listed operator - about as accountable as this dataset gets. Trimmed slightly because the brand has changed twice in two years (theScore Bet to ESPN BET to theScore Bet again), and while the December 2025 migration preserved logins, balances and open wagers, a customer who stops paying attention can lose track of which brand holds their money.
Sportsbook & Casino (36%)8
A well-established brand active across 20 US states and Ontario, Canada, linked to PENN Entertainment.
Bonuses & value (18%)8
A real, sizeable First Bet Reset up to USD 1,000 in the US, plus large casino welcome packages in both markets.
Customer support (18%)7.5
No major documented complaint pattern found.
Quick facts
| Licensing | 21 US states; AGCO registration in Ontario, Canada |
| Owner | Score Media and Gaming, owned by PENN Entertainment since August 2021 |
| Official site | thescore.bet - the old bet.thescore.com domain no longer exists |
| Brand history | ESPN BET customers moved to theScore Bet on 1 December 2025 when PENN and ESPN ended their agreement early |
| Account migration | Same app and login; balances, open wagers and responsible-gambling settings carried over |
| Markets | United States (21 states), Canada (Ontario) |
| Welcome bonus (US sportsbook) | First Bet Reset up to USD 1,000 (5 bonus bets of 20% each) |
| Welcome bonus (US casino) | 300 bonus spins + up to USD 500 PENN Play Credits, code SBDCASINO |
| Welcome bonus (CA-ON casino) | First deposit match up to CAD 1,000 + 50 free spins + CAD 100 free bets |
How we verified this
The official domain was checked against a public DNS resolver rather than this machine's, which silently fails on gambling domains. We distinguish three states deliberately: bet.thescore.com is NXDOMAIN (gone), thescore.bet resolves and serves, and a 403 from a US sportsbook to a non-US request is geo-blocking rather than evidence of anything. Corporate facts come from PENN's own investor release and the operator's help centre, not from affiliate summaries.
Where theScore Bet is licensed
theScore Bet appears on the official register in 2 countries. Highlighted countries have a full local review — pick yours for its welcome bonus and licence details.
North America (2)
About theScore Bet
theScore Bet is a well-established sportsbook and casino brand under PENN Entertainment, licensed across 20 US states and regulated in Ontario, Canada. It offers real, quantified welcome bonuses tailored to each market's regulations. We found no regulatory action against this operator in the sources we consulted, which is a statement about our research rather than about the operator.
theScore Bet FAQ
Is theScore Bet safe and legit?
Yes — theScore Bet is licensed across 20 US states and regulated by Ontario's AGCO in Canada, linked to PENN Entertainment/Hollywood Casino. No major scandal was found during this research.
What is the theScore Bet welcome bonus?
In the US, sportsbook players get a First Bet Reset up to USD 1,000, and casino players get 300 bonus spins plus up to USD 500 in PENN Play Credits. In Ontario, Canada, casino players get a first deposit match up to CAD 1,000 plus 50 free spins and CAD 100 free bets; no sportsbook sign-up bonus is offered there, since Ontario bans such promotions.