ESPN Bet Announces Addition of New Injury Refund Policy

Penn Entertainment is taking another swing at saving its troubled ESPN Bet platform.

The sportsbooks announced they will be implementing a new injury refund policy, similar to some of their industry rivals. The policy will refund prop bets or void legs of parlays involving a player who leaves with an injury in the first half of a game. Players must be ruled out for the second half for the wager to be refunded.

It is important to note that all injury refunds will come in the form of bonus bets, not real cash. These bet credits can be used to place wagers, but cannot be withdrawn from your account.

Injury refund policies are a relatively new idea, but DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics have already added them to their platforms. Given the violence and physicality of the NFL, the policy has led many bettors to seek out those platforms to be better protected from heartbreaking losses.

While the change won’t help ESPN Bet compete with the industry leaders, that isn’t Penn’s goal at the moment. Given the sportsbook's struggles, the operator is hoping this change will help them compete with smaller rivals such as BetRivers, bet365, or Caesars. Doing so would allow Penn to keep the platform active beyond 2026, when its contract with ESPN expires.

ESPN Bet’s new injury insurance policy is live now, going into effect just before the NFL season kicks off.

ESPN Bet All-In This NFL Season

Penn will have a chance to close down the ESPN Bet platform at the end of 2026. The sportsbooks’ inability to turn a profit has angered investors, who already watched Penn leadership fail with Barstool Sportsbook. It has led to in-fighting between Penn’s CEO and key board members, leading to calls for new leadership.

As a result, the sportsbook has been fully integrated with ESPN. The hope is that this will not only keep ESPN bettors happy but also win over fantasy or ESPN+ users who are wagering with rivals. With odds and betting available all over ESPN, bettors can easily and quickly research and place wagers without ever leaving the app or website. 

No other US sportsbooks can offer this all-in-one service, but time will tell if bettors find it valuable enough to switch over to ESPN Bet.