PENN Entertainment has signed a new Canadian-facing partnership with the NFL that gives theScore Bet sportsbook and casino league and team intellectual property and advertising rights.
The deal spans PENN’s entire Canadian iGaming portfolio, which comprises not only theScore Bet but also the standalone theScore Casino app and the Hollywood Casino platform that uses the name of its primary U.S. brick-and-mortar casino brand.
The company said in a press release provided to Canadian Gaming Business that the deal will allow theScore Bet to build integrated campaigns and fan experiences around some of the league’s biggest moments and trademarks, including the Super Bowl and the NFL Draft.
Specific benefits theScore Bet gets from the deal include:
- ‘Official NFL Partner’ designation in Canada for both sportsbook and iCasino
- The rights to use NFL league and team IP and trademarks in approved marketing and promotional campaigns
- Shared media and promotional campaigns across both NFL and theScore-owned digital channels
- Access to NFL marketing, advertising, hospitality and fan engagement assets
- Access to NFL Canada digital media, database marketing opportunities, and promotional assets, as well as a presence at the league’s fan events and experiences
“theScore Bet is one of the most recognizable and trusted brands in Canada, with a proven track record of connecting with passionate sports fans,” said NFL Canada GM Gavin Kemp. “This partnership reflects our shared commitment to innovation and delivering exciting new ways for Canadians to engage with the NFL.
“We look forward to working together to create meaningful experiences for fans in Canada.”
theScore Bet joins BetMGM and others as NFL Canada partners
The NFL has other betting partners in Canada.
For example, in February, BetMGM announced a multi-year extension of its existing partnership with the NFL that included new status as an official sportsbook partner in Canada. The BetMGM agreement only covers sports betting and does not include BetMGM Casino.
BetMGM was already an approved sportsbook operator of the league in the U.S. That status, which is lower than official partner, allows it to market during game broadcasts. The NFL’s three official gaming partners in the U.S. for the current season are DraftKings, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, and FanDuel.
theScore seals prominent sports deals after Alberta launch
PENN Interactive VP of Marketing Justin Hergianto added that the NFL has a passionate following in Canada, and said the partnership gives theScore, which already covers the league extensively on its legacy media app across Canada, new ways to engage those fans.
Many of those NFL fans are in Ontario and Alberta, the two provinces in which theScore Bet and PENN’s other brands are able to offer regulated online gambling. PENN launched the two theScore-branded iGaming platforms and Hollywood Casino on day one of Alberta’s market opening, July 13.
“With theScore Bet live in Ontario and Alberta and theScore already a daily destination for millions of Canadian sports fans, we’re in a unique position to connect sports media and betting with the NFL experiences fans care about,” added Hergianto.
For Canadian-rooted sports and gaming brand theScore Bet, the NFL Canada deal is the latest major sports partnership that faces its home market. It has a 10-year exclusive deal with the Toronto Blue Jays that encompasses broadcast visibility, signage at the Rogers Centre, and the rights to offer exclusive casino games such as Blue Jays Blackjack.
theScore Bet is also the exclusive gaming partner of Golf Canada, which includes sponsorship of the RBC Canadian Open and CPKC Women’s Open.
This year, as PENN extended theScore’s gaming platforms into Alberta, it has focused on football.
It signed an agreement earlier in 2026 with the Canadian Football League (CFL) that made it an official betting and online casino partner in Ontario and Alberta. That partnership includes cross-branding, custom promotions, and an integration that allows users of the CFL app and theScore media app to opt in to view and engage with theScore Bet’s betting lines.
The deal also installed theScore Bet as the presenting sponsor of the new CFL app, which launched in early September, as well as the free-to-play CFL Fantasy game.
Five of the CFL’s nine teams play in either Ontario or Alberta, and numerous NFL teams are highly popular in those provinces. theScore Bet now has prominent positioning with both leagues in Canada.
PENN has high hopes for theScore Bet in Alberta
In early August, a few weeks after regulated Alberta iGaming opened for business, PENN Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden illustrated the importance of the Canadian market to the historic brick-and-mortar operator’s iGaming operations.
Snowden said on an earnings call on Aug. 6 that Ontario “is by a good margin our number one market” for online sports betting. PENN offers betting via theScore Bet in more than 20 U.S. states as well as its two Canadian provinces, following the American-facing sportsbook’s rebranding from ESPN Bet. Ontario is also one of PENN’s top two markets for online casino, along with the parent company’s home state of Pennsylvania.
PENN executives have publicly stated that they expect Alberta can challenge to be a top-three market for PENN Interactive.
“We’re encouraged by our Alberta user and handle volumes on a per capita basis and believe our exclusive strategic partnership in Canada with the Toronto Blue Jays will complement the strength of theScore Bet brand there,” Snowden said on the August call.
“We hope to have the same or similar market share to what we enjoy in Ontario. That’s the focus, and it’s looking good so far.”
