Overall Vig
C · Rank #11 of 20
↓ 7-day trend: theScore Bet (ESPN Bet)'s average vig has improved by 0.21 percentage points over the past week (from 6.31% to 6.10%).
ESPN BET, which evolved from theScore Bet after Penn Entertainment's landmark deal with ESPN, operates as a fully regulated sportsbook across multiple U.S. states. The rebrand in late 2023 marked a significant strategic shift, leveraging ESPN's massive media footprint to drive user acquisition. It's firmly a recreational-facing book, built to attract the casual and mainstream sports fan rather than cater to sharp bettors or professional-level volume. The platform is licensed and regulated in every state where it operates, offering the standard consumer protections that come with legal U.S. sportsbooks.
The most obvious strength is the ESPN integration — access to editorial content, expert analysis, and seamless tie-ins with one of the largest sports media brands on the planet. For bettors who already live inside the ESPN ecosystem, the experience feels natural. The app itself offers a clean interface with solid market coverage across major sports. Where it falls short, however, is in the details that matter to more discerning bettors. Odds competitiveness has been inconsistent, often trailing sharper books like Pinnacle-influenced lines or even mainstream competitors like FanDuel and DraftKings. Promotions, while present, have been uneven in value, and early reviews of the platform flagged occasional UX friction and limited alt-line depth compared to more established operators.
ESPN BET is best suited for casual bettors and mainstream sports fans who value brand familiarity and content integration over razor-thin margins and market depth. It's not the book for high-volume grinders hunting the best number, but for someone placing a few bets on NFL Sundays while watching SportsCenter, it fits comfortably into the workflow. The long-term question is whether Penn can close the gap on product quality while the ESPN brand keeps driving traffic through the door.
Vig by Sport
| Sport | Avg Vig | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Primera División - Argentina | 7.30% | D |
| ATP Washington Open | 5.98% | C+ |
| Austrian Football Bundesliga | 7.47% | D |
| Boxing | 5.61% | C+ |
| CFL | 4.54% | B |
| EFL Cup | 5.78% | C+ |
| EPL | 7.75% | D |
| 3. Liga - Germany | 10.70% | F |
| KBO | 6.81% | C |
| MiLB | 6.36% | C |
| MLB | 4.27% | B |
| NCAAF | 4.58% | B |
| NFL | 4.51% | B |
| NFL Preseason | 4.69% | B |
| NHL | 4.67% | B |
| NPB | 6.73% | C |
| NRL | 6.81% | C |
| PLL | 6.17% | C |
| The Hundred | 8.00% | D- |
| MLS | 5.31% | C+ |
| WNBA | 4.53% | B |
| WTA Washington Open | 5.54% | C+ |
theScore Bet (ESPN Bet) Odds by Sport
Frequently Asked Questions
How good are theScore Bet (ESPN Bet) odds?
theScore Bet (ESPN Bet) has an average vig of 6.10%, earning a grade of C. They rank #11 out of 20 tracked sportsbooks.
What is vig (vigorish) in sports betting?
Vig — short for vigorish, also called juice or overround — is the margin a sportsbook builds into its odds. It's the difference between the true probability of an outcome and what the odds imply. Lower vig means you keep more of your winnings on every bet. For example, a standard -110/-110 line has about 4.76% vig.
How often is this data updated?
We pull fresh odds from The Odds API three times per day — at 6:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 10:00 PM UTC. Each snapshot captures the latest lines from every sportsbook that has posted odds. The timestamp at the top of the page shows the most recent refresh.
How is the vig grade calculated?
Each sportsbook is graded on a letter scale based on average vig: A+ (under 2%) is exceptional, A (2–3%) is excellent, B+ (3–4%) is above average, B (4–5%) is the industry standard, C (5–6%) is below average, and D (above 6%) indicates high-juice markets.
Why does lower vig matter for bettors?
Lower vig directly impacts your long-term returns. A bettor placing $1,000 per week at a book with 4% vig loses roughly $40/week to the house edge. At 2% vig, that drops to $20/week — a $1,040 difference over a year. For serious bettors, shopping for lower vig is one of the most reliable ways to improve profitability.
What sportsbooks do you track?
We track both regulated US sportsbooks (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars) and offshore books (Bovada, BetOnline, MyBookie, BetUS, LowVig.ag, BetAnySports). Data comes from The Odds API, which aggregates real-time lines from licensed sources.
How We Calculate These Numbers
- Data Source
- All odds on this page come from The Odds API, which aggregates real-time lines from licensed US and offshore sportsbooks. We track moneyline, spread, and totals markets across every sport with active betting lines.
- Update Frequency
- We pull a fresh snapshot of every tracked market three times per day — at 6:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 10:00 PM UTC. Each snapshot captures the latest lines from every sportsbook that has posted odds for a given event. The timestamp at the top of each page tells you exactly when the data was last refreshed.
- Vig Calculation
- Vig (short for vigorish, also called juice or overround) measures the margin a sportsbook builds into its odds. We calculate it by converting the odds on each side of a market to implied probabilities, summing those probabilities, and subtracting 100%. For example, a market priced at -110/-110 implies 52.38% on each side — a total of 104.76%, meaning a vig of 4.76%. Lower vig means better value for bettors because you keep more of your winnings.
- Per-Market Breakdown
- We compute vig separately for each market type: moneyline (h2h), point spreads, and totals (over/under). The "average vig" shown for each sportsbook is the mean across all market types weighted by the number of events sampled in each market.
- Grading Scale
- Every sportsbook receives a letter grade based on its average vig: A+ (under 2%) is exchange-level pricing. A (2–3%) is very competitive. B+ (3–4%) is above average. B (4–5%) is the industry standard — a -110/-110 line is 4.76%. C+ (5–6%) is slightly below average. C (6–7%) is below average. D (7–8%) is high vig. D− (8–10%) is very high vig. F (10%+) is predatory pricing. See the full Vig Index Methodology for formulas, worked examples, and known limitations.
- Trend Tracking
- We store daily snapshots for 30 days, allowing us to show 24-hour and 7-day vig trends. A downward trend (improving) means sportsbooks are tightening their lines — often in response to increased competition or higher betting volume as a season heats up.