Penn National Gaming is pulling theScore out of the U.S. market to allow the Toronto-headquartered brand to focus on its home Canadian market, theScore Bet has revealed on its website. Aptly, theScore Bet will cease all U.S. operations on July 1: Canada Day.

theScore Bet was one of the first sportsbooks to go live when the regulated online gaming and betting market in Ontario launched on April 4 and has been touted as a leader in the market in the two months since.

With the U.S. closure, theScore will shift its focus to accelerating its growth in Ontario and expanding its technology roadmap north of the U.S. border, with the ultimate goal of migrating Barstool Sportsbook onto the company’s in-house risk and trading platform in the relatively near future, reports Sports Handle.

theScore launched its own player account management (PAM) trading and promotion engine in August. Penn anticipates that Barstool Sportsbook will transition to theScore’s PAM and trading platforms by the third quarter of 2023.

While theScore Bet focuses on Canada, Barstool will lead Penn’s charge on the U.S. front. This move is not entirely unexpected as, at the time of Penn National’s US$2.1 billion acquisition of theScore, Penn said it would look to operate theScore as a standalone business.

Withdrawing from the U.S. market means theScore will be able to strategically deploy its resources in Canada, where it is already the number-one sports media app. It has already made big moves, such as theScore Bet’s exclusive wide-ranging partnership with the Toronto Blue Jays.

“This move enables us to maximize the value of both brands through our organic media and gaming approach,” Benjie Levy, president and COO of theScore, said in a statement. “Key to our strategy is integrating theScore media app with Barstool Sportsbook, which we’re currently working towards. Bringing together theScore’s powerful mobile sports media platform with Barstool Sportsbook in a unified ecosystem, supported by our in-house technology and custom integrations, will strengthen the overall U.S. product offering and broaden its reach.”

theScore became the first media company to launch sports betting in the U.S. since the repeal of PASPA when it made its debut south of the border in New Jersey three years ago and has since gone on to launch in Colorado, Iowa, and Indiana. But, by June 15, it will no longer accept customer deposits or new wagers in the U.S.

“As we approach a major undertaking this summer with the launch of our proprietary risk and trading service, the timing is right to focus our U.S. efforts on marketing Barstool Sportsbook and our Canadian efforts on marketing theScore Bet,” Levy added.

Per Sports Handle, Penn National Gaming CEO Jay Snowden said that over the first month of sports betting operations in Ontario, roughly 79 per cent of sports bettors used theScore’s app, exceeding the parent company’s early expectations.