Scouting Hollywood: Aug. 17-23

A roundup of news, gossip and history of the entertainment business brought to you from Hollywood, Calif.

Disney is moving into sports betting. Its ESPN subsidiary announced a 10-year $1.5 billion cash deal with Penn Entertainment to rebrand Penn’s Barstool Sports Book app into ESPN Bet. The deal also includes an additional $500 million in stock warrants for Disney. ESPN will promote the betting app on broadcasts as well as tie into programming and on-air talent. Apparently “what would Walt do?” is no longer considered as the company tries to dig itself out of a spiraling decline.