ESPN is telling Dan Orlovsky, Kendrick Perkins, Mina Kimes, and Laura Rutledge and to halt the promotion of Papaya Gaming’s Solitaire App.
Somewhere deep in the ESPN headquarters, an executive just slammed their fist on the table and said, “Enough with the Solitaire!” And just like that, Dan Orlovsky, Kendrick Perkins, and a few other ESPN personalities got hit with a company-wide memo: stop promoting Papaya Gaming’s Solitaire app.
Yes, you read that right. The worldwide leader in sports has declared war on a card game.
The new report comes after the promotion created drama for the Disney-owned sports network, after it was tied to Stephen A. Smith, which led to a former ESPN staffer criticizing the partnership between the sports talker and the embattled gaming company.
Kimes has already disavowed the promotion, posting a public apology over the weekend, calling her involvement “a colossal f–k up” and acknowledging that she failed to “spend any time looking into the whole thing.”
Kimes, Rutledge and Orlovsky have deleted any promotional posts tied to the app.
A federal lawsuit claims that the company has falsely marketed games of skill and has utilized “tailored bots to control the outcomes of tournaments.”
The end of the promotion of Papaya Gaming’s Solitaire app on ESPN is here.
You can’t beat my score. Nobody can.
Download Solitaire Cash. Enter the “Beat Stephen” Tournament.Win? Post your screenshot in the comments.
You will get a prize. ♠️No distractions. Pure focus.
That’s how champs win.— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) November 5, 2025
Smith was named by Papaya the “global ambassador” for the World Solitaire Championship on Nov. 3, and he promoted a campaign for Papaya dubbed the “#BeatStephen Challenge.”
The Front Office Sports report on Wednesday indicated that ESPN execs were not provided the chance to vet the Papaya deal, and the network eventually stepped in.
“They shut it down,” a source told FOS
A post by Smith promoting the “Beat Stephen” Tournament from Nov. 5 remains up on the “First Take” host’s X page.
Now, the Papaya shoutouts have disappeared faster than a 3–0 playoff lead. The analysts are back to their usual programming, stats, hot takes, and pretending they don’t miss that sweet side cash.
So, no more “download now” pitches, no more side hustles, just good old-fashioned sports talk.
