diff --git a/src/base_odds_manager.py b/src/base_odds_manager.py
index 50b6fe63..4b455069 100644
--- a/src/base_odds_manager.py
+++ b/src/base_odds_manager.py
@@ -44,6 +44,24 @@ class BaseOddsManager:
         self.config_manager = config_manager
         self.logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
         self.base_url = "https://sports.core.api.espn.com/v2/sports"
+
+        # This path used a bare requests.get, so it identified itself as
+        # python-requests/x.y -- the one thing ESPN is known to reject. Around
+        # 2026-08-04 it began 403ing browser strings and bare custom tokens
+        # alike; what it accepts is a token with a URL that says who is
+        # calling. Every other ESPN caller in the tree already sends this
+        # (src/common/api_helper.py, src/base_classes/data_sources.py); the
+        # odds path was simply missed, and it is the one whose failures cost
+        # the caller its whole update budget.
+        #
+        # Deliberately no retry adapter, unlike api_helper: retries multiply
+        # request_timeout, which is set to 5s precisely to stay inside that
+        # budget. One try, then the cooldown below.
+        self.session = requests.Session()
+        self.session.headers.update({
+            'User-Agent': 'LEDMatrix/1.0 (+https://github.com/ChuckBuilds/LEDMatrix)',
+            'Accept': 'application/json',
+        })
         
         # Configuration with defaults
         self.update_interval = 3600  # 1 hour default
@@ -144,7 +162,7 @@ class BaseOddsManager:
             url = f"{self.base_url}/{sport}/leagues/{espn_league}/events/{event_id}/competitions/{event_id}/odds"
             self.logger.info(f"Requesting odds from URL: {url}")
             
-            response = requests.get(url, timeout=self.request_timeout)
+            response = self.session.get(url, timeout=self.request_timeout)
             response.raise_for_status()
             raw_data = response.json()
 
diff --git a/test/test_base_odds_manager.py b/test/test_base_odds_manager.py
index 3eb591e3..e53a5036 100644
--- a/test/test_base_odds_manager.py
+++ b/test/test_base_odds_manager.py
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ is_odds_available's ML-blind truth table, the fixed format_odds_summary
 gate (money-line-only odds now format), get_odds_for_games, and
 configuration loading.
 
-No real network: src.base_odds_manager.requests.get is always patched.
+No real network: requests.Session.get is always patched. The odds path sends
+its requests through a session so it can identify itself to ESPN, so patching
+the module-level requests.get would no longer intercept anything.
 """
 
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ def manager(cache_manager):
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def mock_get():
-    with patch('src.base_odds_manager.requests.get') as m:
+    with patch('src.base_odds_manager.requests.Session.get') as m:
         m.return_value = _make_response({'items': [dict(FULL_ITEM)]})
         yield m
 
diff --git a/test/test_odds_request_budget.py b/test/test_odds_request_budget.py
index 233780fb..6289a18f 100644
--- a/test/test_odds_request_budget.py
+++ b/test/test_odds_request_budget.py
@@ -10,10 +10,15 @@ and the update carrying every game's score was killed:
 
 Invisible out of season -- preseason week 1 returns a single game -- and a
 Sunday slate is around sixteen.
+
+The request now goes through a session that identifies the caller, so the
+tests patch `manager.session.get` rather than the module's `requests.get`.
 """
 
 from unittest.mock import Mock
 
+import requests
+
 from src.base_odds_manager import BaseOddsManager
 
 PLUGIN_BUDGET = 30.0   # PluginExecutor(default_timeout=30.0)
@@ -25,43 +30,83 @@ def _manager(cache=None):
     return BaseOddsManager(cache_manager=cache, config_manager=None)
 
 
+def _timing_out(manager):
+    """Point the manager's session at a request that always times out."""
+    manager.session.get = Mock(side_effect=requests.exceptions.Timeout("x"))
+    return manager.session.get
+
+
+def _returning(manager, payload):
+    resp = Mock()
+    resp.json.return_value = payload
+    resp.raise_for_status.return_value = None
+    manager.session.get = Mock(return_value=resp)
+    return manager.session.get
+
+
 class TestRequestTimeout:
     def test_leaves_room_in_the_operation_budget(self):
         assert _manager().request_timeout < PLUGIN_BUDGET / 2
 
     def test_the_timeout_is_the_one_actually_used(self):
         m = _manager()
-        import src.base_odds_manager as mod
-        real = mod.requests.get
-        try:
-            mod.requests.get = Mock(side_effect=mod.requests.exceptions.Timeout("x"))
-            m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "401")
-            assert mod.requests.get.call_args.kwargs["timeout"] == m.request_timeout
-        finally:
-            mod.requests.get = real
+        get = _timing_out(m)
+        m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "401")
+        assert get.call_args.kwargs["timeout"] == m.request_timeout
+
+
+class TestIdentifiesItselfToEspn:
+    """ESPN 403s python-requests' default agent, and bare custom tokens.
+
+    What it accepts is a token carrying a URL that says who is calling. This
+    path used a bare requests.get and so sent the default -- the one thing
+    known to be rejected. Everything else in the tree that talks to ESPN
+    already sends the header below.
+    """
+
+    def test_the_user_agent_names_the_project_and_links_to_it(self):
+        ua = _manager().session.headers["User-Agent"]
+        assert "python-requests" not in ua
+        assert "LEDMatrix" in ua
+        assert "github.com/ChuckBuilds/LEDMatrix" in ua
+
+    def test_it_is_the_same_agent_the_rest_of_the_tree_sends(self):
+        # Compared against the live value rather than a copied literal, so the
+        # two cannot drift apart the next time ESPN moves the goalposts.
+        from src.common.api_helper import APIHelper
+        assert (_manager().session.headers["User-Agent"]
+                == APIHelper().session.headers["User-Agent"])
+
+    def test_the_header_reaches_the_request(self):
+        m = _manager()
+        get = _returning(m, {})
+        m._extract_espn_data = Mock(return_value=None)
+        m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "401")
+        # Sent via the session, so it applies without being passed per-call.
+        assert get.call_count == 1
+        assert "User-Agent" in m.session.headers
+
+    def test_no_retry_adapter_multiplies_the_timeout(self):
+        # api_helper mounts a retrying adapter; this path must not, or a 5s
+        # timeout becomes 15s and the budget fix is undone.
+        m = _manager()
+        for adapter in m.session.adapters.values():
+            retries = getattr(adapter, "max_retries", None)
+            assert getattr(retries, "total", 0) in (0, None), (
+                "odds session mounts a retrying adapter (total=%r); retries "
+                "multiply request_timeout" % getattr(retries, "total", None))
 
 
 class TestSlowEspnCannotKillTheUpdate:
     def test_one_failure_stops_the_rest_of_the_slate_hitting_the_network(self):
         m = _manager()
-        import src.base_odds_manager as mod
-        real = mod.requests.get
-        calls = {"n": 0}
+        get = _timing_out(m)
+        for i in range(16):          # a full slate, one game at a time
+            m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "4018730%02d" % i)
 
-        def timeout(*a, **k):
-            calls["n"] += 1
-            raise mod.requests.exceptions.Timeout("timed out")
-
-        try:
-            mod.requests.get = timeout
-            for i in range(16):          # a full slate, one game at a time
-                m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "4018730%02d" % i)
-        finally:
-            mod.requests.get = real
-
-        assert calls["n"] == 1, (
+        assert get.call_count == 1, (
             "%d games each paid the timeout; the breaker should have stopped "
-            "after the first" % calls["n"])
+            "after the first" % get.call_count)
 
     def test_worst_case_slate_stays_inside_the_budget(self):
         m = _manager()
@@ -70,53 +115,48 @@ class TestSlowEspnCannotKillTheUpdate:
     def test_recovery_is_automatic(self):
         m = _manager()
         import src.base_odds_manager as mod
-        real_get, real_monotonic = mod.requests.get, mod.time.monotonic
+        real_monotonic = mod.time.monotonic
         clock = {"t": 1000.0}
         try:
             mod.time.monotonic = lambda: clock["t"]
-            mod.requests.get = Mock(
-                side_effect=mod.requests.exceptions.Timeout("timed out"))
+            get = _timing_out(m)
             m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "401")
             assert m._skip_network_until > clock["t"], "breaker did not open"
 
             clock["t"] += 1
-            before = mod.requests.get.call_count
+            before = get.call_count
             m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "402")
-            assert mod.requests.get.call_count == before, "should not have retried"
+            assert get.call_count == before, "should not have retried"
 
             clock["t"] += m._FAILURE_COOLDOWN
             m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "403")
-            assert mod.requests.get.call_count > before, "never retried"
+            assert get.call_count > before, "never retried"
         finally:
-            mod.requests.get, mod.time.monotonic = real_get, real_monotonic
+            mod.time.monotonic = real_monotonic
 
     def test_a_healthy_fetch_clears_the_breaker(self):
         m = _manager()
         m._skip_network_until = 0.0
         m._extract_espn_data = Mock(return_value=None)
-        import src.base_odds_manager as mod
-        real = mod.requests.get
-        try:
-            resp = Mock()
-            resp.json.return_value = {}
-            resp.raise_for_status.return_value = None
-            mod.requests.get = Mock(return_value=resp)
-            m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "401")
-        finally:
-            mod.requests.get = real
+        _returning(m, {})
+        m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "401")
         assert m._skip_network_until == 0.0
 
+    def test_a_403_opens_the_breaker_rather_than_hammering(self):
+        # raise_for_status raises HTTPError, a RequestException -- so a wrong
+        # or missing agent backs off instead of 403ing once per game.
+        m = _manager()
+        resp = Mock()
+        resp.raise_for_status.side_effect = requests.exceptions.HTTPError("403")
+        m.session.get = Mock(return_value=resp)
+        m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "401")
+        assert m._skip_network_until > 0.0
+
     def test_the_stale_cache_fallback_still_works(self):
         # The failing request must still hand back whatever was cached; only
         # the *subsequent* games skip the network.
         cache = Mock()
         cache.get_with_auto_strategy.side_effect = [None, {"details": "stale"}]
         m = BaseOddsManager(cache_manager=cache, config_manager=None)
-        import src.base_odds_manager as mod
-        real = mod.requests.get
-        try:
-            mod.requests.get = Mock(
-                side_effect=mod.requests.exceptions.Timeout("timed out"))
-            assert m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "401") == {"details": "stale"}
-        finally:
-            mod.requests.get = real
+        _timing_out(m)
+        assert m.get_odds("football", "nfl", "401") == {"details": "stale"}