Fox Corp. COO John Nallen said the company is pleased with early returns on its investment in the sports betting business.
Fox Corp. has about a 5% stake in The Stars Group Inc., a provider of technology-based product offerings in the global gaming and interactive entertainment industries. The Stars Group and FOX Sports have launched FOX Bet, a national media and sports wagering partnership in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In addition to the online and mobile offerings, The Stars Group opened a retail sportsbook in the Poconos on Sept. 9.
In the nine days since the bow of FOX Sports Super 6, the app has logged more than 280,000 downloads, drawing upward of 425,000 total entries. In the free-to-play predictive game, centered on the National Football League, players can win cash prizes.
At an investor conference Sept. 18, Nallen said that while it has only been a couple of weeks since the kickoff of the college and pro football seasons, The Stars Group is "just over the moon" about how well FOX Bet is doing in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Looking ahead, Fox Corp. estimates that the legalized sports wagering business will become an $8 billion business by 2023 or 2024, with 70% of the action tied to digital/mobile betting.
Nallen noted that the company is also benefiting from fees from The Stars Group licensing the FOX Sports brand and that advertising will provide a major revenue stream.
"The place where this will explode — and it's true for all of our local station operators — is at the local level," he said. "There will just be massive advertising as there's competition for market share as these states roll out licensing."
Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a law in May 2018 that had limited sports betting to Nevada, the practice is now taking place in various forms in another dozen states, with others preparing launches.
