Fox could shake up the sports betting sector with the activation of its FanDuel stake

The sports betting sector could get a new player in the near future. Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:FOX) CEO Lachlan Murdoch said the media giant is moving forward on plans to exercise its option to hold an 18.6% stake in sports betting leader FanDuel.

In an appearance at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia and Technology Conference on Tuesday, Murdoch said Flutter Entertainment’s (NYSE:FLUT) FanDuel is worth about $35 billion, which means that Fox’s potential stake is worth about $6.5 billion on the open market compared to the $4.3 billion Fox estimated it will need to dish out to activate the stake that was originally secured through the company’s ownership position in The Stars Group.

A potential obstacle for Fox (FOX) in securing the FanDuel stake is that it must be licensed as a gaming operator. On that point, Murdoch said the company is actively working with state legislators. “We’re not going to leave $2 billion on the table,” he stated.

The development could have broad implications across the sports betting sector, after Fox (FOX) and Flutter (FLUT) already agreed last year to shutter the sports betting platform Fox Bet. Analysts have highlighted that Fox (FOX) and FanDuel could generate significant synergies if the relationship warms up. FanDuel already has a market share lead in the U.S. over DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG), BetMGM (MGM) (OTCPK:GMVHF), and Caesars Sportsbook (CZR).