Benzinga | Jun 11, 2021 11:25AM EDT

ESPN Might Be Trying To Create Its Own Sportsbook

ESPN, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), is reportedly looking to create its own sportsbook, following a trend of other sports media companies launching their own betting platforms.

Barstool Sports, which has a significant investment from Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN), recently launched the Barstool Sportsbook and Fox Sports created Fox Bet in 2019.

"The media giant is going 'all-in' on sports betting," sources told FrontOfficeSports. "...The discussions are in their early stages, said sources, but ESPN has been looking at multiple ways to capitalize on the convergence of sports betting and media."

See Also: Best Sports Betting Stocks

Why It's Important: More and more states are legalizing sports betting, with recent ones including Arizona and Louisiana.

ESPN is the largest sports news site in the world and if they created a sportsbook, it would instantly be able to compete with market leaders FanDuel and DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG).

Something the Barstool Sportsbook does that's unique from competitors is they allow users to bet with their company's famous personalities like Dave Portnoy and Big Cat. It would be fun if the ESPN Sportsbook would allow users to bet with Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman amongst others.

Disney's stock was trading at $177.08, up 0.29% at the time of the writing.

The set of The Daily Wager at the ESPN Las Vegas Studio (Photo by Al Powers / ESPN Images)