Media companies think they may have hit the jackpot with the Supreme Court’s ruling on sports betting.
On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down a federal law that prohibited sports gambling, paving the way for states to make their own decisions about allowing legal betting on athletic events.
The ruling has media and advertising executives envisioning a world in which more viewers tune into live televised sporting events and follow more sports coverage in great detail. Those more engaged fans would then attract more advertising dollars, including the marketing spending of gambling companies themselves, executives say.
Media companies are already tossing around programming ideas and ways to incorporate more stats and betting options on their digital platforms. The change could even inflate the value of leagues, teams, sports media properties and sports TV rights deals, executives say.
Turner, the Time Warner Inc. TWX 1.69% division that includes TBS and TNT, could use its Bleacher Report site as a platform to program shows and stats for bettors and potentially partner with third-party online betting platforms, a person familiar with the company’s thinking said.
“When disruption and change happens, it’s an opportunity,” said Turner President David Levy. Getting into the sports betting business “is a very big opportunity that every media company will have to look at.”
At ESPN’s presentation for advertisers Tuesday, executives and on-air talent expressed interest in sports betting as a phenomenon that could drive bigger audiences for sports programming.
“It’s very early,” said ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro. “We’re actively monitoring and we are looking at the space…especially from a programming perspective.”
SportsCenter host Scott Van Pelt, who has a bettors-focused “Bad Beats” segment on his show, said that big TV networks could potentially create leagues, similar to fantasy sports. Networks could also program to bettors, for example, in the hour before NFL games when there are fewer people watching, he said.
“The number of revenue streams that come out of this are endless,” he said in an interview.
CBS’s chief advertising revenue officer, Jo Ann Ross, said that if gambling is legal, it could lead to the reintroduction of the ad-spending bonanza from fantasy-sports companies like FanDuel and DraftKings.
“We’re always open for business,” said Ms. Ross.
The daily-fantasy sports companies at one point were a huge source of ad revenue for sports networks but have pulled back amid scrutiny over whether they violated gambling laws. (The companies insist their products don’t violate gambling laws because the games involve skill.)
FanDuel spent $189 million on U.S. advertising in 2015, a figure that fell to just $10.7 million in 2016, according to Kantar Media. After spending $247 million in 2015, DraftKings only shelled out $18.4 million in 2016. Those figures were up slightly in 2017. The Kantar figures don’t include ad spending with some digital platforms.
FanDuel’s chief marketing officer, Mike Raffensperger, said there was “an enormous opportunity” to expand into sports betting after the Supreme Court’s ruling, but the company likely won’t shell out the same high levels of spending on commercials as it did three years ago.
DraftKings said it has been preparing since 2017 to launch a sports-betting platform for mobile. Chief Business Officer Ezra Kucharz said he sees opportunities for more marketing spending and has also received more interest from advertisers in DraftKings’ platform.
More interest in games would be welcome news for TV networks. While the captive audiences for live sports are compelling for advertisers, sports programming hasn’t been immune to ratings declines as more consumers cut the cord and turn to new streaming services.
“We do think gambling drives engagement and potentially could provide some viewership uptick,” said an ad buyer at a large media agency.
The rollout of legal sports betting across the country will take time and isn’t guaranteed. The ruling applies to a case brought by New Jersey, and other states will have to consider the issue for themselves. Plus, states will need to sort out licensing, taxing and potential demands from leagues.
It’s too early to know how far-reaching sports betting will be, especially if not every state legalizes the activity, said Brian Wieser, a senior analyst at Pivotal Research Group. Also, there might be regulations preventing certain ads that mention gambling, he said.
“I think it probably will lead to some incremental spending,” said Mr. Wieser.
The ruling has also sparked new potential bidders for Sports Illustrated, which is up for sale. Art Slusark, a spokesman for Meredith Corp, which owns Sports Illustrated, said that following the Supreme Court’s decision, Meredith “received several new inquiries from parties interested in the brand.”
Mr. Slusark said Sports Illustrated reaches 50 million consumers each month via digital and print, an audience he described as “very appealing to anyone who would like to get their gambling products in front of a sports-oriented crowd.” He added that the ruling could also lead to opportunities to attract new sponsors and partners.
One former sports executive said the rapid growth of fantasy-sports leagues spurred greater consumer interest in watching live sports, as well as more time spent online as fans tried to glean insights to help their picks.
“It will take time, but going forward the decision will have a huge influence on sports media companies,” this person said.
—Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Joe Flint contributed to this article.
Write to Alexandra Bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com and Shalini Ramachandran at shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com