NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Sachem Head Capital

Management expects sports betting and gambling company Entain's ( GMVHF )

shares could double in the coming years, fueled by

increased demand and better returns from a joint venture with

hospitality, sports and entertainment company MGM.

"Time is on your side," Sachem Head founder Scott Ferguson

said at the 13D Monitor Active Passive-Investment Summit in New

York on Tuesday, adding "you are getting paid to wait for BetMGM

to inflect."

BetMGM is the joint venture between Entain ( GMVHF ) and MGM that lets

customers bet on football, baseball, soccer, basketball, hockey

games and more.

Sachem Head is one of four activist investors that have placed

bets on Entain ( GMVHF ). Between them, they could push Entain ( GMVHF ) to explore

strategic options that could include Entain ( GMVHF ) buying all of

BetMGM, merging with MGM or having MGM buy all of BetMGM.

The other investors include Keith Meister's Corvex

Management, Ricky Sandler's Eminence Capital and Malcolm

Levine's Dendur Capital, Ferguson said at the conference.

Representatives for the hedge funds confirmed the investments.

At the same time, even if Entain ( GMVHF ) were to do nothing,

investors could benefit, Ferguson said. "Aligned investors will

help the company explore all strategic options. But worst case,

we are comfortable with the status quo."

The BetMGM joint venture was created in 2018 and while it

lagged competitors Flutter and DraftKings for a time, the

outlook is improving.

"Investors are getting BetMGM for free," Ferguson said,

noting that increased legalization of sports betting would open

up new markets and that BetMGM is now making better choices on

its spending. While it overinvested in expensive sports

marketing like costly Super Bowl ads in the past, it is now

concentrating on higher returns on investment.

Entain ( GMVHF ), a UK company, is worth nearly $7 billion and its

stock price, which closed at $10.88 on Monday, could zoom as

high as $27 in 2028, Ferguson said, citing the "bull case

scenario." In the last five years, the stock price has lost 21%.