American Dream: FanDuel’s US dominance saves Flutter from revenue dips in UK and beyond
The American dream may be a reality for Betfair owner Flutter, with the US making up over half of all stakes taken by the group in the first quarter.
Not only was US revenue up 45 per cent to $574m since the start of the year, but Stateside wins like Super Bowl Sunday have also cemented Flutter owned FanDuel’s position as a market leader.
The iconic football game marked the single biggest day for new customers for Flutter, welcoming over 1.5m active customers on the day.
The London-listed firm also recently bet on the FanDuel to lead the way in New York and Louisiana in January, and expanded into Ontario last month.
Nonetheless, Flutter’s lucky hand seems to be running out, with revenue plunging three per cent beyond the States as a result of safer gambling and regulatory hurdles for the Betfair owner across Europe.
For instance, whilst UK and Ireland’s average monthly players online grew 15 per cent, revenue declined 20 per cent as punters embrace a post-lockdown world.
The group also forked out £30m in the first quarter alone as Flutter gears up for the UK government’s White Paper, which threatens to shake-up the sector through affordability checks and measures.
Chief Executive Peter Jackson said the group is trying to engineer a “race to the top”, and said he hoped the government review would “level the playing field” for gambling firms.
Despite the mixed results, investors seemed to give the Flutter stock a vote of confidence. Not only were shares up over five per cent this afternoon, but brokers at both Jefferies and Peel Hunt gave it a buy recommendation, with emphasis on the US potential for growth.
Hargreaves Lansdown senior investment and markets analyst Susannah Streeter echoed this point and said that by expanding into the “lucrative” American market, “Flutter is already insulating the business if the more radical proposals under consideration are brought in. ‘’