Flutter surmounts disappointing March Madness, NBA results
“I’ve continued to be really pleased,” Flutter Entertainment CEO Peter Jackson said at the start of a 7 May first-quarter earnings call. He said he was unfazed by economic changes in the United States: “Our basic business is resilient.”
Although the first quarter of 2025 was negatively affected by March Madness in the US, Jackson was upbeat. Of FanDuel’s new, outcome-based bet pricing, he said, “the results to date have been encouraging.”
Growth of US betting handle was said to be in line with expectation. It was lower than anticipated in basketball, but the slack was being taken up by other sports and baseball trends were described as encouraging. “We had a great Super Bowl but overall US sports results were customer friendly,” the CEO added.
“There’s always going to be some ebbs and flows,” he said of handle and outcomes. In the NBA, “handle was perhaps slightly softer,” because of less-competitive matchups and “some of the top teams haven’t made the playoffs. We retain the conviction that we’ve got the best NBA product in the market [and] the playoffs have got off to a good start.”
“No,” was Chief Financial Officer Rob Coldrake’s firm reply when queried whether FanDuel had suffered more than its competitors because of its high mix of single-game parlays. “We’ve got absolute conviction in our pricing. Volatility is something that will come with that. We accept that.”
When pressed on the subject of promotions, Jackson responded, “we’re not going to try and generate handle” that way, saying it was not Flutter’s style. Coldrake added that Flutter was “extremely disciplined in our approach when it comes to customer generosity. We are seeing a high level of generosity in the short term” from the competition, opining that it was probably unsustainable. He added that promos, allowing for a newer market in North Carolina were “broadly flat.”
Internationally, “we are benefiting from our scale” and geographic diversity, Jackson said. In particular, he was positive about Flutter’s tender for the Italian lottery, saying, “we believe the merits of this deal are compelling.”
He continued, “it’s a really unique and sizable opportunity to cement our leadership in Italy.” It was, Jackson said, the largest draw-based concession, one with low risk, high profitability and “unexploited growth potential.”
Was Flutter eyeing any lotteries elsewhere? The Italian market, Jackson replied, was “a real good example” for cross-selling lottery, igaming and sports betting products, opportunities not available elsewhere. That made it “pretty unique.”
United Kingdom/Ireland sports book growth was said to be softening but igaming demand remained strong. “Overall I am pleased with our first-quarter performance and remain extremely confident,” Jackson summarized.
“I’m pleased with gaming year over year,” he added when asked if Flutter was losing United Kingdom market share, noting that the company was coming off multiple good years. He also noted that rival betting concerns were benefiting from soft comparisons.
“We have all the key components to ensure long-term value creation,” took up CFO Rob Coldrake. He announced a cost-savings program intended to realize US$300 million in synergies.
Jackson said he had been closely monitoring the prediction markets, which have made an incursion into US sports betting. Referring to Betfair, he said, “we have vast experience in this space.
“We operate the world’s largest sports-betting exchange, so we do know this well,” Jackson continued. But since parlay bets are not accessible via exchanges, he doubted that prediction markets could make substantial inroads, particularly in existing jurisdictions. “I’m not that confident that it will have a significant impact,” he concluded.
Asked if FanDuel was experiencing saturation anywhere, Jackson replied, “we’re not seeing any state yet where they’re tapped out.” He pointed out that new players were coming of age all the time.
The acquisition of Snai closed in the first quarter, without undertaking new debt. Flutter also repurchased 891,000 shares for US$230 million. “With Snai, we’re absolutely delighted to complete the deal,” Coldrake related, saying Flutter would save €70 million (US$78.6 million)1 EUR = 1.1223 USD
2025-05-08Powered by CMG CurrenShift over the next three years from ensuing synergies.
Flutter’s guidance remained unchanged. Coldrake said US$850 million additional revenue was expected from Snai and US$220 million from the NSX purchase in Brazil.
In the igaming sphere, Jackson said Flutter was focused on”on delivering what our customers want.” That meant slot games like Huff ’n Puff and higher-hit/lower-payout games. He said he was pleased with the average number of players, having hit one million in the first quarter for the first time.
Coldrake added that FanDuel’s in-house game studios were also contributing to the success but of necessity would always be a small percentage of the total offering.
Jackson finished with praise of the Kentucky Derby, saying, “I’m very proud of what we do to support the horse-racing industry here in the US” He said he was pleased with FanDuel’s Derby market share and growth rate, which drew 750,000 unique users this year.
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David McKee is an award-winning journalist who has three decades of experience covering the gaming industry.
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