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Flutter Entertainment is poised to generate more money in the US than in its home markets of the UK and Ireland, as strong performances in the US and Australia offset declines in the rest of the world.
First-quarter revenue rose 5 percent to £1.57bn, led by a 45 percent gain in US revenue to £429m, the London-listed gambling company said on Wednesday (May 4).
Australian revenue grew 8 percent.
But UK and Ireland revenue fell 8 percent to £519m, with online gambling revenue declining by 20 percent. Revenue at newly-acquired Tombola fell 26 percent on a pro forma basis.
UK and Irish retail revenue was £65m, compared with zero in the year-earlier period because shops were closed.
In the UK and Ireland, revenue peaked in the second quarter of 2021, while US revenue has been rising steadily in recent quarters, leading to an estimate that US revenue could pass UK and Ireland this year, according to VIXIO GamblingCompliance analysis.
US profit, however, is another matter, as Flutter released only first-quarter revenue.
Rival BetMGM lost $184m in the first quarter, MGM Resorts has said.
Flutter promises to move into the black next year in the US, however, while most rivals are expected to continue to lose money in the competitive US market.
The company blamed weakness in the UK and Ireland on safer gambling measures added over the past year, bettor-friendly sports results and tough comparisons with a quarter affected by COVID-19 restrictions.
New safer gambling measures cost the company about £30m in this quarter alone, the company said.
The company’s non-US, non-UK and Irish revenue fell by 5 percent, hurt by a required pullout from the Dutch market, restrictions in Germany and the war in Ukraine.
In the US, some of its rivals have reined in their “very generous” offers, as they are “finding the dynamics difficult”, although FanDuel has not held back, chief executive Peter Jackson said in a conference call.
“We are leaning in as hard as we can,” he told analysts, while “other people seem to be stepping back”.
But despite the pressure, costs per new customer remain at about $290, as previously announced, and payoff is within 12 to 18 months, he said.
FanDuel, BetMGM and DraftKings are leading a referendum proposal in California, along with an already approved ballot item sponsored by tribes.
Jackson said it was “not impossible” that both referendums could be approved by voters, and he said he did not believe they were conflicting because one was online, the other, retail-focused.
If the online referendum passed, sports betting could launch in time for the 2023 autumn NFL season, he said.
