The company behind betting brands Betfair, Paddy Power, PokerStars and Tombola broke new records during deregulation in the US.
FTSE 100 constituent and the world’s largest publicly traded gambling company, Flutter, had a record Super Bowl and highest average monthly player count in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to preliminary results for the year .
There were 12.1 million average monthly players from October to December of last year.
The trend continued into 2023, the results showed with the company acquiring more than 1.2 million customers this year.
Many US states have liberalized their gambling laws and around $16bn (£13.35bn) was spent on Super Bowl gambling, surpassing the previous year’s record.
Since Super Bowl 2021, new betting markets have opened in Kansas, Ohio, Maryland and Massachusetts, where sports betting has been introduced in-person or via mobile, or a combination of both.
The Super Bowl’s surge in customer numbers and performance came from “leveraging our number one FanDuel brand,” the results read.
Similarly, the World Cup attracted “strong” average monthly users in the UK and Irish markets which, Flutter said, partly offset the safer gambling initiatives.
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Internationally, outside of the United States, Flutter faces “regulatory headwinds,” but the company said it was pleased with its performance.
A much delayed overhaul of the UK’s £10bn gambling industry could come by the end of this month. Envisioned in the Gambling White Paper is a levy to fund health care initiatives and tighter financial controls for customers.
The document had already been held in Downing Street due to senior Conservatives opposing business regulations before it was delayed due to Conservative leadership election.
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More can be done to make London an attractive financial centre, says the head of the London Stock Exchange
Flutter hopes to solidify its position in the United States by also listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
The shareholders had been consulted as part of the process. In Thursday’s results, Flutter said it has reached a preliminary view “that an additional U.S. listing of Flutter’s common stock will yield a number of long-term capital market and strategic benefits.”
It is only the latest company to consider moving some or all of its shares to New York.
Speaking on the Ian King Live show, the London Stock Exchange chief executive said more could be done to make London an attractive financial center and there were ‘questions about how pensions should be managed in this country and whether they are managed in proper way”.
But David Schwimmer also said some companies will simply move to the US because that’s where their business is and that London is “the most international financial center in the world.”
