Flutter Entertainment is one of the most prominent online betting groups globally, and the strong start the firm has made in the US in 2021 further confirms that status. The FanDuel Group parent organization published their trading update for the first quarter of 2021 this week, revealing revenue of almost $400m generated in the US.
This remarkable growth was experienced across both the sports and gaming sectors, with revenue for the former coming in at $1.3bn and the latter at $822.2m, leading to total revenues of $2.1bn. Those numbers were pegged at $875.3m, $695.2m, and a $1.6bn total within the same period in 2020. Chief Executive Peter Jackson explained the increase as being down to the company’s enlarging global player base.
Jackson said: “We have paid particular attention to growing our player base, and as a result, our online revenue has recorded a 42% rise. We’ve also made responsible gambling a key priority, introducing some new measures to ensure safe gambling across our markets. These measures include our US Gamban Partnership and the Affordability Triple Step that we’ve planned to develop for the UK.
“As for our international market, we remain committed to making investments that will rejuvenate our Pokerstars brand as well as improve player generosity. Early signs indicate that these investments are paying off, as we’ve seen some very encouraging responses from our customers. Our US Q1 revenue of nearly $400m is proof that we remain at the top of the US market. We believe that our continued excellence and variety of offerings separates FanDuel sports from competitors and is a core reason why we maintain our leadership spot.”
Jackson also mentioned the firm’s notable progress in the US, including recording 1.6m average monthly players across the first three months of the year. This increase means that the firm’s US business is now two times the size of its Australian counterpart and is fast approaching the numbers held by its International sector.
“We are looking into a potential US listing of a small FanDuel Group shareholding. As of this moment, we’re still weighing our options, and no conclusion has been reached, but we will keep everyone involved updated on that front. As more restrictions are lifted, and retail outlets across several markets are reopened, we remain positive that the diversity of our markets will leave us in a prime position to record sustained growth,” he announced.
Revenue in the US rose by 135% to $396m in Q1. The firm lauded this increase as being primarily a result of its expansion in the country, typified by the launches in two new major betting states, Michigan and Virginia. Of course, the continued excellent momentum recorded in existing states did not hurt at all.
Focusing on the firm’s 2021 Q1 performance in the US, it was noted that the FanDuel Group was responsible for 91.6% of revenue after accounting for 89.1% of the gain recorded in the year 2020. FOX Bet (including PokerStars US) accounted for the remaining 8.4% of Flutter’s Q1 US revenue.
The firm announced that its presence in two new states and the massive levels of engagement that came with the Super Bowl played essential roles as they acquired over 900,000 new customers.
Speaking on their customer acquisition expectations and sportsbook performance, Flutter noted: “We received 1.6m total average monthly players, a 132% increase from our previous numbers. Our sportsbook revenue also rose by 227% in Q1, resulting in us holding 36% of the online sportsbook market. Our other sports offerings experienced an increase of 51%. Our online sportsbook has expanded into six new states since Q1 of 2020, and that helped us on our way to recording a 235% increase in sportsbook stakes. This impressive performance wasn’t simply down to our new states, however, as the four older states maintained an encouraging staking growth of 93% in the first quarter of 2021.”
The firm also announced that gaming revenue rose by 146% to $137m, with the January Michigan launch playing a significant role in that increase. Existing casino states continued their steady performances as they recorded an 89% revenue growth in Q1. Market shares in the online gaming sector also rose from 20% in the last quarter of 2020 to 23% in Q1 of 2021.
