Flutter Entertainment Plc has cited an ‘excellent performance’ from its US FanDuel business in a mixed Q1 trading update issued today. A strong US showing helped mitigate tough trading conditions in the UK and Europe as the betting group expanded its recreational player base to +8.8 million active monthly players (AMPS) across its global brand portfolio.
Publishing its Q1 trading update (period ending March 31), Flutter registered group revenues of $1.95bn, up 6% on comparative Q1 2021 results of $1.85bn.
Topline growth was attributed to ‘excellent US execution’ as the FanDuel unit recorded revenue growth of 45% to $538m (Q1 2021: $360m).
Updating investors, Flutter stated: “In the US, FanDuel delivered another excellent performance with 2.4m customers and revenue of $574m. We remained the number 1 US sportsbook with a 37% online sports betting share.
“We acquired over 1.3m new customers in the quarter and similar to the trends seen in Q1 2021, some of our key promotional mechanics led to reduced market share particularly around the Super Bowl. Our igaming share was 20% in Q1.”
Revenue grew by 45%, said the firm, driven by a 43% growth in AMPs, with a number of factors driving performance. These included ‘excellent execution’ delivering record customer acquisition and engagement alongside compelling customer economics as cumulative CPAs remain at circa $290 and average paybacks within the 12-to-18 month range.
Flutter also highlighted strong Super Bowl and March Madness campaigns, claiming FanDuel as the most downloaded sportsbook app across the events. Moreover, there were successful launches in New York and Louisiana, with New York exceeding expectations, representing the fastest penetration of the firm’s daily fantasy sports player base to date
This strong player momentum, added Flutter, more than doubled stakes to £5.7bn ($7.7bn). Sportsbook revenue was up 89% with net revenue margin 30 basis points lower at 4.1%. Customer friendly results cost $132m, however structural margin gains drove additional revenue firepower to offset most of this year-on-year impact
Growth in igaming, it claimed, reflected the launch of Connecticut in Q4 and ‘good cross-sell’ to Super Bowl and March Madness players. “We continued to improve our customer proposition with FanDuel rated the number 1 casino app in Q1,” said the update.
Adding some color to the figures, Chief Executive Peter Jackson commented: “Flutter delivered a positive Q1 performance with revenue growth of 6%. The quarter saw us launch our new global sustainability strategy, the Positive Impact Plan, aligning commercial goals with our commitment to support our customers, colleagues and the communities in which we operate.
In the US we had another exciting quarter as FanDuel continued to deliver unparalleled scale, with the US accounting for over half of all stakes for the Flutter Group in Q1. We launched our FanDuel sportsbook in New York and Louisiana in January and also expanded into Ontario in April.
“We beat a number of FanDuel records in the quarter; Super Bowl Sunday was the single biggest day ever for new customers and we had over 1.5m active customers on the day. March Madness this year also proved our most popular season yet attracting 19m wagers across the tournament.”
He concluded: “With our enlarged recreational customer base, winning position in the US and ongoing focus on sustainable growth, our business remains well placed for the future.”
