Punters have evidently had the upper hand as Flutter Entertainment PLC (LSE:FLTR) revealed margins below expectations in October because of “customer friendly” sports results.
Unfavourable sporting results dealt a £60mln blow, the bookie said in its third quarter trading statement.
The Paddy Power and Betfair parent meanwhile found year-on-year comparatives challenging, due to the one-off boost a year ago as a busy sporting calendar followed lockdowns and tapped into pent-up demand.
Nonetheless user numbers supported Flutter’s results, with the average monthly players (AMP) marked at 7.25mln in the quarter up 13% from 6.4mln in the preceding three months.
"Flutter delivered a strong third-quarter performance, with double-digit growth in our global player base,” said chief executive Peter Jackson.
“While a run of customer-friendly results in October have resulted in win margins being below expected levels in the quarter to date, the underlying strength of our business is clear; we have grown our online recreational player base by 46% in just two years.”
In the UK and Ireland, the bookmaker increased AMPs by 19% and revenue was down 5% overall with a 8% drop in the sports book offset by revenue growth in gaming. It noted a 5% decline in staking (versus Q3 2020) – with Flutter pointing to the timings of last season’s football calendar which ended later, bringing them into the third quarter, the wider variety of leisure options for consumers this year, and also changes to its ‘Safer Gambling’ policies.
In Australia, Flutter said its Sportsbet brand saw ‘excellent momentum’ in the quarter, with revenue up 20% and 24% growth in AMPs to 1.1mln.
The company noted that more the 60% of the Australian population was subject to travel restrictions during the period and Sportsbet captured a higher level of discretionary leisure spend. Staking in the sports book was up 15% year-on-year, it noted.
Flutter’s US business, which includes the FanDuel fantasy sports betting platform, is described as leading the market with 42% market share for sports betting and 18% of online gaming.
The American unit saw an 85% spike in revenue, up to £280mln (US$386mln), 94% of which was generated by FanDuel.
Sports revenue was up 97% accounting for £184mln (US$254mln), and the performance included 422% growth in sportsbook revenue. Staking in the sportsbook was up 80% in the quarter, supported by the start of the NFL season.
As a mile-marker for the rapid growth, Flutter highlighted that a regular season Sunday NFL gameday now sees similar volumes as seen for the 2021 Superbowl game.
FanDual is presently live in 12 of America’s 50 states, following the recent launches in Arizona and Connecticut in September and October respectively. The US business had 1.9mln AMPs in September.
“With more international jurisdictions and US states on the path to regulation, we look forward to sustainably growing our global player base further in 2022," Jackson said.
The Flutter boss added: “As expected, the start of the NFL season saw a step-up in competitive intensity. We remained disciplined however, leveraging the broad set of high quality marketing assets at our disposal.
“The customer response has been very encouraging with FanDuel now regularly experiencing staking levels on Sundays that match its 2021 SuperBowl performance. Early engagement on NBA since the recent start of season has also been strong.”