Flutter’s third-quarter US revenues increased 82% to £161m thanks to an acquisition drive that led to 450,000 new customers signing up and over 1.8 million real-money active customers playing across its US platforms.
The group said it was pleased to maintain its US market leadership with 46% of the online sportsbook market share and total online share of 29%.
It forecast US gross gaming revenues of $1.1bn in 2020, “a first for an online operator”, CEO Peter Jackson said.
It expected net revenues of more than $850m thanks to better-than-expected new customer volumes.
US sports-betting revenues increased 36% on annual basis to $99m, while gaming revenues increased 299% to £62m during the quarter.
Marketing spend leads to EBTIDA loss
Flutter said this was due to “excellent customer engagement”, which led to a five-fold average daily increase in customers thanks to direct- and cross-sell performing strongly following the return of sports.
However, marketing investments meant it would incur an EBITDA loss of between $211.3m-$237.8m in 2020, compared with previous guidance of $185m-$211.3m.
Net revenue margin was 2.1% during the quarter, a reduction on the 5.2% margin recorded in 2019.
The group said: “More than half of the margin reduction reflected strategic investment ahead of the return of sports.”
Jackson said FanDuel has made “significant progress against each of its key priorities.”
“We have enhanced the customer experience, secured further strategic media partnerships and acquired more new customers than anticipated.”
Strategic achievements
Flutter’s horseracing division TVG saw a rise of 112% in average daily customers.
It helped drive a combined 54% revenue growth across both TVG and the group’s daily fantasy sports unit.
Strategic achievements included long-term marketing and media partnerships with Turner Sports.
For the next five-and-a-half years FanDuel will be the exclusive sportsbook partner across all NBA properties on Turner’s TNT network.
Is also signed a six-year deal to be the official sportsbook partner of Entercom’s 39 sports radio stations across the US.
Flutter said its in-house trading platforms and expertise enabled it to offer the best user experience in the US.
FanDuel recently launched in Tennessee, will be adding Michigan and Virginia in the coming months and will be online in 10 states, expanding the addressable market to approximately 24% of the US population, the group said.
