$4.3B Revenue. $631M EBITDA. Bold New Bets – Flutter Entertainment Is Scaling Faster Under Peter Jackson and Rob Coldrake 

Flutter Entertainment opened 2026 with double-digit top-line growth, but first-quarter results highlighted a business balancing expansion, product investment and margin discipline.

Group revenue rose 17% year-on-year to $4.3bn, driven by acquisitions, resilient iGaming demand and a more favorable sports-results comparison against the prior-year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA increased 2% to $631m, while margin compressed 210 basis points to 14.7%, reflecting the cost of Flutter’s current investment cycle. Net income fell 38% to $209m, primarily due to higher interest expense and acquisition-related amortization.

US: FanDuel sportsbook stabilizes, but profitability softens

The central operational story remains the US.

Flutter’s US division generated $1.76bn in revenue, up 6%, with sportsbook revenue increasing 1% and iGaming rising 19%. Sportsbook customer metrics remained soft overall – handle declined 9% and sportsbook AMPs fell 6% – but management noted meaningful improvement through the quarter, with AMP declines narrowing from 5% in January to 1% growth in March as product and promotional initiatives gained traction.

That recovery is coming at a cost.

US adjusted EBITDA declined 26% to $119m, pressured by:

• rollout of a new loyalty program
• increased promotional generosity
• launch costs in Arkansas
• accelerated investment in FanDuel Predicts, Flutter’s prediction-market business

Operationally, Flutter is prioritizing retention mechanics and product investment over near-term margin expansion as competitive intensity broadens across sportsbook, iGaming and emerging event-contract products.

Prediction markets become a meaningful strategic investment focus

FanDuel Predicts is now being funded as a meaningful growth option, despite minimal near-term revenue contribution.

Flutter expanded prediction products nationally in non-sportsbook states, launched a unified “One App” ecosystem and began trialling market-making capabilities on a third-party prediction platform. Management expects $250m–$300m in EBITDA losses tied to prediction markets this year, underscoring a buildout phase aimed at long-term positioning rather than immediate monetization.

For the wider industry, that matters:

• suppliers should expect rising demand for pricing engines, liquidity provision, market-making infrastructure, real-time settlement rails and compliance tooling
• operators face a new channel for customer acquisition in unregulated sports-betting states
• regulators will face increasing pressure to define clearer frameworks around event-contract products

International delivers scale, but underlying growth remains mixed

International revenue rose 27% to $2.54bn, boosted by acquisitions including Snai and Betnacional. On an organic basis, however, revenue was broadly flat.

Organic sportsbook revenue declined 7%, largely reflecting unfavorable sports outcomes, while iGaming organic revenue rose 8%, reinforcing a broader sector pattern: casino remains the structural growth engine, while sportsbook remains volume-heavy and margin-volatile.

Strong performances in:

• Italy, where Sisal continues gaining share
• Brazil, where Betnacional is scaling rapidly
• Central and Eastern Europe, where Flutter’s shared product stack is improving efficiency

were partly offset by unfavorable sports results, higher tax burdens and rising licensing costs.

Guidance trimmed, leverage remains a watchpoint

Flutter lowered full-year guidance to:

• Revenue: $18.305bn (from $18.4bn)
• Adjusted EBITDA: $2.865bn (from $2.97bn)

Net debt remains elevated at $10.6bn, with leverage at 3.7x EBITDA, keeping deleveraging firmly on management’s capital-allocation agenda.

The company is also reviewing its London Stock Exchange listing, a move that could further concentrate investor attention around Flutter’s US equity story.

Bottom line

Flutter remains the sector’s largest operator by revenue, but Q1 shows where management’s priorities now sit: defend US sportsbook leadership, expand iGaming economics, and invest aggressively in prediction-market infrastructure – even at the expense of near-term margins.

For operators and suppliers, the strategic implication is straightforward: the next competitive battleground is evolving beyond sportsbook alone, toward multi-product ecosystems competing for a greater share of customer spend.

Source: Flutter Entertainment