Flutter Entertainment New York Stock Exchange Listing Now Trading

Article ByDavid Weir

January 29, 2024

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Posted in: US Gambling News, New York Gambling News, US Sports Betting News

Flutter Entertainment, the British gambling conglomerate and owner of leading U.S. sportsbook FanDuel, has moved its secondary stock listing from Dublin’s Euronext Exchange to the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE.

Shares commended trading under the symbol FLUT at 09:30 ET this morning, January 29.

Although Flutter will continue to trade its primary stock in London for the moment, it also announced it is expediting plans for a primary stock listing in the U.S. It will propose the idea before shareholders on May 1, and if affirmed, it aims to be primarily listed on the NYSE by the end of the year.

Flutter believes a U.S. listing will help it focus on FanDuel amid a booming U.S. gambling market. To celebrate the announcement, this morning FanDuel broadcast a special edition of its Up & Adams sports media show live from Wall Street in New York.

“With our NYSE listing effective today, this is a pivotal moment for the Group as we make Flutter more accessible to U.S.-based investors and gain access to deeper capital markets,” said Peter Jackson, Flutter CEO, in a press release.

“We believe a U.S. primary listing is the natural home for Flutter, given FanDuel’s #1 position in the U.S., a market which we expect to contribute the largest proportion of profits in the near future.”

U.S. Markets Attractive

Flutter purchased FanDuel in 2018, just days after the Supreme Court ruling that overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, or PASPA, which opened the gates for legal U.S. sports betting.

Despite the pace of legalization slowing in recent years, FanDuel and main rival DraftKings have emerged as the biggest competitors in the online betting space, ahead of traditional gambling heavyweights like MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment.

In 2019, Flutter made 10% of its business from FanDuel and other smaller U.S. investments. In 2023 40% of its revenues came from this side of the Atlantic.

Last year, it appointed a new Australian-American chairman with lots of U.S. business experience in John Bryant. Although far from concrete, we also speculated last year that a mystery giant gambling operator considering a huge office space in Denver, Colorado, could also be Flutter.

The company sees a full U.S. listing as being beneficial to FanDuel for enhancing its profile in the market, enabling better recruitment in the states and opening it up to more investors.

London Losing Out

Meanwhile, while there are winners, there are losers. Flutter’s announcement that it aims to move its primary listing to the U.S. sooner rather than later will be a big blow to the UK’s main stock exchange.

Flutter is one the largest gambling companies in the world, so its departure is a high-profile failure on the part of the LSE.

As reported by London financial newspaper City A.M, recent studies have shown between a 17% and 25% decline in the total market capitalization of firms listed on the LSE since 2013.

The London Stock Exchange has seen many large brands depart in recent years, as Brexit hasn’t exactly worked out for the British economy. Flutter’s complete departure will also be a blow to Dublin and the EU, as war in Ukraine continues to trouble investors on the continent.

In 2023, Arm Holdings, a technology firm and cause célèbres of Brit politicians for several years, decided to snub a London listing entirely for its floatation and head straight for New York.

Flutter’s CEO summed the operator’s stance in a recent interview ahead of the listing transfer.

“We really feel at home here in New York,” he said. “It’s the world’s biggest, most premier capital market, the biggest premier gaming business, so I think it is the right place for us to be.”

The New York sports betting market is by some distance the nation’s largest, although it is still well short of the yearly revenues of the Nevada casinos in Las Vegas or the tribal casinos in California.