Flutter Entertainment plc has underlined its claim to be the number one US sportsbook provider in its latest trading update for the third quarter 2020, citing a 46% online sportsbook market share and total online share of 29%.
The FanDuel parent also reported a better-than-forecast new customer acquisition of more than 450,000 with over 1.8m active customers during Q3. And with significant multi-year tier 1 media partnerships signed, total US GGR is now expected to reach over $1.1bn in 2020 with NGR of over $850m.
Increased investment in US customer acquisition is, however, expected to lead to an EBITDA loss of $212m to $239m versus previous guidance of $186m to $212m.
Peter Jackson, Chief Executive, commented: “Flutter’s performance in the third quarter exceeded our expectations in both sports and gaming. Our strong trading continued as we grew market share in key regions while retaining our commitment to safer gambling practices.
“We are very pleased to have retained our position as the number one online operator in the US, where 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. We are on track to generate more than $1.1bn of GGR in the US this year, which will mark a major ‘first’ for an online operator.
“Our US business continues to go from strength to strength. During the quarter revenue increased by 82% to £161m ($213m) with over 1.8m real-money active customers engaging across all our US platforms. Sportsbook stakes grew 155% in Q3 to £1.25bn ($1.66bn) with stakes in existing states more than doubling.”
According to Jackson, net revenue margin was 2.1%, a reduction from 5.2% in Q3 2019, reflecting increased investment in customer acquisition on the back of better-than-forecast new player engagement in both existing states and the three new states launched ahead of NFL season.
He said: “In addition, more than half of the margin reduction reflected strategic investment ahead of the return of sports, as we doubled down on popular promotions such as FanDuel’s pioneering ‘Spread the love’ campaigns and ‘Odds Boost’ offers. As a result, sportsbook revenue was up 3%.”
US gaming revenue increased 299% to $82m reflecting, said Flutter, excellent customer engagement. Average daily customers increased more than five-fold during the quarter with both direct and cross-sell performing well following the return of sports.
TVG, its racing business, continued to enjoy good momentum with average daily customers up 112%. This helped to drive combined 54% revenue growth across the firm’s TVG and daily fantasy sports businesses.
