Where does Flutter Entertainment chief executive Peter Jackson go from here?
It’s a week since the Paddy Power owner unveiled its first-quarter results along with a raft of management changes. If Jackson hoped that FanDuel boss Amy Howe’s leaving – he made clear to Reuters it was not her decision – and the promotion of international boss Dan Taylor into the new role of president would sate investors who have been selling off the stock by the bucket load, it’s clear now that hasn’t worked.
As of this writing, the shares are 8 per cent lower than the day before Flutter published its results. They are off more than 55 per cent since the start of the year.
Flutter’s problems are well known. While there are issues elsewhere, its key market is the US. There, its FanDuel brand has been squeezed and outflanked by so-called prediction markets that have swamped a geographic market FanDuel looked set to dominate for years.
The prediction market problem is not a particularly new one and, while Jackson promoted Flutter’s potential as a market maker for predictions to analysts last week, it seems to remain as big a problem as ever for the company. Given that Flutter’s Betfair pioneered prediction markets – just look at Betfair Exchange – in the UK decades ago, it is clear the bookie dropped the ball in the one country where it couldn’t really afford to.
