Flutter execs suggest PokerStars’ future looks brighter as part of local hero push
CEO Peter Jackson and CFO Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson insist brand will deliver greater gains for parent company amid reduced costs as part of shift in strategy
Flutter Entertainment management has claimed the full transfer of PokerStars to the International arm of the business will better serve the group’s “local hero” approach.
As part of the company’s full-year 2023 presentation, bosses confirmed PokerStars will move away from being a standalone company and instead be absorbed into the International segment.
From there, the PokerStars will be able to be used by Flutter’s stable of brands throughout various markets for cross-sell purposes and as a more cost-effective user acquisition tool.
Additionally, PokerStars will also no longer form part of the US-facing business in terms of Flutter’s financial reporting processes, with the brand’s operations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan coming under the International arm instead.
As part of this process, Flutter confirmed a non-cash expense of $725m relating to the impairment of trademarks connected to the PokerStars brand.
Speaking on an analyst call following the publication of the results, Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said the decision would be beneficiary to the group’s wider aims.
He said: “From the PokerStars perspective, there are real benefits to be able to bring this great product into our local hero businesses.
“When you think about how popular poker is in the US market for example, being able to make that product available within the FanDuel ecosystem, that’ll bring fantastic products to the customer base.
“We’ve already done it in Junglee. We’re going to do it this year for Sisal as well. Clearly that removes the cost of operating the PokerStars platform in those markets. And so, there are some cost benefits but, really, this is around reinforcing the moat in our local hero markets and bringing that leading poker product into those markets,” he added.
CFO Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson highlighted that when this strategy comes to fruition, it will “increase our profitability from PokerStars and will reduce the capital expenditure associated with it”.
The finance chief added that the previous tech stack on which PokerStars was running had been “quite expensive” to maintain.
Flutter acquired the poker operator back in 2020 as part of the multi-billion-pound mega-merger with The Stars Group, the umbrella company for PokerStars, Sky Betting & Gaming and Fox Bet.
Once the runaway leader in the dot.com online poker arena, PokerStars has been overtaken in recent years by GGPoker.
According to traffic tracking website PokerScout, PokerStars has a seven-day average of 3,300 players at the cash-game tables compared with 11,000 at GGPoker.