Flutter CEO labels sports event contract product as “very vanilla”
Peter Jackson notes FanDuel’s parent company is monitoring the burgeoning sector “closely” but insists existing sports betting and igaming variety trumps the likes of Kalshi
Flutter CEO Peter Jackson has claimed that sports event contracts “lack the richness of a true sportsbook offering” as he said the New York-listed giant is monitoring the sector “closely.”
The recent surge in the sector began just before Christmas when Crypto.com became the first to offer sports event contracts on last month’s Super Bowl LIX.
Crypto.com’s push into the market essentially launched sports betting, albeit only on game results, to all 50 US states. The drive came following a hugely successful US presidential election for prediction market platforms.
Since then, Kalshi and retail brokerage firm Robinhood have followed suit with sport event contracts, though the latter pulled its offering after 24 hours at the request of regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The CFTC had requested Crypto.com and Kalshi also pull their respective offerings, but both companies refused to do so.
Speculation has soon followed regarding the prospect of licensed sportsbooks expanding into the space, or if the growing vertical poses a threat to the established operator model that has been in place since the fall of PASPA in 2018.
Speaking during an analysts call following the release of Flutter’s full-year and Q4 2024 results, Jackson has heralded the contracts sector as an “interesting opportunity.”
However, the Flutter chief stopped short of revealing much more and mentioned the upcoming CFTC roundtable, scheduled for later this month, as an event that could provide more information on the topic.
The US derivatives regulator has requested opinions on the vertical, with the likes of the American Gaming Association (AGA), tribal operators, members of congress, and gambling reform activists all submitting comments.
Jackson explained: “We are monitoring the situation with these sports future contracts closely.
“The regulation is very fluid. We understand that the CFTC is due to hold a roundtable on sports-related event contracts in the next month or so.
“It could be an interesting opportunity, but I think it’s worth recognising that the products themselves lack the richness of a true sportsbook offering.”
Jackson went on to compare sports event contracts to Flutter’s own product capabilities, which the earnings report described as “compelling.”
Flutter’s existing sports betting products, including same game parlays, and the ramping up of the Your Way tool, were cited by Jackson as key differentiators.
Your Way allows for customizable betting that enables users to parlay nearly every core market or player prop bet into a single personalized wager.
The Flutter chief added: “I think about the Your Way product and what we were doing around the Super Bowl for that. It’s a very compelling, very broad parlay product.
“We need to remember that the prediction products are very vanilla in comparison.”
Jackson is not the first CEO of a major North American operator to opine on the burgeoning sector.
BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt explained that the Entain and MGM Resorts JV is adopting a “watch and see” approach.
DraftKings chief Jason Robins previously echoed a similar sentiment: “From a DraftKings perspective, we have to be paying very close attention to anything that can be an opportunity or in any way affect us,” he said.
Jackson’s comments came in light of a strong 2024 for the FanDuel parent company, which included a 19% year-on-year (YOY) rise in revenue to $14bn, while group adjusted EBITDA also climbed 26% YOY to $2.4bn alongside a corresponding margin of 16.8%.
Meanwhile, in other sports event contract news, Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev has insisted that despite last month’s U-turn, the firm has not been deterred in its plans to establish itself in the space.
Speaking at the Citizens JMP Technology conference yesterday, March 5, Tenev explained: “What we saw was [that] demand for that product was extreme. We were already planning on having prediction markets being one of the big new features that we rolled out.
“[The presidential election] gave us a lot more confidence that not only do we believe in it, but that customers actually want it, it’s legitimately useful and it could fit in alongside all the other trading assets they use.”
Elsewhere, Kalshi, which does offer consumers the chance to trade sports event contracts, at the time of writing, has been hit with a cease-and-desist order from the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB).
The firm has been informed it has until 5pm on March 14 to shutter its sports contract operations in the state in what is the first public show of disapproval from a state regulatory body.