Gaming giant Flutter to list on New York Stock Exchange as business continues to grow in the US

Betting firm Flutter, owner of FanDuel, is set to list in New York on Monday. The company hailed its landing on the New York Stock Exchange as a "pivotal moment" for the group as its business continues to surge in the United States.

Listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in Dublin, Flutter has dropped a second listing in the Irish capital to join the New York Stock Exchange, a move designed to boost its profile and grant it access to more money in the US.

Flutter generated sales of $4.59 billion in the US last year, up from $243 million in 2018, the year when the US Supreme Court struck down a decades-old law that prohibited sports betting across much of the country. FanDuel, with rival operators DraftKings and BetMGM, has led the race to dominate the nascent US online gambling market.

In a regulatory filing ahead of the switch, Flutter described "a long runway" for future growth, but acknowledged that concerns around problem gambling could "significantly influence" future regulation of its industry, prompt investigations and dissuade people from placing bets.

Five years ago, the group (then known as Paddy Power Betfair) relied on the US for about 10% of its business; by last year, the North American market was responsible for almost 40% of its sales.

While sports betting is now legal in 36 states and Washington DC, some major states including Texas have yet to follow. Flutter is confident they will. California voters rejected the prospect in 2022, but the company described “multiple ongoing initiatives” to change the state’s stance in its filing. “The expectation is that legalized sports betting will be back on the ballot in the near future," officials say.

But Flutter noted in the filing that “social responsibility concerns” could “significantly influence the regulation of online betting and iGaming and impact responsible gaming requirements, could result in investigations and litigation, and may adversely impact our reputation.”

The industry claims to already be highly regulated. It has pushed back hard against proposals in Congress to ban gambling advertising in the US and divert tax receipts from sports wagers towards problem gambling treatment programs.

According to Joe Stauff, an analyst at Susquehanna, a trading firm, online gambling is a "hyper-growth industry" in the US. “FanDuel has a huge competitive advantage," he said as reported by The Guardian.