A year of challenges and changes awaits, and while Flutter Entertainment is just as aware of what lies ahead of it in 2026 the global gaming giant’s vast international presence is a continuing source of confidence.
Having its origins in Ireland and the UK with the merger between Paddy Power and Betfair over a decade ago, Flutter has expanded to become a global monolith by acquiring what it calls ‘gold medal’ brands across various markets.
Of the multiple countries Flutter is active in, the US is by far its biggest revenue generator. Its Q3 accounts revealed revenue of $1.37bn from its US assets, FanDuel, out of total group-wide revenue of $2.43bn in revenue.
Prior to its acquisition by Flutter, FanDuel was one of the biggest companies in the US daily fantasy sports (DFS) scene . After the repeal of PASPA and Flutter takeover, both in 2018, FanDuel has emerged as one of the two biggest sportsbooks in the US alongside DraftKings, also a former DFS platform.
According to Futter, the brand is becoming an increasingly dominant force in iGaming as well as sports betting. The firm revealed that the FanDuel Casino secured 27% market share in the US by QQ3 last year, mirroring a trend seen across its international portfolio.
“What I’m really proud of is the performance of our iGaming businesses. Very strong in the US, Italy and across the UK, and entirely down to the effort of the teams involved,” said Peter Jackson, Flutter CEO, reflecting on 2025 performance.
Can Flutter’s global scale offset national challenges?
As mentioned above, 2026 is set to be a testing year for betting and gaming. The biggest reason for this is taxation, followed by regulation and associated political developments.
Taxes are set to go up in the UK in April with the Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) on online betting to increase from 21% to 40%. This will hit Flutter’s British businesses hard – Sky Bet, Paddy Power and the local domain of Betfair.
In Q3 last year, Flutter reported $853m from its UK and Irish businesses, part of the Flutter international division of non-US assets, up 1% from the year prior. While dwarfed by American revenues, Flutter is a business conscious of profits and losses, with Q3 losses standing at $789m and Q2 losses at $158m.
Tax raises in the UK and Brazil – increasing from 12% to 15% in 2027 and to 18% by 2028 in the latter – will prove a burden on Flutter’s revenues. The company has already stated that it expects to reduce marketing budgets to cope with the forthcoming UK tax raises.
Consolidating its position in Brazil prior to the tax raises there as well as in other markets like Italy, where it now owns two brands in Sisal and Sinai after the takeover of the latter was completed this year, could help offset the UK tax blow.
Dan Taylor, CEO of Flutter International, summarised: “We closed two big deals this year, bringing BetNacional into Flutter Brazil and completing the Snai transaction in Italy, so it’s been a year of transformation across the business – whether the platform migration in the UK and Ireland, the product integrations with PokerStars, or the progress we’ve made across Central Europe.”