Flutter has named Dan Taylor as its next chief executive, replacing Peter Jackson on 1 October, as the group also cut its U.S. outlook after a mixed second quarter and said it would step up investment in FanDuel.
According to Flutter’s release, Taylor is currently chief executive of Flutter International and has been president since May. He will join Flutter’s board when he takes over, while Jackson will step down as group chief executive and leave the board on 30 September. Jackson will remain with the company as an adviser through the end of the year to help ensure a smooth handover.
John Bryant, the board chair, praised Taylor’s record of delivering results and leading complex international businesses. He also thanked Jackson for what he called a transformation from Paddy Power Betfair into a leading online sports betting and iGaming operator.
Jackson has led Flutter since January 2018. During that period, he oversaw FanDuel’s rise to become the top sports betting operator in the U.S. as legal online gambling expanded.
The leadership change lands alongside fresh pressure on Flutter’s American business. In the latest quarterly update, the company said group revenue rose 3% to $4.3 billion and that customer engagement was strong during the FIFA World Cup, which reached about 10.5 million customers.
The U.S. picture was weaker. Revenue there was $1.68 billion, down 6% from a year earlier, with sportsbook revenue down 15% and iGaming up 14%. Flutter said the decline included an adverse 6 percentage-point impact from sports results. U.S. handle still rose 2% to $11.96 billion, but adjusted EBITDA fell 70% to $119 million and the margin dropped to 7.1% from 22.3%.
Flutter reduced its guidance for both the group and the U.S. Most of the cut was tied to higher investment in FanDuel. The company said that spending should reduce 2026 revenue by about $385 million and adjusted EBITDA by $270 million, while lowering the midpoint of its U.S. revenue outlook by $395 million and the midpoint of its U.S. adjusted EBITDA outlook by $210 million.
The previous 2026 U.S. revenue guide had been close to $7.8 billion. It is now $7.125 billion to $7.675 billion. Flutter shares fell about 10% in intraday trading after the guidance reduction.
Flutter said FanDuel’s U.S. Sportsbook Improvement Plan is showing encouraging signs, with average monthly players, handle and revenue excluding adverse sports results improving sequentially. Its Q1 factsheet had said the plan focuses on loyalty, product innovation and disciplined generosity, and that the company launched Bet Protect+ during the quarter, with adoption running ahead of expectations.
The same factsheet said FanDuel had expanded a new sportsbook loyalty programme, giving 70% of its customer base access by the end of the quarter, and that more than 80% of surveyed customers said it improved their FanDuel experience.
Prediction markets are now part of the story too. Flutter sees FanDuel Predicts as an incremental growth opportunity in states where regulated online sportsbooks are not yet available. Its Q1 factsheet said sports contracts were available in 18 states, and that in April it began trialling market-making services on a major third-party prediction market platform.
Flutter later said all sports and novelty contracts would move to Crypto.com, while CME would continue to provide financial markets. It said that arrangement was a significant expansion of the relationship announced in June.
The company expects its prediction-market market-making operation to generate about $50 million in revenue and adjusted EBITDA benefit in 2026. Flutter has also said the short-term revenue opportunity in prediction markets looks more like market-making than FanDuel Predicts itself.
The backdrop is a fast-moving and still unsettled market. CNBC reported that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and six states are in lawsuits over who can regulate prediction markets, while 17 states are challenging companies offering them and one has moved to ban them entirely. There is a lot of noise around the legal position of prediction markets, and uncertainty is likely to remain until the Supreme Court weighs in.
