FanDuel Owner Takes on DraftKings on NYSE

FanDuel parent company Flutter is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Ireland-based company announced in a Monday (Jan. 29) press release that while it will continue to list on the London Stock Exchange, it will now also trade in the United States, going up against chief online sports betting rival DraftKings, which went public in 2020.

“We believe a U.S. primary listing is the natural home for Flutter given Fanduel’s No. 1 position in the U.S., a market which we expect to contribute the largest proportion of profits in the near future,” CEO Peter Jackson said in the release.

Flutter’s management has “engaged widely” with existing and potential investors in the U.S. since last year and gained positive feedback about moving the company’s primary listing to the U.S., according to the release.

As such, the company’s board “believes that the NYSE is now the optimal location for Flutter’s primary listing of its shares and that the transition should be made as soon as practicable,” the release said.

The popularity of FanDuel and DraftKings comes as online betting has ballooned to a $63 billion industry, one in which fast payouts are a crucial selling point for customers, as PYMNTS wrote earlier this month.

“Still, the reality is that existing technology stacks limit many casinos,” the report said. “By implementing instant disbursements, online gambling sites could improve gamers’ satisfaction and increase their likelihood of returning.”

While most gamers prefer instant disbursements, few have access to them. A PYMNTS Intelligence study found that nearly 80% of gamblers chose instant digital disbursements when offered them, and 76% who did not have the option to receive instant payouts would have chosen instant if the company offered it.

“Implementing instant payouts may seem expensive for many gambling sites, but the payoff can be significant,” PYMNTS wrote. “Instant payouts streamline back-end operations and act as a catalyst in enticing gamers to return.”

Ingo Payments CEO Drew Edwards said in an interview with PYMNTS Intelligence that if players get their payouts instantly from a specific site, they tend to reinvest them in subsequent visits to that site rather than moving over to a rival platform.

“[For example,] I win money, it goes in my app, I can then bet on the game while I’m at dinner, [and] then I can come back and move it back to the table,” he said.