Flutter considers bid for main Italian lottery
The current Italian national lottery contract ends in 12 months.
Ireland.- Flutter Entertainment chief executive officer (CEO) Peter Jackson has told media that the gambling giant is considering making a bid for the national lottery licence in Italy. The company already owns Sisal, which runs the rival SuperEnalotto, after buying it in 2022.
Jackson reportedly told The Irish Times that Flutter was interested in making a bid for the lottery licence mainly so it could direct customers to its online gambling offerings. The newspaper reported that the CEO said Flutter was bypassing Italy’s ban on the advertising of online gambling by cross-selling through its lottery licence by providing scannable links on the backs of lottery tickets.
“We don’t have to, but if it makes economic sense, we’ll do it,” Jackson said when asked if Flutter would bid for the Italian lottery licence.
The main Italian lottery has been run by International Game Technology (IGT), previously Lottomatica Holdings, for three decades via its Lotterie Nazionali and Lotto Italia subsidiaries. The current contract expires in 12 months’ time, and the Italian government is to launch a bidding process for a new nine-year licence. The minimum tender has been set at €1bn, payable in instalments.
IGT has expressed confidence in maintaining the contract. However, Flutter has been expanding in Italy, recently buying Snaitech from Playtech for €2.4bn to increase its presence in online gambling.
This week, Fluttery reported Q3 revenue of $3.25bn, a rise of 27 per cent year-on-year. Results beat the consensus estimate, with EBITDA rising 74 per cent to $450m. US revenue was up 51 per cent and UK and Ireland revenue by 18 per cent. The company raised its full-year guidance by 1 per cent.
Flutter this year moved its main listing from London to the US due to the increased importance of the market, where it operates FanDuel. It cancelled its Dublin listing. It intends to spend $5bn in share buybacks over the coming three to four years, announcing an initial $350m tranche on Wednesday.
Jackson commented on the results: “Flutter had an excellent quarter, with revenue growth accelerating to 27%, well ahead of market expectations, and increases to our revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2024.
“In the US, we had a fantastic start to the new NFL season, with peak wagers per minute already higher than the Super Bowl LVII. Our proprietary product offering continued to drive strong parlay penetration as well as a step-up in live betting handle.
“Outside of the US, all divisions delivered a strong performance in the quarter as they leveraged the benefits of Flutter Edge. In the UK & Ireland, a broader product range across both sports and igaming drove player and revenue growth. Sisal continued to make significant share gains in Italy as we look to expand our presence there with the addition of Snai. In Australia, Sportsbet has shown encouraging trends.”
At the Flutter Investor Day in September, the company predicted that FanDuel will achieve $9.7bn in revenue and adjusted EBITDA of $2.4bn by 2027. Adding Canada, it expects its total addressable market in North America to hit $70bn by 2030. As for developing markets, it highlighted Latin America, India, Turkey and North Africa and Central and Eastern Europe as the main focuses.
