John Bryant reported to be in line to chair Flutter Entertainment

The Irish gambling giant is increasingly looking to the US.

Ireland.- Flutter Entertainment is reported to be in “advanced talks” to appoint the US businessman John Bryant as its next chairman. Sky News cited an investor who expects the new chair to be presented at the upcoming shareholder meeting this month.

Bryant, who has both US and Australian nationality, is senior independent director at Compass Group and sits on the boards of two US-based companies. His appointment would be another sign that London-listed Flutter Entertainment is looking increasingly to the US. The company is planning to advance with a US listing for FanDuel, which is the market leader in sports betting.

BetMGM remains the market leader in online casino in those few US states that permit the activity, but FanDuel has expressed its intention to expand its market share in this vertical too.

Flutter Entertainment’s other brands include Sky Bet, Paddy Power, PokerStars, Adjarabet and Junglee Games. The company has said that it “anticipates the US-based operation becoming its largest business by revenue and an ever-greater proportion of its overall value”.

Meanwhile, the operator has reached an agreement to settle a bribery case brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The case involved allegations of bribery against Pokerstars dating back to before the brand was acquired by Flutter in 2020. Flutter will pay a $4m settlement.

See also: Flutter’s Sisal merges Italian operations into single entity