FanDuel grew revenue by 6% year-over-year during the first quarter of 2026, which lagged behind parent company Flutter’s overall 17% increase.
Key Takeaways
- FanDuel CEO Amy Howe has left the company.
- Volatile Q1 leads to adjusted group revenue guidance of $18.3 billion, down from $18.4B.
- "Modest" revenues in Q1, but Flutter expects rebound from World Cup, NFL.
The gaming giant reported in its quarterly release on Wednesday that its U.S. arm suffered a 9% sports betting handle decline, but the operator was still able to record $1.14 billion in profits during the first three months of the year.
FanDuel’s iGaming operation provided $564 million in revenue, a more robust 19% year-over-year profit increase that gave the U.S. market-share leader a spike of 6% overall. U.S. Adjusted EBITDA fell 26% year-over-year to $119 million.
Enjoying Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account“Flutter’s Q1 performance was encouraging, with Group revenue increasing 17% year‑on‑year,” Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said. “This reflected positive signs from our U.S. sportsbook improvement plan, where performance was ahead of our expectations in March.”
New costs
Sports betting’s net revenue margin did improve to 8.6%, up from 7.8% during Q1 2025, thanks to more operator favorable results, but structural margin revenue of 13.7% was down 40 basis points due to lower NFL and NBA volumes, Flutter reported. The company told investors it expects to still reach its first-half goal of 15%.
FanDuel’s promotional spending increased nearly 5% with a December 2025 launch in Missouri and March’s launch in Arkansas. Average monthly players dipped 1% compared to Q1 2025.
This was also Flutter’s first full quarter with FanDuel Predicts, the company’s U.S. prediction market platform, operating. Flutter reported “modest” revenues, but emphasized a “truly sports-led experience” by Q4 through the World Cup and the next NFL season.
Overall guidance change
Including the International segment, Flutter generated $4.3 billion during Q1 2026, up from $3.67 billion produced in the same quarter last year. International revenue spiked 27%, including 22% from sports betting and 32% from iGaming.
Average monthly players dipped 3% with Flutter’s closure of operations in India.
“Group performance also benefited from our local hero acquisitions in Italy and Brazil, and excellent underlying SEA growth,” Jackson said.
The segment experienced 13% year-over-year Adjusted EBITDA growth following the acquisitions of Italy’s Snai and Brazil’s Betnacional.
Coming out of an up and down Q1, group revenue guidance of $18.3 billion is down from the previous outlook of $18.4 billion at the midpoint. Adjusted EBITDA of $2.86 billion for the first half of 2026 is also slightly decreased from $2.97 billion.
Management shakeup
Flutter also announced a restructuring on Wednesday. FanDuel CEO Amy Howe said she is stepping down.
FanDuel CEO Amy Howe full statement on exit:
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) May 6, 2026
“It has been a privilege to lead FanDuel over the past five years. I’m incredibly proud of the business we’ve built and the talented team behind it, as well as the entertainment experiences we deliver to our customers every day.…
Jackson said Christian Genetski will now lead FanDuel, and Dan Taylor, CEO of the International segment, was also appointed new president of Flutter.
“While we made good progress during the quarter, there remains more to do to ensure the improving U.S. sportsbook trends continue, and we announced today the management changes we are making to best position us for our next phase of growth,” Jackson said.
“The core fundamentals of our business remain strong, and I am confident that we have the right strategy, structure, and global portfolio of local hero brands to capitalize on the significant long-term growth opportunity ahead. I look forward to further progress as we move through the rest of 2026.”
