Global sports betting and iGaming giant Flutter is cutting 1,400 jobs involved in its UK and Ireland business.
- Flutter eliminated nearly 16% of its global workforce on Tuesday.
- The online casino tax rate in the UK has risen 21% to 40% since April.
- Employees in multiple European offices were affected.
The parent company of popular gaming brands like FanDuel in the U.S. and Paddy Power in the UK announced Tuesday that it will eliminate 16% of its global workforce, citing increased tax burdens in the UK gambling industry.
Flutter did not specify which roles were part of the job redundancy.
“As we warned a year ago, we cannot fully absorb a rise of this magnitude without reducing our fixed cost base and therefore must restructure our business so that we can best position ourselves for the future,” said Kevin Harrington, CEO of Flutter UK and Ireland. “We remain confident that we are well placed to benefit from share gains given our position as the largest scale operator in the UK.”
Workforce concerns
Flutter said the job redundancies will come from the offices in Leeds and Dublin, as well as the UK/Ireland segment staff in Portugal and Romania. The BBC reported that the layoffs could also affect staff in London, Gibraltar, and Malta.
“My immediate focus is providing the necessary support for all of our impacted colleagues and guiding our teams through what we know is going to be a difficult and challenging period for all concerned,” Harrington said.
Flutter employs more than 28,000 people worldwide, including 9,000 in the UK and Ireland segment, but the company, which recently underwent a power change at the top, is the largest gaming operator to take these kinds of cost-cutting measures related to the UK tax hike.
Entain, which owns European brand Ladbrokes and half of BetMGM, laid off 500 employees, about 2% of its workforce, in July because of the higher tax impacts.
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Tax burden
Flutter reported a 4% year-over-year revenue increase from UK/Ireland business in Q2, but that was offset by the impact of the new online casino tax, which spiked from 21% to 40% in April.
Sports betting’s 15% tax rate remained intact this year, but that is expected to rise to 25% on online wagering in April 2027.
“We continue to expect these tax increases to have a very significant impact on the overall market,” Harrington said.
Restructuring cost
Flutter said the restructuring cost is expected to be between $80 million and $90 million and will go into effect during the current fourth quarter.
Flutter reported that the UK tax impact to Adjusted EBITDA in 2027 is expected to be $540 million, which the company says will be offset by $201 million of first-order mitigation. Flutter announced a $500 million allocation to restructuring, transaction, and integration costs in its Q2 report.
“The restructure announced today is expected to support Flutter in delivering material second-order mitigation benefits by preserving investment in our customer proposition, and underpins our confidence in our ability to gain share,” Harrington said.
