Jackson to Exit Flutter as Prediction-Market Pressures Mount

Peter Jackson will step down as Flutter Entertainment's chief executive and leave the board on Sept. 30, ending a nine-year tenure at the world's largest online gambling company. Dan Taylor, president of Flutter's international division, will take over on Oct. 1. The announcement came on the company's second-quarter earnings call and follows the departure of former FanDuel CEO Amy Howe earlier this year.

A sharp guidance cut

Flutter lowered its full-year US adjusted EBITDA guidance by 22%, a move it attributed to uncertainty around prediction markets. The company reported $6 million in prediction-market-related revenue for the second quarter and expects about $50 million for the full year, while spending on the category is projected to exceed $200 million. The warning comes as Kalshi, which handled about 83% of notional volume among prediction markets in June and has roughly $39.7 billion in annualized trading volume, leads a fast-growing field; US prediction markets saw an estimated $50 billion in trading volume on World Cup event contracts, helped by the first North American World Cup since 1994.

Flutter also said FanDuel Predicts will shift its sports and novelty contracts from CME Group to Crypto.com, while CME Group retains a 51% stake in the venture and customers keep access to CME financial derivatives. Jackson said Flutter must be "thoughtful" about how it positions itself and has resisted building its own market-making exchange, pointing to the complexities involved.

Investor and analyst reaction

Investor Michael Burry, founder of Scion Capital, said he more than doubled his Flutter stake at an average cost of $90 a share, describing the purchase as a "fat pitch." He argued that "prediction markets have taken the gambling world by storm," echoing the concern behind the stock's slide. Flutter fell about 10% on the guidance and touched an intraday low of $89.71, its weakest level in five years, before closing Thursday at $94.46. The stock has fallen more than 65% from its record close of $308.60 in August 2025, leaving the company's market capitalization just above $16 billion after it had peaked at roughly $53 billion.

Susquehanna's Joe Stauff wrote that the sell-off points to concerns about customer retention, competition during the football season and signs that FanDuel is roughly 9-12 months behind DraftKings in building a prediction offering. He retained a positive rating but cut his price target to $115 from $121, noting that Flutter grew average monthly players by 30% in June and has a steady international portfolio. Stauff also said the CEO replacement signals that Flutter recognises the gravity of FanDuel's missteps. Macquarie's Chad Beynon lowered his target to $160 from $190, calling Flutter "a top way to capture global secular trends." Jackson noted that the Betfair Exchange holds a "pretty small market share" in markets where it coexists with other sportsbooks, such as the UK, Italy and Brazil. International revenues rose 10% year over year, helped by a strong quarter in Italy.

DraftKings shows the competitive gap

DraftKings, which reported after the bell Thursday, maintained its fiscal 2026 revenue guidance of $6.5 billion to $6.9 billion. It was the first earnings release in which DraftKings broadened its definition of quarterly sports revenue to include online sportsbook, retail sportsbook and prediction markets revenue. The company said more than 600,000 customers have used its predictions product since the start of 2026, and it generated $1.99 billion in sports revenue for the quarter ended May 31, up 5.7% from the year-ago period. CEO Jason Robins said, "Predictions is already growing faster than we anticipated." DraftKings shares slipped 1.4% in after-hours trading and are down about 35% year to date.

Regulatory backdrop

The leadership shuffle at Flutter comes as the US betting industry faces scrutiny from regulators, lawmakers and courts over consumer protection, advertising and prediction markets that sit outside traditional gaming licenses. FanDuel competes with DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars and ESPN Bet, and the management change could shape how Flutter approaches those regulatory fights. Taylor's promotion places an executive with international experience in charge of FanDuel's parent at a moment when investors and rivals will be watching whether Flutter can stabilize its stock.