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2026.09.25 | TB | FLUT | Flutter UK Player Environment

原标题：Flutter Entertainment – UK Player Environment, Competitive Dynamics & Long-term Outlook

#consumer

Third Bridge · 2026-09-25

Analyst-led • 21 Sep 2026

Companies: FLUT US

Steve Birch (SB) Advisory Board Member at Konektt Ltd

Alex Doran (AD) — Third Bridge Sector Analyst

Agenda

Key Insights

Introduction

AD [00:00:04]: Hello, and welcome to Third Bridge's Interview entitled Flutter Entertainment – UK Player Environment, Competitive Dynamics & Long-term Outlook. I'm Alex Doran, and I'll be facilitating today's Interview with Steve Birch, former Chief Commercial Officer, Sky Betting and Gaming, Tombola and Trading at Flutter Entertainment.

Before we get started today, could I please ask you to state I agree or I disagree to the following statement: You understand the definition of material non-public information and agree not to disclose any such information, or any other information which is confidential, during this Interview.

SB [00:00:52]: I agree.

AD [00:00:53]: Could you please start with an introduction to your background?

SB [00:01:03]: I spent 18 years working in betting and gaming, various different roles, but primarily Marketing Director of Sky Bet under private ownership and then as Managing Director of Sky Bet for a couple of years and then Chief Commercial Officer when Flutter owned Sky Betting and Gaming, which branched out to include Tombola and Trading, as well as Sky Betting and Sky Gaming.

Questions

[00:01:33] What is your assessment of the recent leadership announcements by Flutter Entertainment? What is your perception of outgoing CEO Peter Jackson and the management performance over the last couple of years or so? What could his departure suggest?

SB [00:01:54]: Peter was very knowledgeable, was very, very good at working out what opportunities to take and also what was going to add value to the business. I think you can see that from the size of business that Flutter became over the last 6-7 years. Also, I think he'd been there a lot longer than he'd been in other places. I imagine for the last few years, he's been thinking about what next for him. You can see in the share price, there's definitely been pressure on the value of the business, but I think a lot of that has come externally, obviously through prediction markets, not necessarily from the performance of Flutter itself. I imagine the last year at Flutter, I'll say, I've not been there, so I don't know, but my last year at Flutter has been an interesting one where you're feeling the external pressure, but actually performance internally has probably been pretty good. The business is still throwing off a lot of revenue and a lot of cash. I think there's just been a lot of things that hit the business all at once, quite a few external things, like, with tax changes, regulation changes in different countries, particularly the UK, definitely in India. Then you've had the big external noise of prediction markets, probably, alongside some big internal changes and platform migrations, that type of thing.

AD [00:03:27]: Do you think any headline strategic shifts are needed beyond what we've seen over the last 6-12 months, or do you think that's in a good spot now?

SB [00:03:50]: The big question mark on the strategy is prediction markets and what should the response be to those. Like the rest of the strategy, I think it's very solid. I think you could probably argue, particularly the US, has the execution been good enough, but the strategy is right. It's just can you make sure the execution is right. I think maybe the bit that could change, should change, should be looked at internally would be what is the structure of the business set up to best support what needs to happen for the US to execute, I guess, for all the divisions to execute.

[00:04:28] How do you think the role of the UK should change within the global Flutter business? How should the structure shift around that? The region has been the cash cow of the business for a while now, but with duty changes and broader global shifts, how would you think about the UK over the mid-term?

SB [00:04:59]: I think you still need to look at the UK vs other markets around the world. The UK is still a good market compared to a lot, I mean even just compared to some of the European markets. Actually, yes, the tax is now higher. Is it still similar, better? Definitely not loads worse than most of the rest of Europe. In terms of regulations or governance, it's relatively stable. I think the next year of the Labour government might be interesting if they're going to push for an advertising ban, but that probably plays into Flutter's hands, plays into the big-scale operators' hands if that does happen anyway. I don't know. I think the UK still represents a good market globally. It's obviously you need to adjust to the economics that you're now operating in, but yes, I don't see it's now all of a sudden a terrible market to be in. I don't think, at a high level, the strategy for how UK is viewed in Flutter will change materially. I think there might be a rebalancing of how much resource gets allocated vs other things, and how much spend there is vs other things, but I still think it's going to be important and still going to get focus.

[00:06:21] You mentioned that execution is the main consideration. How would you assess the execution behind the Sky platform migration and your confidence in Flutter being able to realise the full benefits there?

SB [00:06:50]: It was never done on a short-term basis. On a short-term basis, you wouldn't do the migration because there was a risk, to do it, you have to stop product migration. It's risky to do it because you're going to change or going to hamper the user experience. You're going to make it a little bit different from what it was. It was never a project to be viewed on a short-term basis because almost certainly would be detrimental. Potentially, it's been more detrimental in the short term than it was forecast to be or expected to be, but it was never about the short term. It's about the long term and can you go faster over the two, three, four years for the whole of Flutter once you've done the migration. I think that's where it will have to be viewed about whether it has been a successful project or not. Ultimately, it got finished and it got completed, which I think, compared to other tech migrations around the sector and maybe others that I've seen in my time, actually, finishing it does suggest success, because it hasn't dragged out.

[00:07:52] Where do you see the main benefits of the Sky migration manifesting over a longer period of time? You mentioned speed and expected further improvements as that flows through.

SB [00:08:08]: I think you should get more. I think some of the hygiene journeys will naturally end up being a lot better because you're doing them once for three or four brands in the UK rather than various different journeys. Then there should be a lot more experimentation and innovation because you should be able to try different things with Betfair, with Paddy Power, with Sky Bet and then release whatever is the best on all the brands.

AD [00:08:37]: Are you saying that the company can roll things out more broadly and utilise resources better?

SB [00:08:44]: You should be able to learn faster. Flutter should be able to learn faster than everybody else if they're doing it right because they've got more brands.

AD [00:08:51]: You said that the migration success is proven by completion, but perhaps a bit more short-term disruption than expected. Why do you think that has been the case? What does that suggest about Flutter's future migration capabilities?

SB [00:09:10]: I think it just says that business has probably got decent capability to do another migration if they want to do one because you've got some people in the business, who have now got more experience in doing it. I don't think it suggests anything negative. I think it was always going to be disruptive in the short-term. It's been disruptive in the short term. There was estimates on the numbers. I have no idea where they are on the estimates and how that has probably ended up costing more in the short-term than it was forecasted to, but it was always going to cause a problem.

[00:09:47] How would you assess Flutter's wider cost transformation plan? We're hearing about a split between phase one and phase two in 2027 and 2029, respectively, looking at an additional USD 500m of gross savings in the mid-term. What are your thoughts around the rationale and main execution risks?

SB [00:10:14]: There is a lot of cost in the business, so I'm not surprised the numbers are big. The execution risk is, "Can you keep enough of the right people? If there's lots of change, do you also leak good talent?" I think that's probably the main risk. Unintended consequences potentially of having lots of change, but there's no doubt the cost base is big. There's no doubt it could be slimmed down. There's no doubt actually, probably, removing costs will make the business more efficient.

[00:10:41] When you talk about the main execution risk being the ability to keep people, how would you assess Flutter's broader company culture as it has been developing over the last few years? In reacting to a new environment and transformation, do you see any cracks worth mentioning?

SB [00:11:01]: No. From my time there, it was a great culture to be around. Progressive, people were looked after, lots of development opportunities for people, it was leaning into the global scale to help develop people and move talent around. No, removing cost is never an easy thing to do and it's hard work. (1) Do people get bored of that and want to work in a more fast-paced growth environment, I guess, is one thing, but not a lot you can do about that if that's the job in hand, but that's the risk of them losing people. (2) Do people get tired of change? Can they cope with the level of change required? There are two risks around whether you then leak your talent. It is a good culture. It is a good place to be. It's a good place for people to develop careers.

[00:11:58] You mentioned that there was a lot of fat to trim within Flutter, which should make the business more efficient. Are you pretty confident that the company can maintain or improve its competitiveness as it pushes on these cuts? We always hear about Flutter Edge. Where does this remain an advantage vs competition and by how much?

SB [00:11:58]: Yes, 100%. As long as the right areas are cut, then yes, it doesn't change the fact that you can share things between the brands and the divisions to overachieve.

[00:12:39] Have you been seeing the scale advantages and innovation gap between Flutter and its competition in the UK and US remain as strong as ever? Thinking about Bet365, Entain and DraftKings in the US, do you expect any disruptions there?

SB [00:13:02]: Other than prediction market, I think DraftKings definitely caught Flutter. You just need to look at the products to tell that. At one point, Sky Bet was ahead of 365 and 365 have caught up and probably overtaken again. I don't think it's not by miles and by masses or by any one particular thing. I think it's just a general good execution. Also, it's easier to be an aggressive number two following the number one in the market than it is to be number one in the market. I think it's definitely a challenge Sky had when it got number one is how do you kick on. I think it's probably a challenge that FanDuel had when being number one is how do you keep progressing, because it's easy for others to follow. I don't think the gap created is insurmountable.

[00:13:55] With the shifts in the business, can Flutter be on a level or improved playing field in the UK with Bet365 in the longer term?

SB [00:14:12]: I thought that anyone will be able to catch up with Bet365, yes, as long as your execution is good. That's the question, can the group execute well?

[00:14:26] Looking at Flutter's UK and Ireland businesses and tax mitigation, where do you think the key contributors and buckets might be? Flutter recently suggested it would take a little more than initially expected from headcount and perhaps a little less than expected from marketing.

SB [00:14:52]: I think because the tax rise is so big, all areas have to come down. You have to find savings everywhere. Ultimately, the biggest single line is marketing, and so at some point, probably marketing has to come down unless you pick up so much share of wallet from other people decreasing their spend or pulling out the market. I can't see a world in which marketing doesn't decrease.

[00:15:18] How do you think marketing cuts could manifest in the industry and for Flutter over time?

SB [00:15:36]: It will be slow.

AD [00:15:38]: What do you think that could look like?

SB [00:15:41]: I think there will be a steady decrease for two reasons, (1) some stuff is contracted on a longer-term basis, and (2) you want to see what the competition is doing and what happens to your own ROIs. I think there's no doubt it has to come down.

AD [00:16:00]: What do you think that could contribute to the USD 200m suggested savings?

SB [00:16:07]: If they want it to be, it could be all of it. It will definitely be a big chunk. It has to be 50%.

[00:16:14] You mentioned that marketing cuts depend on how competitors react as well. How do you think Flutter will have to benchmark vs competition?

SB [00:16:35]: I think the fact you've got Flutter Edge, the fact that you've got scale, the fact that you've got multiple brands in the same market, they should mean that Flutter doesn't have to spend as much as Bet365 if you've got the strategy right. There's an opportunity to not have to comp the spend of 365. It's just execution and strategy to make sure that happens.

[00:16:58] Is there anything specific about Flutter's UK duty mitigation that you think is worth highlighting from an execution perspective?

SB [00:17:19]: Probably, the same point we said before, it's like how do you make sure you've got enough of the right talent in the right places as you're going through change. I think it's something to work out. I think it's also how do you make sure 365 aren't stopping innovating, while they're also addressing the tax change, how do you make sure you keep innovating alongside things to then also look at reducing the tax? How do you make sure you stay customer-focused while you're also having to grapple with finding more cost?

[00:17:52] Where do you see the key customer trends developing in the UK over the short-to-mid-term period? What constitutes real innovation in this environment?

SB [00:18:05]: Good question. If I knew that, I'd probably not be here talking to you. I think it's other people putting out new features or new marketing experiences or new betting experiences that customers haven't seen before. Maybe there's been the odd one or two in the last year, in the last couple of years, but I think it's a lot slower pace than it has been in the UK market previously, so what's going to keep people interested in betting and gaming as a thing?

[00:18:34] Does the industry have to innovate to stay still, or can that be a real growth lever?

SB [00:18:52]: I think it depends what the competition is doing. Doesn't it? I think in the UK, probably Flutter has not been innovating as much and they've probably been lucky that like in that period, neither has anybody else, because all the big players are distracted by other markets. I think you can't view one business in isolation. You've got to view what everyone is doing in the whole marketplace. If everyone is innovating, you have to innovate to stay still, but probably in the UK market as it stands, if you're the big one who is pushing out innovation, new features and new things, you probably win because no one is really doing it.

[00:19:31] How successfully do you think Flutter leverages the synergies and brings over innovations from the US to the UK? Is there scope to do that more?

SB [00:19:57]: I guess, if good things happen in the US, that is an advantage, 100%. That's the group scale, right? If the good things are happening in any market, that's an advantage. The question for Flutter, is there enough good stuff happening around the whole group? Probably, the answer is more recently, there's not been enough.

[00:20:17] How would you say the parlay functionality in the US compares to the UK? Is there an opportunity to level the playing field there, given Your Way innovations, etc?

SB [00:20:33]: I think, probably, there's been more from the UK that's gone to the US in recent years than the other way. Over time, that probably in the next year, I think you'll start to see that reverse, but I'm not sure we're quite there yet.

[00:20:46] We've seen a lot of competitors talk about betting shop closures in response to duty shifts. There have been reports of up to 100 closures for Flutter. How would you assess the potential closures? Does that sound about the right number to adapt to in the changing landscape?

SB [00:21:11]: Probably, I think. Also, the business rates, the electricity bills and staff costs are probably the biggest issue rather than anything else that's probably getting blamed for them. I think you're going to see the same from Betfred, across all the operators of retail betting. I think probably lots of the retail estate doesn't make that much money. It doesn't take that many changes to tip it underwater.

[00:21:42] You mentioned that a lot of betting shops aren't making much money. How would you assess the UK estate for Flutter? What strengths do you see there? What proportion could be underperforming?

SB [00:22:00]: Once they've made these latest changes, I think they actually have quite a highly profitable estate. Actually, a lot of shops are more modern. They're in really good locations compared to a lot of the peer set. Taking out a chunk of the lower-performing shops, I think, actually, you're going to have a very healthy retail estate. I think if that wasn't the case, they would just be closing more.

[00:22:22] What do you see as the main hurdles to implementing betting shop closures?

SB [00:22:32]: Just the lease, the only challenge is how long the lease that you've signed, but you can often negotiate out of those you overpay in the short term. I think it's relatively simple.

[00:22:43] How lean do you think Flutter's retained estate is? Are there any levers to mitigate cost inflation concerns?

SB [00:22:52]: I think where you can increase your margins from a sports betting point of view is probably the biggest other lever they've got left to pull, which I'm sure is getting looked at.

AD [00:23:03]: How could you go about increasing Flutter's sports margin?

SB [00:23:07]: It's, again, relatively simple. The retail shop, same as every other competitor, will be on a separate odds feed to the online site, so you can choose what odds you pump into the shops, so you can choose to run a higher margin if you want to.

[00:23:25] How elastic do you think betting volumes are if you start seeing a shift in odds?

SB [00:23:36]: Because of the good quality of the shops and the good locations, I think there's probably quite a lot of elasticity.

AD [00:23:44]: Low elasticity, correct?

SB [00:23:46]: No. Like you'd be able to increase prices without seeing a decline.

AD [00:23:52]: How much scope do you see for that? Is that a big opportunity?

SB [00:23:59]: I think nothing in retail is that big of an opportunity. I think it's an okay opportunity for Flutter in the UK. I don't think you'd see it come through in their global revenue numbers. Anything with retail, I think, is small compared to the online brands in the UK. The market is not very big, is it?

[00:24:22] What impact do you think 100 betting shop closures might have on Flutter's broader player acquisition funnel and marketing efficiency? Do you see a big impact there?

SB [00:24:46]: No. I think the brand is spending too much money on other channels for it to be impacted. I think in a world where there's no advertising. There's no online advertising or no TV advertising. If that was all banned, maybe it's different. The strength of the Paddy Power brand is no different. It won't make a difference.

AD [00:25:07]: Does that hold up if you start seeing significant marketing cuts in other channels?

SB [00:25:13]: For now, yes. I think it's more a physical complete ban. I think that's when maybe it's different.

AD [00:25:22]: If you were to see a complete ban, Flutter is advantaged as a large player. Correct?

SB [00:25:29]: Exactly. I think it actually plays into Flutter's hands because you've already got good brand awareness and all of a sudden no one else can grow and spend.

AD [00:25:36]: Does that create a stagnant market, or do you think that Flutter might be more or less advantaged vs large competitors, such as Bet365 or Entain brands?

SB [00:25:49]: I think because you've got all good brands, there's probably an advantage because you've just got more general brand awareness. I think, probably, they're in a better place than everyone else.

[00:26:03] How strong do you think Flutter's marketing and generosity execution in the UK remains, given the difficulties in the US business?

SB [00:26:19]: The UK team are completely standalone to the US. I don't think the US has anything to do with that. I think, is there still the same strength in depth? Are there enough people to get things done? Have they got the budget? I think that's a completely standalone decision. What's happening in the US has no bearing on that.

AD [00:26:38]: Has it been strong and successful from what you've seen in the past or recent past?

SB [00:26:45]: Yes. I think you've seen in the numbers, over the last three years, a track record of growth and success.

[00:27:01] To what extent do you think Flutter's scale constitutes a meaningful advantage vs small or large competitors when adapting to duty mitigation and the new duty landscape?

SB [00:27:21]: Again, it comes down to how. There should be an advantage for Flutter because they're much bigger. You've got economies of scale with how you buy marketing. You've already built your brands, you don't have to spend as much money on brand building if you don't want to. You should be more resilient to marketing cuts. Can a smaller brand outperform you in terms of execution? If the accounts are looking after particularly high-value customers, then they would have an advantage, but otherwise, everything is stacked in Flutter's favour.

[00:27:54] You talked about Flutter's execution with higher-value customers. How do you think that compares to smaller, perhaps more agile competitors? Do you think that will likely result in larger players taking considerable share, or do you think it's more balanced?

SB [00:28:23]: I think it's probably more balanced. No matter the size, the companies who can execute the best will take advantage and the ones who can't won't. I think that's just how it will work.

AD [00:28:39]: You're not necessarily seeing 5-10 points of market share shift between small and large players. It depends on individual execution rather than blanket scale advantages playing out better in the longer term.

SB [00:28:53]: Yes, exactly.

[00:28:57] Should Flutter execute successfully, what could that mean for UK market share across sportsbook and iGaming over the coming 1-3 years or so?

SB [00:29:13]: I think Flutter has everything there to take market share if you can capitalise on what it's got on its base. I can't see a reason why it shouldn't. The only reason it wouldn't is if they can't execute. Everything is stacked in Flutter's favour, like good brands, good underlying technology. Previous good execution, it should all be there. Like I said it's 100% market share

[00:29:59] What amount of market share do you think is on the table for the Flutter sportsbook and iGaming over the mid-term? Sportsbook market share is currently 39% and iGaming 22%.

SB [00:30:05]: The sportsbook share is already really high, so I think sports is hard to make an argument. For iGaming, there's definitely market share to take 2pp, 3pp, 4pp, 5pp should be on the table up for grabs.

AD [00:30:21]: Do you think that's achievable over three years, or might it be a bit longer than that?

SB [00:30:27]: No, I think in the three years, it should be.

AD [00:30:31]: Might the market share be more stagnant in sports, and a 2-5pp share be achievable in iGaming?

SB [00:30:35]: Should be able to run sports in a more cash-generative and efficient way than everybody else. Maybe contribution might grow even if revenue doesn't.

AD [00:30:52]: More stable share, but it can be more profitable over time. Is that correct?

SB [00:31:02]: Yes.

[00:31:06] To what extent do you think the upcoming environment, with cuts in areas such as marketing, could impact player requirements and loyalty? Do you think players will become more bonus-sensitive, or will it stay about the same?

SB [00:31:38]: That's a good question. I think customers want a good user experience, and so they'll react well to a good user experience. I think site user experience now matters for how you look after affordability checks, for example. I think the overall user experience will matter probably more than bonusing. I think, potentially, bonusing probably gets more focused because from the black market operators will have much higher bonuses, and so that, I guess, is an interesting challenge for the operators.

[00:32:12] Do you see any cracks in Flutter's proposition in the UK across brands? Are there any areas for improvement?

SB [00:32:26]: In general, it's gone backwards because of the platform migration of Sky Bet, but as I said, I think that's on a short-term basis. I can't see why it won't get back up to being the best in the market as long as it's got focus, because all the tools are there to get it there.

AD [00:32:42]: Now that's completed, that can flow through quite quickly. Is that correct?

SB [00:32:44]: Yes, yes, over the next two years.

[00:32:52] You talked about bonuses in the black market. What player volume and value loss could you see to the black market in the short-to-mid-term? You hear about the Netherlands as the concern. How do you think it could compare?

SB [00:33:14]: Why wouldn't it be similar? I think it will be low volumes but higher values of customer. I think it will be material amounts. It's going to be in the multi, multi, multi, multimillions of revenue that's lost.

AD [00:33:33]: You are saying that could be similar levels to the Netherlands, less than 50% channelisation. Is that correct?

SB [00:33:39]: Yes, in the long term, if you get as extreme, I think there's even more regulation. There's more challenge in the Netherlands around advertising and stuff. Maybe that's a worst case if more change happens. I don't think that's a likely case.

AD [00:34:01]: Significant impact, but perhaps not as significant as the Dutch market.

SB [00:34:08]: Yes, not yet. That's probably the way you could end up there.

AD [00:34:13]: Is that predicated on things such as an advertising ban, as you mentioned?

SB [00:34:18]: Yes.

AD [00:34:22]: How quickly do you think that could manifest? Does that correspond with marketing cuts directly, or are there any other things to keep an eye on?

SB [00:34:43]: I'm not sure. Marketing cuts are a big part of it, but I'm not quite sure what else. Yes, I'm not sure, to be honest.

[00:34:57] If we consider black market shifts and licensed market share progression, what could this mean for Flutter's sportsbook and iGaming YoY revenue progression and margin in the UK over the coming 1-3 years?

SB [00:35:19]: I think we just talked about it. I think sports revenue will be more of a challenge because the market share is big already. I think iGaming is a big opportunity and there should be growth.

AD [00:35:33]: Do you think black market shifts will manifest among the larger players, or will that be mainly from smaller players?

SB [00:35:53]: No, I think it will come across a cross-section.

AD [00:35:59]: Will everyone be impacted by lost players to the black market, as opposed to Flutter suggesting it will mainly be for smaller competitors?

SB [00:36:09]: Yes. I think it will be across.

AD [00:36:13]: Do you think that market share gains and profit optimisation can offset volume loss?

SB [00:36:27]: I think it's more likely you're going to lose higher-value players to black market. It's like, can you actually get enough players in to mitigate that? I don't think so.

[00:36:39] How do you think about the longer-term scope for Flutter's further sportsbook player economic or gross margin optimisation through various levers, such as Bet Builder penetration? Is there anything else that you think is important to mention?

SB [00:37:08]: Bet Builder penetration is definitely important, but I think it's more like that's now an old feature, what is the next thing is probably more important, which no one knows yet because we haven't seen a new trend arise yet.

AD [00:37:22]: You talked about old innovation at Flutter. Do you think that has reached a bit of a ceiling and is not going to contribute much more, or is there still room to go?

SB [00:37:33]: There's still room to go. No, I think there's probably still room to go. It's now a very crowded space, like everyone is doing, that's where everyone is focusing.

AD [00:37:50]: How much longer do you think that can contribute to growth or improvements? Do we have a couple of years left, or might it be longer than that?

SB [00:38:02]: Again, I think it's more what everyone else do? Does the proposition get kicked on by anybody?

[00:38:14] There are no big European markets where prediction markets are legalised, but to what extent does the US prediction market growth suggest more scope or opportunity for Betfair exchange expansion in the UK or internationally?

SB [00:38:44]: I don't think it does. I think the prediction market growth is in states where there's no sports betting. I think it's just different.

[00:38:53] We've spoken about the mid-term market share opportunity for iGaming. What UK consolidation do you expect to see in the longer term? Could Flutter's market share start looking similar to the spread in sportsbook, or do you see any structural limitations?

SB [00:39:16]: I don't think there's structural limitations. I think there's room for growth.

[00:39:29] How do you think the competitive landscape in iGaming could develop in the longer term? Do you expect to see higher or lower competition as the market consolidates?

SB [00:39:46]: I just think we'll keep seeing more consolidation. I think that trend, there's no way that trend will continue. Flutter probably aren't going to buy anyone material in the next few years because of the share price. I think it will be some of the mid-sized groups getting bigger rather than the really big groups getting even bigger, probably. There's going to be more M&A.

AD [00:40:09]: If you start seeing more mid-sized or stronger competition, do you think that will have a big impact on player economics over time, or should that be fairly stable?

SB [00:40:23]: I think the tax change is a big thing for player economics and how many big players do you lose to the black market. They're the two biggest pressures on player economics.

[00:40:38] What level of cross-sell sophistication do you see within Flutter's brands? Are there opportunities to improve that going forwards?

SB [00:40:48]: Just general UX and usability, like, things to improve, but I think I'd say cross-sell is already a strong point for Flutter. I think pure-play gaming is probably the bigger growth area.

[00:40:59] Is there anything else about the UK market over the mid-to-long or near term that you think is worth mentioning?

SB [00:41:13]: No, I don't think so. I think the new Labour government or the latest iteration of the Labour government probably presents another challenge. I think given the pressure on all the noise around gambling bans, I'd say that's probably going to have more noise around it in the next few months in the sector.

[00:41:39] You talked about considerations around future advertising bans and how that could manifest, as well as about retail not being a massive contributor. What impact do you expect to see if land-based machine duty increases? Are there any other concerns that you think are worth mentioning from a regulatory perspective?

SB [00:42:05]: Again, I think it just puts more pressure on just more shops shutting, to be honest. Again, it's not material. For any of these brands, it's not material, actually. It normally comes down to profit because the shops already aren't that profitable.

AD [00:42:27]: Under the current UK regulations, what scope do you see for gradual profitability recovery once this normalises in the longer term? How would you think about the longer-term roadmap in the UK? Is there anything else that you think is worth summarising?

SB [00:42:46]: No. I think we've covered quite a lot.

[00:42:50] Are there any international markets that you have strong opinions on, perhaps Italy, Brazil or the US?

SB [00:43:06]: It was a fascinating market because, obviously, they went through an advertising ban and the market grew through it. I definitely think that's maybe where the UK will take inspiration from. If we end up with an advertising ban, it depends on what sort of advertising ban ends up happening.

[00:43:26] In the Italian market, we've seen the acquisition of Snai by Flutter, which was completed in April 2025. How successfully do you think that can progress? What opportunity do you see vs Lottomatica in the longer term, especially with the changing licensing landscape?

SB [00:43:51]: I don't know a lot about Lottomatica, to be honest, but with Snai, I think that's adding in another brand and another set of customers onto the Flutter tech stack. I think that's a powerful thing for Flutter to have taken on and have as an opportunity that I'm sure we'll start to add more value over the next couple of years.

[00:44:12] You've spoken about setting up the Flutter business to support the US market. Are there any broader scope shifts that you think are needed to facilitate that?

SB [00:44:28]: I think it's just how does internal resource get lined up like Flutter has got quite a complex operating model where you've got tech teams in multiple countries that are working for the US. How do you make that work as effectively as possible, or is that definitely the right set-up?

AD [00:44:44]: What scope do you see to simplify that? Is there scope for that, given the tech complexity?

SB [00:44:49]: Yes, where you can develop out of tech complexity. It just takes you a while.

AD [00:44:56]: Do you see that as a necessity, or is that hard, given the current constraints?

SB [00:45:03]: Having some of that within their cost programme that's already been outlined, I would imagine.

AD [00:45:12]: Unless there's anything else, I'll end the Interview there.

SB [00:45:21]: Great. Thanks a lot.

Transcription ends at 00:45:25 of the recorded material