Flutter has confirmed the departure of Amy Howe as FanDuel CEO after five years. CEO Peter Jackson admitted the decision to leave was not Howe’s and pointed to FanDuel’s disappointing performance as the reason for a change in leadership.
“It’s no secret that FanDuel has underperformed, but looking forward, we’ve got to get the right team in place to support the business,” Jackson stated.
Current President Christian Genetski will serve as CEO in Howe’s absence. In a press release announcing the change, Jackson said, “I’m delighted that Christian will lead the business. He has a strong track record at FanDuel and deep market knowledge, and we are confident he will build momentum and continue strengthening FanDuel’s position as the leading online sportsbook and iGaming operator in the US.”
Flutter also announced that Dan Taylor, CEO of its international division, will take on the newly created role of President at Flutter while continuing to lead the international business.
FanDuel Struggles Felt By Flutter
The catalyst for Howe’s departure appears to be the stagnation of FanDuel. On the same day that Flutter confirmed she would step down as CEO, it also announced overall growth of 17% for the first quarter of the year. FanDuel, however, managed only a 6% increase in revenue.
The platform performed well in iGaming, with revenue up 19%, but its sportsbook sector struggled, increasing revenue by only 1% as betting handle dropped 9%.
Adjusted EBITDA fell 26% year-over-year to $119 million, largely due to high customer acquisition costs and a December launch in Missouri that failed to yield immediate returns.
As a result, Flutter’s stock price has fallen sharply. After the announcements on Wednesday, its price fell by over 10%. It is down by over 60% from last year’s price.
Howe’s Own Words Foreshadow Her Exit
FanDuel established itself as one of the market leaders as more and more states legalized sports betting since 2018. Under Howe’s leadership, the company took an aggressive approach to achieve profit.
Howe led FanDuel to become the first U.S. mobile sportsbook to achieve full-year profitability in 2023. She identified online casinos as an area for rapid revenue growth, and the 19% increase in the segment this quarter proves the vertical remains a large contributor to Flutter.
However, she was also an advocate of the need to innovate and move on quickly when things are not working.
“If I look at my business right now, we are at a very interesting inflection point where what got us to the No. 1 position today will not be what’s going to strengthen our position over the next three, five, 10 years,” she said in an interview two years ago.
“Continually evaluating the team construct, what kind of complementary skills do we need to build into the organization? And also sometimes that means making some really tough decisions around certain leaders who may have gotten you here, but may not be the right leaders to actually take you where you need to be,” she added in words that now carry a strong sense of irony.
What Next For FanDuel?
Flutter blamed the 26% decline in adjusted EBITDA on FanDuel’s launch in Arkansas and its investment in FanDuel Predicts, a venture that has yet to prove its worth.
In Arkansas, the company said it was happy with its early performance, but overall admitted that “FanDuel exited 2025 with a smaller customer base than anticipated, which continued to impact growth during the quarter.”
On prediction markets, Jackson said the company sees “only a limited cannibalization impact.” At the same time, he believes the markets offer “a very attractive, incremental opportunity providing an avenue to acquire customers ahead of sports betting regulation in new states.”
FanDuel Predicts has expanded its range of sports markets and is targeting users in 18 non-sportsbook states, including California, Texas, and Florida. The company has pivoted to prediction markets, having launched FanDuel Picks in the same states last year, which now looks like a misstep.
As FanDuel’s former Chief Legal Officer, Genetski will oversee the push into prediction markets, balancing regulatory scrutiny with expansion.
Jackson said the company is already using other prediction market platforms to increase trading rather than targeting new users.
“In April, we began trialing market-making services on a major, third-party prediction market platform,” he said in the company’s earnings call. “Early indicators have been encouraging, and we expect to launch our market-making platform in the coming months.“
