Gambling will deliver, even if the odds are raised, says Flutter chief – Telegraph.co.uk

The Governments review is shining a light on the link between gambling and sport. Football jersey sponsorship is just one facet of this. Premier League teams are less dependent on the money they get from gambling operators logos emblazoned across their shirts than the rest of the football league, whose headline sponsor is Sky Bet.

Away from football, the reliance on sponsorship gets starker; bookmakers play a key role in keeping rugby league, snookerand darts afloat.

Recent reports have suggested that banning gambling sponsorship will plunge sport into its biggest crisis since tobacco advertising was outlawed.

Jackson is not convinced. With the exception of horse racing and its intrinsic links to betting, sport will evolve and survive without the industry. If gambling is not allowed to continue its association with sports, because thats what the Government decides, I think there would need to be a good transition period, he says.

I dont think that the switch would be an easy one because the gambling industry is a source of revenue for the sector. A lot of these sports are saying: Nows a really difficult time for us because weve lost all gate receipts... Please dont make life harder for us.

But as weve all shown over the last 12 months, people are very adaptable and ... different sports could get there with enough notice.

As the UK rows back on the liberalisation of sports gambling, the US is moving in the opposite direction. America is in the grip of a gold rush as states scramble to legalise wagering, switching on the vast tax revenues that come with it.

Eye-watering valuations are being hung on the US opportunity. Draftkings, for instance, boasts a $23bn (16bn) market value - andis yet to turn a profit.

When we bought FanDuel in 2018, was I expecting that we would see Paspa [laws banning sport betting] repealed within four weeks, and that well be taking bets in the [New Jersey race track] Meadowlands four months later? And that here we are not quite three years after that being number one in the US market?

No, we didnt expect any of those things to happen.

Jackson says that operators like FanDuel and Draftkings have a significant advantage over rival operators such as Ladbrokes owner Entain and William Hill that have concentrated partnerships with casinos to build a US customer base.

We are winning because between us [FanDuel and Draftkings] we had millions and millions of customers who were the perfect target audience. In fact these people were giving us their money already and would have been betting it but were not allowed to.

Less successful has been the tie-up with Fox Corporation, Jackson concedes. Rupert Murdochs empire is also an investor, holding a 2.6pc stake in the FTSE 100 company.

But Jackson is not going to mince his words. They are an important partner for us. [But] we havent got the same market share and traction with the Fox Bet product yet because the product isnt good enough.

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Gambling will deliver, even if the odds are raised, says Flutter chief - Telegraph.co.uk