Flutter Entertainment PLC (LSE:FLTR) has named Amy Howe as the new chief executive of FanDuel, putting the American fantasy and sports betting business back on-track for a spin-out and IPO.
Howe joined FanDuel as president earlier this year, joining from Ticketmaster in February, taking responsibility for core commercial functions such as the sportsbook, casino, racing and daily fantasy businesses.
Flutter highlighted that Howe was chief operating officer at Ticketmaster prior to joining FanDuel, driving a transformation and modernisation of the ticketing platform which doubled growth in gross ticketing value and increased the app-based customer base by 400%.
"I am very pleased to be appointed the CEO of FanDuel at such an exciting time,” Howe said.
“Since joining the business, I have been very impressed by the quality of our team and the strategic advantages we enjoy in terms of brand reach, product quality and the broad expertise we leverage from being part of the wider Flutter Group.
“That said, we must avoid complacency and remain focussed on executing on our long-term strategy to build the embedded value of the business. I look forward to working with Peter [Jackson] and the wider team to drive FanDuel's continued success."
Flutter earlier this year pumped the brakes on plans to IPO FanDuel onto a US stock exchange, as incumbent FanDuel chief executive Matt King left (and subsequently agreed to join sports apparel, merchandise and trading card group Fanatics) and Howe’s appointment comes as daily fantasy rival DraftKings is wrestling to take over Ladbrokes owner Entain in a cash-and-shares deal worth an estimated £15bn.
At Fanatics, King recently raised US$350mln in a funding round to value the business at US$10bn – propped up by new rights deals with the MLB, NFL and National Basketball Association. In June, the business launched an NFT (non-fungible token) venture.