Spin Cycle: Flutter Earnings Report, GeoComply CEO Reveal Highlight Week In Gambling

Welcome to “Spin Cycle,” Casino Reports’ weekly Friday roundup of all things impactful, intriguing, impressive, or idiotic in the gambling industry. Pull up a chair, grab a stack of chips and a glass of your beverage of choice, and take a spin with us through this week’s news cycle …

Fluttering in the wind

Flutter Entertainment’s Q4 earnings call this week was something of a mixed bag — essentially boiling down to a matter of perspective and spin.

Executives from the parent company of FanDuel, the U.S. online gaming revenue leader, spoke enthusiastically about 2024 growth and the potential for more in 2025. But analysts on the call asked tough questions about projected new-market losses, various states’ proposed tax increases, and the threat of prediction markets capturing sports betting spend.

Key numbers touted by Flutter included a fourth-quarter revenue increase of 14%, a fiscal year revenue increase of 19%, and full-year iGaming revenue growth in the U.S. of 43%.

Still, pressed by the Wall Street analysts, CEO Peter Jackson acknowledged an approximately $80 million outlay to launch in Missouri this year as well as those dreaded “customer-friendly” NFL results that stymied several operators in the fourth quarter.

But Jackson nevertheless kept the tone positive, declaring:

“We have had a great start to 2025, including record levels of customer engagement for the Super Bowl where FanDuel had 3 million active customers placing 17.7 million bets with $470 million wagered on the day. I am excited to build on this strong momentum as we seize the growth opportunities outlined at our Investor Day last September.”

Kip, Kip, hooray

Geolocation security company GeoComply announced the appointment Tuesday of a new CEO, and it’s a name any gambling industry insider should be familiar with: Kip Levin. The former CEO, COO, and president of FanDuel (and before that, a senior vice president at Ticketmaster) now assumes a similarly powerful position at GeoComply, allowing co-founders Anna Sainsbury and David Briggs to shift their roles and responsibilities.

“I am confident that under [Levin’s] leadership, GeoComply will continue to innovate and expand its global footprint, ensuring we remain at the forefront of geolocation security and fraud prevention,” Sainsbury said in a press release. “This transition enables me to dedicate more time to our long-term strategic direction, focusing on how we can better serve our partners.”

Added Levin: “I am incredibly excited to join GeoComply, a company with a strong reputation for innovation and a commitment to customer success. … My experience in scaling businesses and driving product innovation will be instrumental as we navigate the evolving landscape of geolocation technology, ensuring we provide our customers with the most reliable and effective solutions.”

GeoComply has contracts with many of the leading brands in U.S. iGaming, including Levin’s former employer FanDuel, as well as both DraftKings and BetMGM.

Markets and marketing

Tarek Mansour, the founder of the controversial prediction market operator Kalshi, took to social media this week to share a commercial his company made and hoped to air before this past Sunday’s Academy Awards broadcast. However, it didn’t air, because, according to Mansour, “Every TV outlet blocked our ad and censored it from airing for reasons unknown to us.”

The advertisement, featuring the tagline, “You can trade on that,” depicted a store clerk telling a customer he could be making money off various predictions — from the weather, to the identity of the world’s richest person, to the Oscars results.

All we can say is, we hope nobody risked money on a “yes” market for “Will Kalshi air its commercial on TV?”

House Rules: Insights from around our network

BIG BUSINESS: Total regulated online casino revenue in US surges to $825 million for January [by Chris Altruda]

PEACH PIT: Georgia online sports betting bill dies (again), Mississippi’s barely hanging on [by Jeff Edelstein]

IT’S ALIVE!: On gaming taxes, the industry’s enduring curse of Frankenstein [by Richard Schuetz]

THE MORE, THE MERRIER: Why the West Virginia Online Lottery just expanded its library of games [by Matthew Bain]

NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOE: Brennan’s bet: from PASPA fighter to industry fixer [by Jeff Edelstein]

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED: YouTube to begin more strict monitoring of gambling-related content [by Chris Altruda]

CUTTING KALS: Nevada Gaming Control Board warns Kalshi to halt trading on sports and elections [by Brett Smiley]

CALL 1-800-SHOPPER: A modest proposal: let’s regulate shopping like we do sports betting [by Jeff Edelstein]

HERE’S THE DEAL: How much should we read into Light & Wonder’s live-dealer shutdown? [by Matthew Bain]

AD BLITZ: Proliferation of gambling advertising the focus of expert panel [by John Brennan]

SIZE MATTERS: Connecticut may establish maximum wager sizes for online sports betting [by Chris Altruda]

Small stakes and hot takes

This week on the Casino Reports podcast Low Rollers, my co-host Jeff Edelstein welcomed the man behind the Mayo Media Network, Pat Mayo, for a conversation about his approach to sports gambling content and the balance between informing and entertaining. Here’s a taste:

We also covered Nevada and New York taking on Kalshi and sweepstakes casinos, respectively; the possibility that ESPN Bet is a dead sportsbook walking; and quick takes on acclaimed TV shows Succession, Severance, and Breaking Bad (and the Breaking Bad slots game). Full episode:

The Shuffle: Other news and views

BLEAK JOBS REPORT: BetMGM to lay off 83 workers at Jersey City headquarters as sports betting market slows [NorthJersey.com]

BALLY’S BAILS: Bally’s scraps earnings call following stock plunge [CDC Gaming Reports]

STAT SHAVING SCANDAL?: Sources: Fresno State athletes played fantasy on own stats [ESPN.com]

ALL-IN: Las Vegas Strip hits 100% unionization with Fontainebleau contract, a historic milestone [News3LV]

THE MITTEN KEEPS HITTIN’: Michigan regulator issues cease-and-desist letters to five offshore casinos [CDC Gaming Reports]

DEEP IN THE HURT: Controversy surrounding Texas Lottery isn’t helping supporters of casinos, sports betting [The Dallas Morning News]

EXPENSIVE LOBBY: Mets owner Steve Cohen, other casino bidders among top spenders as record $138M pledged to lobby NYC [New York Post]

HYBRID THEORY: Borgata’s new game lets online and casino players bet together [Press of Atlantic City]

POWER PLAY: Paddy Power loses lucrative High Court case [iGaming Expert]

ACCEL EXCELS: Accel Entertainment reports record revenue in 2024, will continue to ‘prune’ underperforming locations [CDC Gaming Reports]

FULL HOUSE: Bristol’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino reports great success with newly added poker room [WJHL.com]

SCHOOL OF BLOCK: Bid to bar NJ public colleges from partnering with sports gambling companies [NJ Spotlight News]

The Bonus Round

Completing the Spin Cycle with some odds and ends and our favorite social media posts of the week:

• This has to be the most “Bonus Round section of Spin Cycle” headline imaginable, courtesy of OrilliaMatters.com: “Moose ‘safely removed’ from Casino Rama property.” Yes, a moose showed up at a Canadian casino on Monday afternoon. And once the casino operator determined that the moose did not have any money to spend on the property, it was sent home.

• BetMGM Casino players are off to see the wizard, as the app announced this week the launch of Light & Wonder’s The Wizard of Oz-branded slots games. Of course, if you play these new games and they aren’t to your liking, remember: There’s no place like the home screen.

• By the way, Light & Wonder, or other game manufacturers out there, when you’re finished catering to the boomers with content connected to a 1939 film, you may want to read Casino Reports’ Jeff Edelstein’s 10 suggestions for slots to tap into Gen X’s nostalgic needs. You’re welcome.

• Interesting graphic published this week by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, showing the projected tax increase on each major operator in New Jersey if Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed rate bump goes through:

• I really wanted to ignore this story for … #reasons … but it’s pretty mainstream news with a direct connection to gambling, so: Donald Trump said he plans to pardon Pete Rose, noting in his distinctive social media style that Rose “only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING.” (Hey, remember when that was a popular, ill-informed sports radio argument that everybody who didn’t understand sports betting used to make like 35 years ago? Shocked — shocked — to see the president going down that road.)