Global gaming giant Flutter Entertainment has agreed to a major acquisition with Boyd Gaming to obtain the remaining stake in its FanDuel sportsbook brand for approximately $1.8 billion.
The deal will give Flutter 100% ownership of FanDuel and also extends the strategic partnership between the two operators until 2038.
The transaction, which implies a total valuation of $31 billion for FanDuel, is expected to be finalized in the third quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approvals. Flutter has secured loans from multiple banks to help fund the purchase.
As part of the new long-term agreement, Boyd Gaming will receive a fixed fee per state from Flutter for providing FanDuel with online market access.
This arrangement covers sports betting in five states: Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania. It also includes a fee for FanDuel’s online casino operations in Pennsylvania.
The deal also changes how the physical, retail sportsbooks inside Boyd’s casinos are run. Currently, FanDuel operates these sportsbooks for Boyd in all states except Nevada.
FanDuel will continue to run them through the first half of 2026, after which Boyd Gaming will take over full responsibility for the operations themselves. This change comes as Boyd sells its 5% ownership stake in FanDuel as part of the deal.
This major acquisition of FanDuel in the US is just one part of Flutter’s recent global expansion strategy. In May, the company also completed a separate, major acquisition in Brazil.
Flutter purchased a 56% share of NSX Group, the operator behind the popular Brazilian sportsbook brand Betnacional, for approximately $350 million.
Keith Smith, President and CEO at Boyd Gaming, said:
This transaction unlocks the tremendous unrealized value that our investment in FanDuel has created for our Company. As a result, we are in a significantly stronger financial position to continue executing our strategy of investing in our properties, pursuing growth opportunities, returning capital to our shareholders and maintaining a strong balance sheet. The partnership between Boyd and FanDuel has been a remarkable success for both companies. FanDuel has emerged as the nation’s clear leader in online sports-betting, while Boyd has been able to leverage this partnership to profitably participate in the rapid growth of sports betting across the country.
Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter Entertainment, commented:
Our acquisition of FanDuel in 2018 is one of the most transformational events in our Group’s history, with its natural competitive advantages combined with access to Flutter Edge capabilities driving impressive growth to become the well-established and clear leader in US online sports betting and iGaming. I am really pleased to drive future value for our shareholders by increasing our ownership of FanDuel to 100%. Boyd have been fantastic partners for FanDuel, and we are delighted to be extending our important strategic partnership through to 2038.
