Sportsbet bounces back with revenue growth

Australia’s largest corporate bookmaker Sportsbet has returned to year-on-year revenue growth, despite ongoing decline in turnover on sports betting.

Flutter, Sportsbet’s international parent company, published its second quarter results on Friday, with the booming American market driving much of its 16 per cent global revenue growth.

The headline number for Flutter for the second quarter of 2025 was US$4.2 billion of revenue, with handle, the global term for turnover, jumping to $19.7 billion, up seven per cent on the same period last year.

Overall, Flutter has just short of 16 million global active monthly players, a number that just leapt 11 per cent on where it was at the same time in 2024.

The Asia-Pacific aspect of the business, which counts Sportsbet plus a small footprint in India, grew its revenue to $402 million, a four per cent growth in the figure on the same point last year.

That is a huge turnaround on the first quarter figures, which saw Asia Pacific revenue down 13 per cent year-on-year with Australian sportsbook revenues down 18 per cent.

Flutter has previously cited softness in the Australian racing market as a major contributing factor to its Sportsbet revenue decline over the past two years.

Sportsbet was able to achieve a three per cent growth in revenue despite a continued drop in handle, which was down six per cent year-on-year. Put simply, Australian customers were spending less, but Sportsbet was generating more revenue from those customers.   

Sportsbet revenue drops $90 million as racing decline bites

Sportsbet’s parent company Flutter has cited racing industry challenges as a key driver in an 18 per cent drop in revenue for the Australian arm of the global wagering giant.

The StraightBren O’Brien

Flutter attributed this turnaround in APAC revenue to “the benefits of optimised generosity and favourable sports results year-over-year”.

Significantly, it ends a period of revenue decline for the Australian/Asian-Pacific aspect of the Flutter business. As a comparison, Australian revenue dropped 10 per cent year-on-year in quarter two of 2024.

Growth in mature and more regulated markets like Australia is more difficult than in the United States, with the FanDuel business driving revenue growth in that part of the world to 17 per cent.

Sportsbook revenue in the US now outpaces that of Flutter’s international arm.

“I am pleased with the excellent underlying performance we have delivered in the second quarter alongside the good progress made on a number of key strategic initiatives. Revenue grew by 16% year-on-year, as we continue to build scale positions in the most attractive markets through strong organic growth and value creating M&A,” Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson said.

“Since Q1, Flutter gained additional US index inclusion and accelerated ownership of FanDuel to 100 per cent. We also became the largest operator in Italy with the addition of Snai; established a scale position in Brazil through NSX; and successfully executed two transformative customer migrations.

“Such varied achievements in one quarter are a great reflection of our teams’ focus and ability to execute effectively, leaving us well positioned for the second half of the year.”