Flutter "very well placed" to navigate tax hikes, says CFO

Flutter Entertainment CFO Rob Coldrake has expressed confidence that the operator is better equipped to deal with any potential tax increases in the US than its competitors.

So far this year, Maryland has approved a tax increase from 15% to 20%, while Louisiana lawmakers have also signed a new 21.5% tax rate into law.

Illinois also introduced a state budget which will see operators charged $0.25 on the first 20 million wagers accepted in a given year, with the fee increasing to $0.50 thereafter.

This led Flutter to introduce a $0.50 fee on all bets to offset the state’s transaction fee.

While admitting to being “very disappointed with Illinois”, Flutter CFO Rob Coldrake said the move was an outlier compared to other states.

Speaking on a fireside chat hosted by equity research firm Moffett Nathanson yesterday, August 13, he said: “It’s no coincidence that the tax bills that were moderated and went away, and even the ones we’ve seen come through, were at lower rates than originally billed. We had some seats in this area and some influence in those conversations.

“Tax increases are going to be a continued theme over time, but we’ve demonstrated in our model internationally that we’re very well placed to navigate through these and grow our margins at the same time.

“We’ve got a well-versed playbook and, as a scale player, we’re very well placed to manage through these whereas others won’t be.”

Coldrake added that the New York-listed firm is taking the initiative to educate lawmakers on the drawbacks of increasing tax rates, citing markets such as Australia and the Netherlands as cautionary tales.

He continued: “One of the things we’re working hard on with our regulatory team is educating lawmakers in the US around reinforcing the dangers of the ineffective tax policies and some of the harm they can cause.

“I’ve been talking to a number of investors about some of the changes made in markets such as the Netherlands and Australia, where tax increases have been pushed beyond a certain threshold.

“What it ultimately ends up as is lower tax takes for the regulators and governments, and more customers moving towards the black market.

“There is a sustainable level at which tax rates can be set, which works for the regulators but also allows operators such as ourselves to operate sustainably.”

Tax increases have also been a hot button issue in the UK in 2025.

Last week, Flutter’s share price dropped by 5.5% on the London Stock Exchange, in addition to falling 8% in New York.

This was primarily due to concerns that Chancellor Rachel Reeves could greenlight gambling tax increases in the UK as part of her Autumn Budget, with Flutter’s Q2 2025 results also having been published on Thursday, August 7.

In recent weeks, two UK think tanks have proposed more than doubling remote gaming duty to 50%, while increasing sports betting tax rates from 15% to 25%.

The UK government has recently closed its consultation into introducing a Remote Betting and Gaming Duty (RBGD), which would unify general betting, pool betting and online casino into one single tax rate.

General and pool betting levies are currently 15%, while online remote gaming duty is 21%. Reeves avoided taking action on the tax rates in 2024, instead choosing to launch the consultation.

CEO Peter Jackson suggested that the operator’s significant financial muscle when compared to its competitors will see it navigate any tax hikes.

As per Flutter’s Q2 earnings, the UK and Ireland segment returned revenue of $936m, a 1% uptick on Q2 2024.

He said: “We’ve got a lot of levers to pull from a cost perspective that our competitors don’t. We’ve seen time and again in these markets that when there are tax changes, the winner ends up capturing a disproportionate share of the economics.

“Some of our competitors in the UK have very stretched balance sheets. If there are tax increases, they’ll have to react with reductions in marketing and generosity, while pushing up prices to try and compensate.

“What we end up seeing in those scenarios is that customers will come to us because our proposition becomes even more compelling.

“We are working hard to make sure the government understands the implications of any potential changes in taxes and there’s a big lobbying effort going on.

“But we are the market leader. If there are to be changes, we’ve got a load of cost levers we can pull and we are pulling. [Tax increases] will hurt our competitors much more than it will hurt us, and that puts us in a good position.”