Flutter Buys BeyondPlay To Bolster FanDuel US iGaming Share


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Flutter hopes a new acquisition will give FanDuel another edge to grow its iGaming market share across the US.

BeyondPlay, which offers jackpot management technology and a social aspect that lets users interact and play in the same game sessions, announced Wednesday it is being acquired by Flutter.

Terms of the deal were not announced. The FanDuel parent, which recently launched its US stock listing, reports its full 2023 earnings on March 26.

Deal strengthens ‘leading customer experience’

FanDuel’s iGaming offering will improve with BeyondPlay, said Asaf Noifeld, the managing director at FanDuel Casino.

“I’m absolutely delighted with the acquisition of BeyondPlay. Our US strategy is about investing to win, and continuously improving our iGaming proposition for our customers is a key part of that. This acquisition further strengthens FanDuel Casino’s leading customer experience, by adding BeyondPlay’s best-in-class jackpots and multiplayer technology.

“We’re also excited to welcome their experienced team to FanDuel and look forward to working together to continue to grow our rising share of the US iGaming market.”

Karolina Pelc, CEO of BeyondPlay, said the acquisition validates the hard work her team has done. Pelc founded the company in 2021.

How is FanDuel iGaming performing?

FanDuel is the top US sportsbook, taking 51% of net revenue share in the fourth quarter according to a limited trading update offered in January. But it is chasing the top spot in iGaming, currently held by DraftKings after BetMGM fell off from No. 1 in recent months.

The fourth quarter’s performance showed improvement as the No. 2 US iGaming operator 26% market share. That is up 5 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2022 and off 2 percentage points from DraftKings.

Time will tell if the social aspect of BeyondPlay’s technology can make a tangible difference. Social casinos and sports betting apps have tried to recreate a social media experience within their platforms for years, though there has been little sustained success to show for those efforts.