DraftKings Enemy Number 1

During a Morgan Stanley webinar Wednesday, FanDuel CEO Peter Jackson raised some eyebrows.

"DraftKings is our No. 1 enemy. We want to beat them in everything we do," he said.

The statement comes as Morgan Stanley has released its official analyst report of Flutter’s FY 2024 financials.

"DraftKings is our No. 1 enemy. We want to beat them in everything we do" - FanDuel CEO Peter Jackson during a Morgan Stanley webinar today

— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) March 5, 2025

It has stated that Flutter may exceed its FY 2025 forecast – citing it as ‘conservative’ in some places.

FanDuel reported $14.05bn in FY24 revenue.

Flutter’s overall full year 2025 financial guidance has stated an expected group revenue of $15.48bn – $16.48bn – with a predicted adjusted EBITDA rising to between $2.94bn and $3.38bn.  

Morgan Stanley has named Flutter as its ‘Overweight, Top Pick in gambling,’ also stating that the operator ‘struck a confident tone’ with its FY25 guidance.

Georgia to Let Voters Decide on Sports Betting....Maybe

The Georgia House of Representatives advanced measures Wednesday that would allow voters to decide whether to legalize sports betting in Georgia.

The bill provides the framework for how online sports betting would operate in Georgia.

House Resolution 450 would leave it up to the voters to decide this upcoming November.

House Bill 686, meanwhile, would look to amend Title 50 of the O.C.G.A., relating to state government, so as to authorize and provide for the regulation and taxation of sports betting in this state; to amend Part 1 of Article 2 of Chapter 12 of Title 16 of the O.C.G.A., relating to gambling, so as to exclude from the definition of "bet" any consideration paid to a sports betting licensee; to provide for the exemption of persons lawfully engaged in online sports betting from regulations and restrictions regarding gambling information; to amend Title 48 of the O.C.G.A., relating to revenue and taxation, so as to exempt wagers placed as part of sports betting; to provide for related matters; to provide for a contingent effective date and automatic repeal; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Watkinsville Republican Rep. Marcus Wiedower sponsored the sports betting legislation, which excludes horse racing, casino gambling, brick-and-mortar stores, kiosks, and horse racing.

Democratic House Minority Whip Sam Park, thanked Wiedower for his hard work on the bill.

“My hope is that we can continue to keep open the lines of communication to ensure that this has the requisite support to pass the House,” Park said.

The bill would provide the Georgia lottery with a master sports betting license.  Other licenses would be awarded to professional sports franchises Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Dream and Atlanta United as well as the Augusta National, NASCAR’s Atlanta Motor Speedway and the Georgia Lottery.

Not everyone is on board with legalized sports betting.

From the Georgia Recorder:

On Tuesday. Mack Parnell, with the Georgia Faith and Freedom Coalition, mentioned numerous studies showing problematic outcomes from gambling,   bankruptcy, divorce and suicide attempts.

“If the legislation that you’re legalizing has to have mitigation efforts, why would you be endorsing that?” Parnell asked.

Mike Griffin, a public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, cited moral objections to state-sponsored gambling that also results in greater financial costs from addiction compared to the benefits of additional tax revenue.

“What you’re going to do if this gets legalized, you’ll be putting gasoline on a dumpster fire,” Griffin said.

Joe Brennan Jr Talks His Future

Joe Brennan, Jr stepped away from Prime Sports but he's not leaving the industry.

Brennan, Jr was instrumental in getting The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 overturned in 2028, thus ushering in an era of stateside regulated sports betting.

His goal now is to save the industry from itself.

He's against aggressive marketing and bonus offers in the regulated space.

“It’s not enough to just have 1-800-GAMBLER up on your site,” he tells Casino Reports, “and I say that as somebody who has 1-800-GAMBLER up on their site. You want to do more.”

Brennan, Jr. points to an American Gaming Association claim that, for every dollar wagered in regulated markets, the American Gaming Association now estimates two dollars flow through unregulated channels, and it is only getting worse.

“It’s not in the public’s interest to have a massive unregulated marketplace offering the same product alongside the product being offered in a regulated place,” Brennan said. “It undermines the regulated market. It undermines the public’s confidence. It creates more opportunities for integrity problems.”

Brennan, Jr. seemed most ticked off over some states determination to increase its taxes on sportsbooks, even though the vast majority continue to struggle in the current environment.

“If New Jersey suddenly starts to approach parity on gaming taxes with its neighbors, remember that there isn’t a survey out there that doesn’t have New Jersey being in the top five, if not the actual top spot of the most expensive states to do business in,” Brennan sad. “If they do something like this, where they substantially increase the gaming taxes, and we look at our overall costs in New Jersey … we’ve got to say, what’s the minimum number of regulatory-demanded job positions that we have to have here?”

BetMGM just announced it will be laying off nearly 70 employees in its New Jersey office.

Jeff Edelstein of CasinoReport writes:

The implication is clear: Excessive taxation could drive jobs and innovation out of the very states that pioneered legal sports betting.

Brennan, Jr. also sees a threat coming from prediction markets like Kalshi, which operates under CFTC oversight rather than state gaming regulations.  U.S. President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump, Jr., recently joined Kalshi as an advisor.

“It’s one more reason why the states have to watch out that they don’t try and over-milk the cow,” Brennan said. “If this winds up standing at CFTC and these prediction markets are allowed to grow, the whole notion that like, ‘oh well, the product’s limited today’ — there will be everybody under the sun lining up to help them find ways to innovate.”

And then there is the sweepstakes casino model, an industry that has found a way around the regulatory regimes of states for now.  New Jersey just announced it will be taking action against sweepstakes casinos.

But where there's a will there's a way.

“If regulators and states, lawmakers are going to continue to make this harder and harder, we’re going to find ways, legal ways,” Brennan, Jr. said. “Even if it’s gaming the loopholes — and if there’s one thing that seems to be a real American talent, it’s gaming the loopholes.”