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| PART I |
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| Item 1. | Business | 1 |
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| Item 1A. | Risk Factors | 23 |
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| Item 1B. | Unresolved Staff Comments | 76 |
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| Item 1C. | Cybersecurity | 76 |
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| Item 2. | Properties | 78 |
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| Item 3. | Legal Proceedings | 78 |
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| Item 4. | Mine Safety Disclosures | 78 |
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| PART II |
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| Item 5. | Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities | 79 |
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| Item 6. | [Reserved] | 81 |
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| Item 7. | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 81 |
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| Item 7A. | Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk | 115 |
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| Item 8. | Financial Statements and Supplementary Data | 116 |
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| Item 9. | Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure | 179 |
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| Item 9A. | Controls and Procedures | 179 |
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| Item 9B. | Other Information | 180 |
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| Item 9C. | Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections | 180 |
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| PART III |
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| Item 10. | Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance | 181 |
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| Item 11. | Executive Compensation | 189 |
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| Item 12. | Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters | 199 |
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| Item 13. | Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence. | 202 |
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| Item 14. | Principal Accountant Fees and Services | 203 |
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| PART IV |
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| Item 15. | Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules | 200 |
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i
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Flutter Entertainment plc, a public limited company incorporated under the laws of Ireland, qualifies as a foreign private issuer (“FPI”) in the United States for purposes of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Flutter voluntarily has chosen to file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) instead of filing on the reporting forms available to foreign private issuers.
We have included in this Form 10-K the Group’s audited consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 and for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021. The Group’s audited consolidated financial statements included herein have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). We end our fiscal year on December 31. The audited consolidated financial statements included herein, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP, do not constitute statutory financial statements for the purposes of the Companies Act 2014 of Ireland (the “Irish Companies Act”), nor do they constitute audited financial statements for the purposes of the Irish Transparency (Directive 2004/109/EC) Regulations 2007. Our statutory financial statements for fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2021 were delivered to the Registrar of Companies of Ireland (the “Registrar of Companies”) and, in the case of the 2023 financial statements, are expected to be delivered to the Registrar of Companies within 56 days of our annual return date in 2024.
CERTAIN TERMS
Unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires, the terms “Flutter,” the “Company,” the “Group,” “we,” “us” and “our” each refer to Flutter Entertainment plc and its subsidiaries. References to fiscal 2023, fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2021 refer to the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This report contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements reflect our current expectations as to future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to our expectations regarding the performance of our business, our financial results, our operations, our liquidity and capital resources, the conditions in our industry and our growth strategy. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “outlook,” “believe(s),” “expect(s),” “potential,” “continue(s),” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “seek(s),” “predict(s),” “intend(s),” “trends,” “plan(s),” “estimate(s),” “anticipates,” “projection,” “goal,” “target,” “aspire,” “will likely result” and other words and terms of similar meaning or the negative versions of such words. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may change at any time. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. These factors include but are not limited to those described in Part I, “Item 1A—Risk Factors”. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this report. Flutter undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.
ii
An investment in our ordinary shares involves risks. You should carefully consider the following information about these risks, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report, before investing in our ordinary shares. Some of the more significant challenges and risks relating to an investment in our Company are summarized below. The following is only a summary of the principal risks that may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. The following should be read in conjunction with the more complete discussion of the risk factors we face, which are set forth in Part I, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in this Annual Report.
| • | Economic downturns and political and market conditions beyond our control, including inflation and a reduction in consumer discretionary spending, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. |
| • | Our business is exposed to competitive pressures given the international nature of competition in online betting and online gaming and casino (“iGaming”). |
| • | We may fail to retain existing customers for our betting and iGaming offerings or add new customers or customers could decrease their level of engagement with our betting and iGaming offerings. |
| • | Our growth prospects may suffer if we are unable to develop successful product offerings or if we fail to pursue additional product offerings. In addition, if we fail to make the right investment decisions in our product offerings and technology, we may not attract and retain customers and our revenue and results of operations may decline. |
| • | The success of certain of our products, including poker, exchange and daily fantasy sports (“DFS”), depends upon maintaining liquidity. |
| • | Uncertainty as to the legality of online betting and iGaming or adverse public sentiment towards online betting and iGaming may deter third-party suppliers from dealing with us. |
| • | Failure to attract, retain and motivate key employees may adversely affect our ability to compete, and the loss of key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. |
| • | We are highly dependent on the development and operation of our sophisticated and proprietary technology and advanced information systems, and we could suffer failures, interruptions or disruptions to such systems or related development projects and/or we could fail to effectively adopt and implement new technologies and systems required for our business to remain competitive. |
| • | Security breaches, unauthorized access to or disclosure of our data or customer data, cyber-attacks on our systems or other cyber incidents could compromise sensitive information related to our business (including personal data processed by us or on our behalf) and expose us to liability, which could harm our reputation and materially and adversely affect our business, financial conditions and results of operations. |
| • | We are subject to a number of risks related to credit card payments, including data security breaches and fraud that we or third parties experience, and additional regulation, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. |
| • | The increasing application of and any significant failure to comply with applicable data protection, privacy and digital services laws may have a material adverse effect on us. |
| • | We depend on third-party providers and other suppliers for a number of products (including data and content) and services that are important to our business. An interruption, cessation or material change of the terms for the provision of an important product or service supplied by any third party could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. |
iii
| • | Adverse changes to the regulation of online betting and iGaming, or their interpretation by regulators, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. |
| • | The approach to regulation and the legality of online betting and iGaming varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and is subject to uncertainties. |
| • | The successful execution of our growth strategy, particularly with respect to our U.S. business, which is critical to our long-term ambitions, will depend on successfully expanding our provision of online betting and iGaming services into certain new and existing jurisdictions and markets where the regulatory status of the provision of such services has been clarified or liberalized. |
| • | We are exposed to foreign exchange rate risk with respect to the translation of foreign currency denominated balance sheet amounts into pounds sterling and to the risk of interest rate fluctuations. |
| • | We depend on the ongoing support of payment processors and international multi-currency transfer systems. |
| • | Fulfilling our financial reporting and other regulatory obligations as a U.S. public company will be expensive and time consuming, and these activities may strain our resources. |
| • | In connection with our preparation for complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we have identified deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that constitute “material weaknesses” as defined in Regulation S-X. If we are unable to remediate these deficiencies, or if we identify material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting to the standards required by U.S. securities laws, we may not be able to accurately report our financial condition or results of operations or prevent fraud. |
| • | As a foreign private issuer, we are permitted to, and we will, follow certain home country corporate governance practices in lieu of certain requirements applicable to U.S. issuers. This may afford less protection to holders of our ordinary shares. |
| • | U.S. investors may have difficulty enforcing judgments against us, our directors and officers. |
iv
Part I