Befair has announced the end of its affiliate marketing program in the UK and Ireland. The Flutter-owned betting exchange is looking to scale down its home operations in favor of expansion in international markets. The global affiliate programme will continue as normal.
In a message to partners, the sports betting and casino operator said the move was prompted by “a series of changes to the UKI market and an increasingly complex regulatory landscape”. The affiliate program will be terminated on July 1st this year.
Flutter reported that it spends over €100m a year on compliance and responsible gambling measures related to its home market brands of Betfair, Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Tombola.
In 2024 alone, Flutter paid around £680 million to the UK government across corporate tax, gaming duties, VAT, and employment levies, underlining the scale of its domestic operations.
Under the program, affiliates could earn 25-35% of net revenue generated by referrals, and the company offered Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) deals ranging from £25-£60 per customer.
Expansion into international markets
With stricter regulations and tax rules in the UK, Flutter is looking at emerging global markets, such as Brazil, to expand at lower costs. Recently. Betfair Brazil merged with BetNacional to form Flutter Brazil, which looks to capitalize on the country’s recent move to regulate gambling.
Additionally, FanDuel’s growth in the US has been a success for the gambling group. FanDuel was the leading sportsbook in the country this quarter, with $1.67 billion in revenue generated. Flutter anticipates the U.S. market to contribute nearly half of its projected profit, around $2.4 billion, by 2027.
Flutter CEO Peter Jackson commented, “FanDuel continues to win in the US, retaining leadership positions in both online sports betting and iGaming, while we saw a positive performance within International, where our scale and the competitive advantages of our Flutter Edge have been enhanced by the acquisition of Snai in Italy.”
Flutter acquired Snai from Playtech for €2.3 billion ($2.6 billion), and now holds around 30% of the Italian betting market following the acquisition of Sisal in 2021.
Betfair to come to the US?
As prediction markets gain in popularity in the US, Jackson also commented that the company may look to expand Betfair’s operations into the country.
“It’s worth reminding, we do operate the world’s largest sports betting exchange. We know this space well. The Betfair Exchange has for many years given us very good insights in terms of how this stuff can play out,” Jackson said.
He went on to add, “Clearly, in states that haven’t regulated, there’s a sort of prime the pump type of opportunity that is not that dissimilar to some of the DFS (daily fantasy sports) stuff, albeit it’s worth remembering that DFS is a really good precursor to the parlay product, whereas the prediction markets are quite limited. So look, we’re interested in the potential opportunity.”
Kalshi continues to dominate the prediction market space in the US, and its recent victories in legal battles have sparked the interest of other betting companies getting involved in the market.
Adam is an experienced writer with years of experience in the gambling industry. He has worked as a content writer and editor for five years on sites such as Oddschecker, CoinTelegraph and Gambling Industry News, bringing excellent knowledge of the world of sports betting and online gambling.
