FanDuel CEO Amy Howe is out after more than five years leading the sportsbook. Howe, who joined FanDuel in 2021, will be succeeded by current FanDuel president Christian Genetski. Flutter has not yet clarified whether Genetski’s appointment will be permanent or interim.
The leadership change surfaced just hours before Flutter’s first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. Flutter shares have fallen more than 54% year-to-date.
According to a New York Post report, Howe will receive $4.37 million in severance, equal to two years of salary and bonuses and more than four times her base pay.
Flutter shares fell another 2.5% Wednesday afternoon and are down nearly 60% over the past year as investors pull back from gaming stocks amid growing competition from prediction markets and pressure on consumer spending tied to inflation and high gas prices.
CNBC first reported Howe’s departure. During Flutter’s earnings call, CEO Peter Jackson thanked Howe for her leadership and contributions to the company. “[I] would like to thank Amy for her contribution to Flutter and FanDuel, and recognize the impact she has had on the business since joining in 2021,” Jackson said. “We wish her every success for the future.”
Jackson added that “now is the right time” for new leadership and emphasized that there would be “no change in our strategy or posture of the business.” Internal emails sent on Wednesday to FanDuel employees by Howe and Genetski, obtained by Front Office Sports, framed the transition as amicable and did not explicitly characterize her departure as a dismissal.
“As I sit down to write this, I’m filled with a combination of gratitude and tremendous pride for what we’ve accomplished together as the industry leader in online gaming,” Howe wrote. “After more than five unforgettable years, the time has come for me to step away from FanDuel and begin a new chapter.”
Genetski praised Howe’s tenure in his own message to staff, writing that FanDuel had “risen to new heights across every measurable metric” under her leadership. “Periods of transition can be difficult to wrap your head around,” he added.
The executive shake-up comes during a broader transformation in the sports betting landscape. Traditional sportsbooks such as FanDuel and DraftKings are facing mounting pressure from prediction-market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket, which allow users to wager on sports outcomes in nearly every U.S. state.
The rise of those platforms has triggered a wave of legal battles and regulatory scrutiny, particularly over whether sports event contracts constitute gambling products. Industry observers expect the issue could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
In response, both FanDuel and DraftKings launched their own prediction-market products late last year as they seek to maintain market share and attract customers ahead of potential sports betting legalization in additional states.
Flutter reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of more than $4.3 billion, up 17% from the same period last year. However, the company lowered its full-year revenue guidance to $18.3 billion from a previous estimate of $18.4 billion. Jackson described the quarter’s results as “modest” but “encouraging.”
Additionally, Flutter reported 31% growth in betting handle during the quarter, rebounding from weaker-than-expected 2025 growth that the company previously attributed to less compelling NFL matchups.
Flutter said that prediction markets have had only a minimal impact on sportsbook growth so far. The company sees the sector as a major growth opportunity and a way to attract customers before sports betting becomes legal in additional states.
It added that it is making progress on its prediction-market platform, FanDuel Predicts, though it noted that the rapidly changing and complex regulatory landscape has created challenges and slowed product rollout timelines.
Moreover, Flutter also disclosed that it began acting as a market maker in April for a major third-party prediction-market platform, providing liquidity to facilitate trading activity. Jackson said the company sees opportunities to monetize the category and plans to expand market-making operations across additional platforms.
Meanwhile, rival DraftKings has also faced investor pressure, with its stock down more than 31% this year. During its February Q4 earnings call, DraftKings reported positive annual net income for the first time since its founding in 2012 and projected that its prediction-market initiative could eventually generate “hundreds of millions” in annual revenue.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2026/05/07/119738-fanduel-ceo-amy-howe-exits-as-flutter-faces-industry-shift-and-lowered-forecast
