Ireland-based Flutter Entertainment, owner of Paddy Power Betfair, has warned affiliates that they Covid-19-related advertising will lead to serious consequences.
The importance of online gambling has become even more important for land-based outlets in recent weeks, who have had to temporarily close due to the ongoing pandemic.
A no-nonsense approach will be adopted
Flutter sent a correspondence to all of its affiliate partners last week, addressing the situation. In this, it emphasised the importance of adhering to marketing guidelines. The below was said.
“Partners are not allowed to reference coronavirus in any marketing materials when promoting PPB (Paddy Power Betfair) brands. We will have zero tolerance on this type of activity and partners will be suspended immediately.”
Financial targets
Last week, the operator revealed that it expects its 2020 financial figures to be affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Across Europe and North America, professional sports have effectively shut down for the time being.
The result of these postponements could, in the company’s eyes, cause it to miss out on between €100m and €122m in profits.
A contingency plan has already been implemented, with “all systems performing well” according to the Group. It has also been noted that operations were performing at a higher-than-expected level, prior to the global situation escalating.
In 2019, 78% of Flutter’s revenue was driven by sports betting.
What about the Stars Group M&A?
Flutter Entertainment is expected to complete a M&A deal with another iGaming giant – The Stars Group (TSG). It’s hoped that this will be finalised in Q2 or Q3 2020.
Should this happen, it would create an online betting and gaming company with over 13 million active customers. Moreover, a presence would be secured in more than 100 markets across the globe.
For now, no new update has been released on this planned partnership. It also remains to be seen whether or not the current global situation will have an impact on its progress.
