A remarkable rise
In less than three years, FanDuel Casino has capitalized on the passion for gaming to become the leading digital gaming brand in the US. This is the behind-the-scenes story of the bold leadership moves and strategic plays that transformed the business.
The worldwide allure and iconic positioning of Las Vegas in countless movies shows how deeply casinos are woven into America’s cultural fabric – so much so that last year, 41% of US adults visited one. Since the 2018 repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which removed a federal ban on online sports betting and gaming, this cohort have also embraced iGaming – virtual casinos that offer products from slot machines to live roulette. The growth opportunity in this space is substantial, with Flutter upgrading its expectations for the total addressable market and population coverage for US iGaming to $24bn and 25% of the adult population by 2030 respectively.
However, rather than being dominated by established casinos, this segment is now led by FanDuel Casino – the iGaming brand of Flutter’s market-leading US operator, FanDuel. Its rise has been remarkable. While FanDuel quickly became the leader in online sports betting post-PASPA, through factors including its existing daily fantasy draft customer base, FanDuel Casino’s rise has been a direct result of a major strategic pivot.
According to one of the first dedicated hires, Andrew Gradwell, who joined as Senior Vice President of Product in early 2022, “the product was immature” and the initial team had to settle on two goals. “First, we knew we had a huge gap to close versus our competition, which had launched with significantly better products”, he recalls. “Second, we needed to understand how to leverage the Flutter Edge as much as possible.”
The Flutter Edge is the Group’s key competitive advantage and differentiator, whereby technology, expertise and talent are shared across its global businesses. By drawing on this, FanDuel Casino built a close-knit leadership team with experience in building market-leading products at other Flutter brands such as Sky Betting & Gaming and PokerStars
A strategic vision focused on improving customer experience, obtaining exclusive content and developing a distinct brand identity allowed FanDuel Casino to quickly pull ahead of longer-established rivals. By the end of 2024, it was the number-one iGaming brand in the US market based on market share and it remains so today. The story of how this team achieved such a rapid ascent is one of complete transformation, which saw them reimagine the product, the platform, and ultimately the brand itself.
Building the right team
Leading the turnaround was Managing Director Asaf Noifeld, who joined FanDuel Casino a few months after Gradwell, following a seasoned career at PokerStars, Flutter's leading brand in online poker. For him, assembling the right people was the “secret sauce.”
He says: “The real game-changer was our ability to assemble a team of the best gaming experts in the world and bringing their know-how to the US. What we have in Flutter is an ecosystem of people with great experience, so we talk the same language and share the same values. That is what wins in the long term.”
However, the new team quickly realized that while there were achievable early wins in the US, the market was unique. To succeed, they would need a specific brand and leading product offering for US players, one completely distinct from FanDuel’s better-known online sports betting business, where customers were cross-sold promotional casino offers.
Noifeld likened this shift to McDonald’s selling ice cream compared with a specialist gelato shop, “McDonald’s customers come for the hamburgers and have limited expectations for ice cream – perhaps one or two flavors.” A specialized gelato shop, in contrast, creates different expectations. “It will have a huge variety of flavors, great promotions, perhaps even a loyalty program,” he says. FanDuel Casino needed a similar conceptual pivot, from a product offered by a broader business to a brand with its own identity.
A new brand identity
As VP of Marketing, Daniele Phillips was tasked with creating that identity, shifting FanDuel Casino into a distinct gaming brand with a sustainable player base, an emphasis on responsible gaming and long-term loyalty. That included deliberately building a broad base of casual players. She says: “The challenge was, could FanDuel be seen as a gaming brand? FanDuel was very good at sports betting but hadn’t had the time or space to think about the casino.”
A full brand overhaul was needed. “We rethought the whole visual identity from a casino-first perspective, moving away from sports betting in look and feel, and highlighting the fun of the brand for our customers,” she says. As an ongoing process, this is guided by players, Phillips says. “We do regular customer research, because casino players are more demographically split than sportsbook customers, so we had to take a different approach.”
Next, the marketing team began to think about partnerships, linking up with gaming influencer Vegas Matt, who has the world’s most-viewed gaming channel on YouTube with 1.2m subscribers. In his unique style, Vegas Matt gives customers a demonstration of how much fun the games are. That partnership helped to build FanDuel Casino’s audience, says Phillips. “We are getting millions of views across our videos, which means the brand is reaching new audiences.”
Then came product enhancements. “What we were missing was the best portfolio of slot games – and direct casino players like to play slots,” says Gradwell. “We doubled down on winning in the slots space, which is where the likes of Willy Wonka and Huff and Puff have had such a massive impact.” Both are popular games that fans will know from visiting casinos, and – importantly – both are exclusive to FanDuel Casino.
Reimagining the platform
Perhaps the boldest move of all followed on the technology side. FanDuel Casino’s games and technology were originally running on a third-party platform but there was a desire to bring that in-house.
“We knew we had to build a reliable platform, one that was sustainable and could help us grow and could bring more of people’s favorite games to them,” says James Davison, Commercial VP at FanDuel Casino. “It was a huge undertaking for our tech and product teams, but it has been transformational in terms of customer experience.”
The team looked at other sectors for inspiration, drawing cues from major players in streaming content and social media, such as Netflix, TikTok, and Spotify, for insights on how to create a market-leading experience. One small but successful move was the use of video trailers for games, allowing players to see a preview without having to wait for it to load. Personalization is another area where the team is learning from other digital products, while ensuring that players remain reassured that their privacy and security are respected.
Davison describes how promotional improvements, such as bonus spins on slot machines and personalized promotions, directly strengthened loyalty and retention. “The promotions are just a lot more engaging for customers,” he says. “It’s simpler to go through the journey, but it’s also much more exciting for them.”
Building Loyalty
The focus on engaging those not interested in sports betting – primarily women and older players – required a different offering suitable for recreational gamers. One early move was the introduction of a free-to-play product called Reward Machine, an innovation Gradwell and Phillips had worked together to develop and promote at Sky Vegas, another Flutter brand and example of the Flutter Edge in action. Phillips says: “The playbook from the UK probably teed up over 50% of the playbook in the US. But we also had to adapt to the US, where jackpots and loyalty, for example, are very different.”
Casino jackpots – big prizes that are paid out to one winner every day – are a key part of the US casino experience and FanDuel did not have one. This was a significant gap and not one that FanDuel could close quickly with an in-house product. It opted to solve the problem by acquiring a company called BeyondPlay. Davison says: “They were the experts within the industry on two interesting jackpot concepts: the functionality itself and site-wide jackpots.”
The acquisition means every FanDuel Casino player has the option to add a small amount to any wager they make and then opt in to the chance of winning one of the jackpots. It has been a powerful draw for customers and there have been more than 150,000 unique jackpot wins since it launched.
Retention is just as critical as acquisition, so the team also launched FanDuel Casino’s Rewards Club to build loyalty. The aim of this was to provide something more personal and engaging than a traditional loyalty scheme, hence its positioning as a club. Gradwell says: “We consulted loyalty experts and designed a scheme that was digital-first. It’s simple, resets monthly and gives players rewards that are meaningful without the complexity of traditional points-based systems.”
JUST GETTING STARTED
The strength of the leadership team’s relationships, many formed years earlier in their careers at other Flutter brands, continues to be a driving force. “Everyone’s opinion matters,” Gradwell says. “It has been the way that we’ve operated and, without a doubt, is the reason why we’re number one.”
Noifeld adds that while “many competitors have complex organizational structures or fragmented teams,” the close alignment of FanDuel Casino’s leadership team has enabled it to agree on bold moves such as influencer partnerships. That doesn’t mean the work is done, however. As Noifield warns: “It’s much harder to keep the number-one spot than to get to number one. We’ll have to continue to innovate and set new bars.”
For Gradwell, the sense of momentum remains strong. “Starting from ground zero, we’ve been able to create the culture we wanted and the product we always wanted. It feels like we’re just getting started.”
