Entain's FTSE 100 exit reflects wider re-rating of gambling stocks
Entain's demotion from London's top index, alongside Flutter's faltering New York run, shows investors now pricing gambling stocks on profit and risk rather than growth alone.
Entain has dropped out of the FTSE 100, a move that iGaming Business says captures a broader shift in how investors are treating gambling companies across the UK, Europe and the United States.
The demotion comes despite operational progress. Entain's half-year figures to June showed online net gaming revenue up 7% at constant currency, with revenue in Britain and Ireland climbing 13%. The group kept its full-year guidance of 5% to 7% online net gaming revenue growth intact, according to iGaming Business.
Yet the share price has fallen heavily over the past year. Ed Birkin, managing director of H2 Gambling Capital, told the outlet that the scale of the decline has outpaced the downgrades to earnings forecasts, meaning valuation compression, not just weaker fundamentals, has driven much of the fall. He added that the two forces are ultimately "completely intertwined."
London's index is not the only frontier where sentiment has turned. Flutter Entertainment began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in January 2024 and later shifted its primary listing there from London. Its market capitalisation rose from roughly $36 billion at that debut to close to $50 billion by June 2025, before falling back as investors trimmed earnings expectations, iGaming Business reports.
Flutter's second-quarter 2026 results showed US revenue down 6% to $1.683 billion and sportsbook revenue down 15%, with adjusted EBITDA in the US falling sharply and guidance subsequently cut. FanDuel nonetheless held the top spot among US sportsbooks, with a 39% share of gross gaming revenue.
Ben Robinson, managing partner at Corfai, argued to the outlet that the New York listing delivered what it was meant to, but that Flutter has since landed on the wrong side of what he called a "K-shaped market," where "capital is concentrated in a narrow band of technology names and everything else is being marked on earnings."
Frank Fantini, founder and publisher emeritus of Eilers-Fantini, told iGaming Business that the sector's slowdown predates the pandemic, tracing back to a shrinking pipeline of new gaming jurisdictions and projects as the US land-based casino market matured.
Chad Beynon, managing director and head of US research at Macquarie Capital, said online gambling stocks have been swept up in the wider re-rating of growth-focused technology and software names, but added that some of the deterioration in the sector's outlook is genuine. Sports betting operators have been hit hardest, he said, as investors question both near-term earnings and the ultimate ceiling on the US market. Companies weighted more towards iGaming, such as Rush Street Interactive and Super Group, have fared better on stronger profitability, according to the report.
Prediction markets have added a fresh source of uncertainty. The American Gaming Association expects Americans to wager $29.5 billion through regulated commercial sportsbooks during the 2026 NFL season, barely changed from $29.4 billion in 2025, figures that measure handle rather than sportsbook revenue.
Robinson described prediction markets as "the main event," arguing that the real threat is not simply bettors switching platforms but the erosion of the protected market position sportsbooks once assumed. Kalshi, Robinhood, Crypto.com and DraftKings' own prediction-market unit are all competing for that activity, iGaming Business notes.