When FanDuel agreed to pay the Jacksonville Jaguars $5 million to resolve litigation surrounding a disgraced former employee, the settlement did not quite cripple the company’s bottom line.
ESPN reported recently that the two sides finalized the settlement in early 2025. The network also reported last year that the Jaguars made a request to FanDuel to repay a portion of the embezzled funds. Securities filings indicate that the settlement may be easier for FanDuel to swallow in comparison with initial projections.
Earlier this year, FanDuel finalized the agreement with the Jaguars to compensate the NFL club for approximately $20 million in stolen funds that the employee deposited at the sportsbook. But in a series of legal matters where requested damages by the employee stretch to $250 million, this Jaguars settlement looks relatively smaller, especially compared to the company balance sheet.
During the second quarter, Flutter produced revenue of $4.19 billion for the three months period ended 30 June. In the U.S., Flutter generated revenue of $1.79 billion, with sportsbook revenue of $1.22 billion.
A FanDuel spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Jaguars legal costs not broached in Flutter filing
Amit Patel, a former Jaguars executive, pleaded guilty in 2023 to misappropriating $22 million from the team’s Virtual Credit Card (VCC) program in a brazen bid to fuel his gambling habit. Patel, who served as the sole custodian of the team’s VCC system, received a 78-month prison sentence last year on several charges, including wire fraud.
The exact timing of the settlement is unclear, but it appears to have been reached around March when FanDuel parent Flutter released a Form 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filing, which covers Flutter’s annual report for the fiscal year ended 31 Dec. 2024, contained a series of potential damages regarding pending litigation against the company.
While Flutter informed the SEC on litigation on several continents, the section on legal contingencies did not contain any matters in North America. The section included:
- Alleged German and Austrian player claims for the reimbursement of historic gaming losses
- A tax dispute with Italian authorities over Pokerstars server infrastructure
- An investigation on historical underpayment of a goods and services tax in India
Of the three, the lowest contingency is the Italian tax settlement for €8 million ($9 million), Flutter disclosed. Flutter strongly disputes the European matter and wrote that it was unable to determine a reasonable estimate on a range of potential losses in the India case.
How FanDuel settlement could cut off potential harm
Thus far in 2025, Flutter has released quarterly filings in May and August for the first six months of the year. Flutter did not alert the SEC on the Jaguars settlement in either filing.
But that does not necessarily mean FanDuel is downplaying the gravity of the case.
In a parallel matter, Patel filed a $250 million federal lawsuit against FanDuel, alleging that the company took advantage of his gambling addiction. Diagnosed with a gambling disorder a month after his termination by the Jaguars, Patel claimed that FanDuel should have known that he was a compulsive gambler since he made more than 1,000 deposits of at least $20,000.
In the annual report, Flutter wrote that the company will likely face “increased scrutiny” related to responsible gaming in the relative near future. While Flutter asserted that it implemented safer gambling measures designed to protect customers, if the perception develops that the company fails to adequately protect vulnerable players, it may suffer from reputational harm.
Since her appointment as CEO of FanDuel in 2021, Amy Howe has made it clear that the company strives to “lead the industry” in responsible gambling.
In one month alone, Patel made $5.6 million in fraudulent transactions, an amount that exceeded the cap of the VCC program, court records indicate. Patel indicated in an interview with law enforcement that he artificially inflated legitimate expenses and generated fictitious charges under the scheme.
The NFL encouraged the Jaguars and FanDuel to reach a settlement, but did not participate in the negotiations, according to ESPN. Last July, the Jaguars filed a lawsuit against FanDuel in Florida state court seeking damages of $66.6 million.
The settlement for FanDuel falls short of other litigation costs Flutter incurred globally over the last year in high-profile cases