The Nevada Gaming Commission Thursday approved the licensing of a board member and chair of the audit committee of Flutter, parent company of FanDuel. FanDuel is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange as early as next week, ahead of the Super Bowl.
The approval of Holly Koeppel, a senior independent director with the Ireland-based Flutter, came as Commission members were effusive in praising her.
While FanDuel is the largest sportsbook in the U.S., it has a limited presence in Nevada. It is a partner with Boyd Gaming in the sportsbook at the Fremont Hotel Casino in downtown Las Vegas; FanDuel provides betting odds and makes recommendations on wagering, while Boyd staff operates the book. Boyd also has a 5% stake in FanDuel.
Koeppel previously served as a senior adviser to Corsair Capital, a partner and global co-head of Citi Infrastructure Investors, a division of Citigroup. She has also served as executive vice president and CFO for American Electric Power Corporation.
In her role as audit-committee chair, Koeppel said it’s consistent at Flutter compared to what she’s experienced at other companies, where she served in the same role. She has been Flutter’s audit chair since 2022 and senior independent director since last year, after being appointed to the board in 2021.
“You are so fierce,” said Commission member Ogonna Brown. “You’re so polished and eloquent. You have a super-impressive background.”
Koeppel said that she’s pleased with initiatives at Flutter to advance women in an industry dominated by men. She was asked by the Board to share her wisdom.
“You need to know what’s right. Regulation isn’t the rules. As things evolve and the industry changes, regulation needs to adapt and evolve and maybe new laws need to be passed. Knowing what’s right and doing what needs to be done, if you can do all of those things, you will be successful.”
The one concern raised during the hearing was by Commissioner Brian Krolicki, who wondered if Koeppel had enough time, given multiple board responsibilities and chairing audit committees of other public companies. “It’s time for compliance, preparing for earnings’ calls, and juggling three other companies at the same time in time zones in Asia and Europe,” Krolicki said.
Koeppel said she serves on the boards of four companies and is audit committee chair of three, but is restricted from serving on any others.
“It’s not a critique, but I’ve been there and done that,” Krolicki said. “If something unpleasant happens, you’re the phone call. I feel fortunate to have you. I have no doubt about your skill set.”
Koeppel said ideally, she would work six hours a month in her role, but that’s a couple of years away and comes only with a more mature company.
Flutter is a London Stock Exchange company and Koeppel said the forthcoming listing on the NYSE required a “lot of oversight and activity in the past two years,” requiring four to five of her days per month on Flutter business. “It’s needed now, because there’s a lot on the plate,” she said.
Flutter reported it had $12 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter, a 25% increase over 2022. In the U.S., however, it had $1.4 billion in revenue, falling short of expectations due to customers winning NFL bets at FanDuel.
