Flutter Entertainment has lifted the lid on its international responsible gambling investment, with $158M committed to the company's global 'Play Well' initiative in 2025. BonusFinder, an online casino comparison website, explores how this funding impacted player behavior.
Flutter's Positive Impact Report 2025
Figures released in Flutter's Positive Impact Report for 2025 showcased a 13.67% uptick in safer gambling funding compared to the previous year, reinforcing player welfare measures across major operators such as: FanDuel, Sportsbet, Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet, among others.
The Play Well tool usage marked a central component within the group's report; since 2023, Flutter has seen 7.6% increase in community interaction with self-limiting amenities: rising from 39.7% to 47.3%. According to the report, this heralds 'strong momentum' toward a 50% tool adoption target by the end of 2026.
In the long-term, Flutter is targeting 75% safer gambling tool utilization by 2030.
AI leading Flutter's safer gambling future
Internally, the worldwide gambling conglomerate is leveraging an AI-focused 'Real Time Intervention' (RTI) protocol to enhance player safety during key decisions.
In Flutter's words, the goal of RTI is to "intervene early, in real time, in a personalized way."
By using "data to detect behavioral changes" at the point of deposit, this flexible technology allows for tailored, real-time intervention. Further, RTI is designed to detect unexpected player behavior - potentially unearthing unsafe gaming activities before they come to fruition.
Sportsbet, an Australian sportsbook, was the first Flutter-owned platform to incorporate RTI functionality. FanDuel followed suit, through Real-Time Check-In (RTCI), while the UK and Ireland (UK&I) continued to advance existing player-safety measures.
RTI data remained promising throughout 2025:
- Increased deposit limits: Flutter reported that it saw 5x greater deposit limit adoption among RTI-enrolled players.
- Long-term results: Around 90% of users prompted to set a deposit limit by RTCI technology maintained their limit for 90 days.
- Full-scale automation: Over 99% of interventions in the UK and Ireland are initiated by Flutter's real-time system.
Global shift to "next-generation" real-time interventions
Sportsbet's successful debut of RTI encouraged Flutter to increase automated intervention across territories in which the firm is deeply reliant on consistent revenue.
The US (42%) and UK&I (22%) represent Flutter's most important revenue drivers. Now, the brand is prepared to relinquish player engagement in exchange for safer play. This is proven by 18% of FanDuel users either lowering or canceling their deposit after receiving an RTCI-triggered prompt.
And, in a customer survey, 72% of respondents confirmed that they intended to revisit the 'My Spend' tab to modify spending limits after imposing first-time restrictions.
Flutter data demonstrates that 56% of users returned to the spending control dashboard within 90 days of requesting those initial limits.
Similar results were seen in the UK&I sector; until 2025, player risk signals underwent checks across 'multiple systems' before being reviewed manually.
The new automated safer gambling protocol now sees 99% of all interventions led by this real-time platform, increasing speed-to-action for user prompts.
Flutter also outlined its new Predicting User Likelihood of Self-Exclusion (PULSE) model, which automatically identifies "high-risk" profiles.
Rather than manually engaging with these users via telephone - Flutter says this was depended on consumer availability and willingness to engage - PULSE has paved the way for an intervention completion rate of 93%.
AI-based technology has generated tangible results for Flutter on a global scale. Still, with an increasing reliance on automated player safety processes, the brand must be prepared to tackle tensions that may arise among high-risk players who continue to respond to manual structures over automatic prompts.
