Flutter Extends Safer-Gambling Drive as UK Levy Beds In
Flutter Entertainment, the company behind Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet, has confirmed it is widening a safer-gambling education partnership into Ireland’s newly formed FAI National League, announced on 1 September 2026. The move is the latest instalment of a wider funding programme that has already put tens of millions of pounds into responsible gambling initiatives across the UK and Ireland.
What’s actually changed
Flutter and education provider EPIC Global Solutions have committed to
extending gambling awareness support to Ireland by expanding a programme with the FAI National League
. The expansion builds on a three-year education partnership that began in January 2026, which was
funded by Flutter and delivered workshops across all 32 senior men’s and women’s teams in the League of Ireland
, reaching more than 1,250 players and club staff within its first three months.
Sessions use former professional players to talk through personal experience of gambling harm, an approach EPIC’s chief executive said had pushed
the number of players confident in their knowledge around gambling awareness to 89%
.
The announcement sits within a much larger financial commitment. Flutter has put
$139m into EPIC’s safer gambling capabilities globally, with roughly $75m of that directly invested in the UK and Ireland
as the group builds out its responsible gambling infrastructure. Part of that spending has gone on a dedicated facility in Leeds, described as a
‘Centre of Excellence’ – a hub for collaboration, learning and experimentation in responsible gambling and customer protection
. Around
450 members of Flutter’s customer safety team are based at the new facility, where they trial and refine technologies to strengthen player protection
.
The football-education model is not new to UK players either: Flutter’s Sky Bet brand has run similar EPIC-delivered training with the English Football League for eight years, one of the longest-standing sports-based safer gambling programmes in British betting.
What it means for you
If you hold an account with Paddy Power, Betfair or Sky Bet, this expansion doesn’t change your terms, deposit limits or self-exclusion options directly – it’s a voluntary funding and education commitment rather than a new rule. But it’s a sign of where operator money is being directed as the UK’s safer-gambling landscape tightens. Flutter has set itself a target of getting
75% of its customer base using responsible gambling tools by 2030, with the current rate sitting at 60%
, according to the group. The Leeds hub is intended to speed up how quickly new intervention tools – things like spending alerts, deposit checks and automated risk flags – get trialled and rolled into the products UK customers actually use.
The bigger picture
The timing matters. UK operators are now paying the statutory levy on online gross gambling yield, funding research, prevention and treatment work that used to rely on voluntary donations, and the Gambling Commission has spent much of 2026 pursuing licence reviews and fines against a string of operators over social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings. Against that backdrop, big licensed groups like Flutter have an incentive to be seen investing ahead of regulatory requirements rather than only reacting to enforcement action. Whether voluntary education programmes and in-house ‘centres of excellence’ move the dial on gambling harm as much as hard rules – deposit limits, affordability checks, advertising restrictions – is a question campaigners and regulators are likely to keep asking as the White Paper reforms continue to bed in.
Sources
- SBC News – Flutter and EPIC to extend FAI safer gambling support
- iGaming Business – Flutter-funded gambling awareness programme reaches 1,250 football players in Ireland
- SBC News – Flutter Entertainment puts £1.5m into Leeds customer safety hub
- Focus Gaming News – Flutter commits £1.5m amid launch of new Centre of Excellence
