Flutter to close Sky Bet's Malta hub and pull Betfair from Brazil

Days after opening consultation on up to 1,400 UK and Ireland redundancies, Flutter is winding down Sky Bet's Malta commercial base and closing Betfair's Brazilian operation, while the UK Gambling Commission ordered L & L Europe to pay £900,000 for withdrawal and compliance failings.

Valletta, Malta
Photo: Alexyves13 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

On 21 October, NEXT.io reported that Flutter would close Sky Bet's Malta operation less than 12 months after moving the brand's commercial headquarters to the island from the UK in November 2025. About 50 Malta-based roles are expected to fall within the wider UK and Ireland redundancy consultation, with remaining Sky Bet functions due to consolidate in Gibraltar alongside Sky Gaming. NEXT.io said SBG Sports Limited's Maltese branch is expected to be wound down. Flutter still employs about 500 people in Malta across other businesses, including Betfair International.

The consolidation follows the appointment of Neil Banbury as managing director of Sky Betting & Gaming from 1 October. Banbury joined from Kindred Group, where he was chief commercial and marketing officer. Malta Today and other local reports later put the Malta exposure at about 50 redundancies, roughly a tenth of Flutter's remaining island headcount.

On 23 October, NEXT.io separately reported that Flutter Brazil would close Betfair in the country and focus on a single brand, Betnacional. Flutter said Provisional Measure 1.394/2026 had interrupted commercial activity and revenue after fixed-odds betting and online casinos were halted. The company said it was reducing its Brazilian workforce across several areas and would redirect resources to the local brand once the regulatory path was clearer. LinkedIn posts by departing staff from 22 October spanned casino, customer operations, content and commercial roles. Flutter had previously estimated about $70 million of lost revenue and $20 million of adjusted EBITDA in 2026 if it could not operate for the rest of the year. Industry association ANJL has counted more than 3,500 sector layoffs in Brazil since the measure was published, according to NEXT.io.

In the UK, the Gambling Commission said on 21 October that L & L Europe Limited would pay £900,000 under a regulatory settlement. The operator, which runs seven websites including allbritishcasino.com, casinocasino.com and hypercasino.com, was found to have used unfair withdrawal terms, to have required additional information at withdrawal that could reasonably have been requested earlier, and to have had anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings. Sue Young, the Commission's executive director of operations, said consumers should be able to withdraw winnings "swiftly without hinderance from unfair terms and conditions" and that the regulator would act where gambling was not fair and open.

The Malta and Brazil decisions extend Flutter's October restructuring beyond the original UK and Ireland consultation and will release staff with operator, commercial and customer experience into European and Latin American hiring markets. Compliance, AML and safer-gambling roles remain in demand after the L & L settlement, while groups still hiring in Malta and Gibraltar will be watching how many Sky Bet colleagues relocate versus leave the island labour pool.

Sources