In 2018, the starting gun was fired on a new legal industry in the US: sports betting. What was once banned at a federal level had been placed under the control of individual states following a Supreme Court ruling.  Suddenly, America was in play for the gambling companies, and Paddy Power-owner Flutter Entertainment was among the fastest movers, opting to acquire a controlling stake in US fantasy sports business FanDuel in a $158 million (€136 million) deal in May 2018. The deal was a coup for chief executive Peter Jackson, who appeared to have positioned the betting giant to take…