Sportradar upgrades 2022 landing as wagering units outperform all expectations 

Sportradar AG has upgraded its full-year 2022 financial outlook, reflecting a consecutive quarter of “exceeded growth outperforming corporate expectations”. 

Publishing its Q3 trading update, the Nasdaq sportstech group registered corporate revenues of €179m, up 31% on 2021 comparative results of €137m.

Q3’s headline growth accounted for a 28% increase in Rest-of-the-World (excluding US) betting revenues of €101m that outperformed like-for-like 2021 results of €79m.

ROW betting growth reflected strong demand for Sportradar’s managed betting services (MBS), with the business segment further registering a 14% increase in Audio-visual (AV) sales to €33m (Q3 2021: €28m).  

Of significance, Sportradar lauded that “MBS growth was attributable to a record annualized turnover of €19.0bn” as the ROW betting services generated standalone period revenues of €38m.

US betting services continue to grow, registering period revenues of €32m, up 65% on 2021 results of €19.5m – results reflecting a strong take-up of Sportradar’s expanded product portfolio and services for US wagering clients.

Following strong Q3 trading, Sportradar upgrades its full-year revenue outlook to the range of €718-to-€723m,  from its previous range of €695-to-€715.0m. In addition the group’s adjusted EBITDA2 has narrowed to a range of €124m-to-€127m

“Our strong performance in the third quarter exceeded our expectations across all key financial metrics,” commented Group CEO Carsten Koerl. “We consistently managed to grow revenue, profitability and cash flows despite adverse market conditions during the first three quarters of 2022. 

“The Company exceeds expectations quarter-in and quarter-out, and as a result of our operational performance in particular the US and the betting rest-of-world business we are able to raise our full-year guidance for revenue and increase the lower end of our Adjusted EBITDA range.”

Q3 Adjusted EBITDA stood at €37m, up 75% on 2021 results of €21m. Of note, Sportradar underlined the positive earnings contribution of its US segment that registered a period EBITDA of €3.4m, reversing 2021 losses of €6.5m. 

Period trading accounted for higher operating costs and expenses attributed to increased Purchased Services and Licenses of €48m accompanied by Personnel Expenses of €68m – as total period expenditure totalled €135m (excluding depreciation and amortization).

Closing Q3 accounts, Sportradar declared net income profits of €12.75m, reversing 2021 losses of €9m – a comparative period that registered high Nasdaq costs.

During the quarter, corporate governance prepaid €200m of its outstanding debt. As of September 30, 2022, total debt was €236.9m, and cash equivalents totalled €513m

Closing 2022, CEO Carsten Koerl welcomed new US and ROW partnerships, bolstering Sportrdar’s commercial pipeline.  

“We are proud of the continuous success of our US operations. We managed to generate a U.S. profit for the first time in the third quarter, displaying solid operational leverage in the business model,” Koerl concluded.

“Underpinning this success is the extension of our long-term partnership with FanDuel. This partnership is a testimony for our strategy, to expand our relationships and become an embedded technology provider for our customers based on strategic long-term deals with our league partners.”