SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Better Collective A/S has reaffirmed its position as global gaming’s most valuable media firm following a positive opening to 2024 trading.
In Q1 2024, the joint-listed media firm in Stockholm and Copenhagen achieved €95m in revenue, an 8% increase from Q1 2023’s €88m.
Like-for-like recurring revenues reached €53m, making up 57% of group revenues. This is a 14% increase from Q1 2023’s €47m, outperforming the previous year’s FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022 trading period.
Better Collective completed its €176m acquisition of Playmaker Capital, significantly expanding its presence in South America. The integration of Playmaker assets is ongoing and has already contributed approximately €7m in revenue.
Better Collective’s media portfolio gained 450,000 new depositing customers (NDCs) in this period, with 77% acquired on revenue-share contracts.
In North America, prioritising revenue share contracts over CPA deals resulted in an 8% decline in revenues to €34m from €37m in Q1 2023.
Operating profits in North America dropped by 37% to €9m. The transition of Action Network, Yardbarker, Playmaker HQ, VegasInsider, RotoGrinders, Sportshandle, and Canada Sports Betting websites to a revenue share model contributed to this decline.
The group continues its shift towards recurring revenue share in North America, maintaining a similar mix of NDCs as in previous quarters. Revenue share income from North America grew by around 25% quarter over quarter.
European and Rest-of-the-World (ROW) markets saw a 20% revenue growth to €61m from €50m in Q1 2023. Exceptional performance in Europe and ROW generated €20m in operating profits. These regions are heavily exposed to recurring revenue share income models.
Group EBITDA before special items was €29m, a 13% decrease from Q1 2023’s €33m. This was expected due to peak comparatives and the acquisition of Playmaker Capital, reducing the EBITDA margin to 31%.
Co-founder & CEO, Jesper Søgaard, praised the team’s performance: “We had a good start to 2024 with strong revenue performance and growth in recurring revenue. Organic revenue was down due to the extraordinary delivery during Q1 last year.”
“We diversified our revenue streams to future-proof our business while investing in our Adtech platform, AdVantage, and AI projects. These will support our journey to becoming the leading digital sports media group. I am excited for the summer with many major sports events ahead.”
Q1 trading concluded with Better Collective agreeing to acquire UK sports betting affiliate AceOdds for €42m.
The AceOdds acquisition, saw Better Collective upgrade its FY2024 guidance, expecting revenues of €395 to €425m and EBITDA before special items of €130 to €140m, representing 21-30% and 17-26% growth, respectively. FY2024 guidance maintains a net debt to EBITDA ratio of less than 3x.
