EEG bullish of growth prospects as YTD losses swing to $35m 

Esports Entertainment Group Inc (EEG) has outlined significant progress on its commercial and tech objectives following the expansion of its global gaming portfolio.  

Publishing its interim 2022 trading update (six month period ending 31 December) – the US Nasdaq online gambling and esports wagering group registered a 12x jump in revenues to $31 million (H12020: $2.6m).

Period trading accounted for EEG completing its transformative acquisition of Bethard Group, which boosted the firm’s headline metrics.

Further period highlights saw EEG secure a ‘transactional waiver’ to launch its VIE.gg sportsbook in the state of New Jersey – becoming the first licensed platform to offer esports wagering opportunities in the United States.

Meanwhile, EEG continues to expand its in-house technology capacity, having successfully completed the migration of its SportNation.com and Vie.bet iGaming sites to its proprietary Idefix platform.

The group’s balance sheet disclosed that year-to-date trading had accumulated a total operating loss of $20 million, doubling YTD 2020 comparative results of $9.6 million.

The rise in operating losses was attributed to a three-fold jump in period expenses of marketing (-$14m), commercial (-$12m) and business administration costs of $24 million.

EEG maintains that its significant costs increase is in-line with its post-Nasdaq enterprise strategy, in which the company has established its business unit’s through M&A.

As stands, EEG has registered YTD net loss of $34.8 million, up 380% on H1 2020 comparatives of $9 million.

Bolstering its commercial units, EEG expects full-year 2022 revenues growth to increase by 317-to-347%, resulting in a net revenue range of $70 to $75 million for its fiscal 2022 performance.  

“Despite these challenges and the collective impact they are having on our business, we remain extremely bullish about the year ahead and in our ability to reach annualized revenue of $100 million from our current portfolio of offerings,” – an EEG management statement read.

“Our optimism reflects the recent receipt of our transactional waiver in New Jersey and the full-scale launch of VIE.gg, which makes us the first and only company to accept real money esports wagers in the US.

“We are confident in our ability to realise the tremendous growth potential of our business while achieving the operating leverage inherent in our portfolio of unique and powerful brands over the near- and long-term, as we move deeper into a post-pandemic recovery and fully integrate our tech stack and acquired assets.”