Earnings+More - BetMGM’s slashes promo spend
BetMGM’s slashes promo spendBetMGM’s promo slowdown, Betsson’s Q2 pre-announcement, shares week, sector watch – affiliates +More
Good morning. On the Weekender agenda:
Against the grain, that's where I’ll stay. BetMGM’s promo pullbackAnalysis from Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maryland suggests BetMGM has significantly cut back on promotional spend. Wot, no bonus? On the evidence from three of the states where data is made available on promo spend, BetMGM cut back on its bonuses and promotional spend in May by up to 40%+ as the so-called shoulder season of relatively little sports-betting activity got underway.
The evidence of an unseasonal increase in promotions runs counter to the wider narrative of operators cutting spend as they collectively home in on adj. EBITDA profitability later this year and into 2024.
💰 Promo spend in Pennsylvania and Michigan on the rise ** SPONSOR’S MESSAGE ** Tried, tested and proven over a decade in the highly-regulated US market, and continuing to expand across Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. GeoComply harnesses the power of its market-leading geolocation technology to protect against fraud, including fake account creations, bonus abuse, account takeovers, stolen identities, money laundering, and more. Visit geocomply.com. ICYMIDustin Gouker’s The Closing Line was this week added to the +More Media stable. This week’s edition looks at the penalties that have been handed out for athletes and suggests that some of them have been “disconnected from reality” In Compliance+More, we reported on the news that Kentucky would be pressing the fast-forward button on its sports-betting plans with the aim of being up and running by the start of the NFL season. In Earnings+More on Tuesday, our transaction tracker showed that $2.8bn of deals were announced in Q2, somewhat allaying fears over what macro squeeze might mean for raising capital. Betsson pre-announcesBetsson kicks off the Q2 earnings season with above-consensus profits. Not talking Turkey: Significant increases in central and eastern European and central Asian revenues as well as B2B earnings suggest Betsson’s boosted pre-announcement figures for Q2 are likely down to a resurgent Turkish market.
Scale model: The predicted revenues represent a ~27% increase YoY, while predicted EBIT of €53.5m-€55m will mark an 88% increase. Betsson claimed its “scalable business model” helped contribute to the record profits. Earnings in briefSTS: The Polish bookmaker recently swallowed by Entain and EMMA Capital in a deal worth £750m in June said Q2 NGR rose 26% to PLN170m (£32.7m), while GGR rose 14% to PLN298m (£57.3m), excluding discontinued operations in the UK and Estonia.
The shares weekA compare and contrast on YTD share price performance shows DraftKings far outpacing rival Flutter. The market is up, DraftKings is up more: The move to New York for Flutter’s shareholders likely can’t come soon enough given the extent to which the shares of rival DraftKings have outperformed in the year-to-date.
🐢 vs. 🐇 DraftKings storms ahead of FanDuel on share price performance
PlayUp rumorsThe troubled life of the Australian and US-facing operator might be drawing to a close. Sell up: The CEO of PlayUp, Daniel Simic, has told LegalSportsReport that the fledgling US arm of the business is set to be sold to a listed entity and only up to seven of its staff will make the switch to new ownership.
Simic told LSR that PlayUp’s US operations had been set up in the expectation that the business would receive significant funding, initially from FTX. However, since its collapse “we’ve had to go back and rethink our strategy”.
Sector watch – affiliatesIndependence day: The latest media deal in the affiliate space came earlier this week when Gambling.com announced it had hooked up with The Independent in the UK, marking the affiliate’s first international partnership.
Walk the plank: Better Collective has also made much of its own media partnerships, which it sees as a main plank of its attempt to refashion itself as a digital sports media play. The reasoning is that it can extend its reach; in its capital markets day presentation last year it noted monthly visits could be doubled from 150m to 300m with the help of partnerships.
Looking at the Indy deal, analysts at Roth MKM (which initiated on Gambling.com this week) said the increased reach from partnerships brought incremental revenue at a reasonable margin.
** SPONSOR’S MESSAGE ** Underdog: the most innovative company in sports gaming. At Underdog we use our own tech stack to create the industry’s most popular games, designing products specifically for the American sports fan. Join us as we build the future of sports gaming. Visit https://underdogfantasy.com/careers What we’re readingWe don’t need to talk about Dave: Erika Ayers tells the New York Post that Dave Portnoy will make the decision about whether he stays with Barstool. “He’ll figure that out. I don’t think he knows. Maybe he stays and does this.” Also, “the regulatory landscape is serious”. Sphere of influence: Howard Stutz writes how the launch of MSG’s new Sphere made for a memorable July 4. NewslinesLIV and let live: Micro-betting specialist provider Simplebet is to be LIV golf’s ‘official sports-betting innovation partner’ and as part of the deal will distribute data to betting operators and media. Chris Bevilacqua, CEO at Simplebet, said the deal was a “transcendent moment” for the sport.
Bally’s has announced a strategic partnership with live dealer provider Stakelogic, specifically aimed at offering the product into the Rhode Island market. The Oakland A’s have applied for formal permission from the MLB to move to Las Vegas. The organization will need approval from 75% of team owners. Kindred has launched its proprietary betting platform for its Unibet operations in Pennsylvania, the second state for launch after New Jersey. Gateway Casinos, which operates 14 casinos in Ontario, has reached an affiliate marketing agreement with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation to promote the latter’s online offering to its customers. RAW iGaming has purchased FunFair Games’ multiplayer arcade game portfolio for an undisclosed sum. Eyas Gaming has chosen Kambi to provide a sportsbook platform for the launch of the Lance! Betting sportsbook in Brazil. Calendar
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Older messages
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