The current financial course, partnerships with pro leagues, and an innovative technology launch in the United States have Genius Sports confident coming out of the second quarter.
The legal sports betting technology, media, and data-driven company that fuels sportsbooks and the NFL upped its financial projections for 2023 during Monday's release.
Genius Sports’ new "Watch & Bet" feature will go live to sports bettors at the start of the NFL season, and the belief is it will help lead to higher profits than originally expected this year and beyond.
Genius raised its guidance for a full year from $400 million in revenue to $410 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization from $49 million to $52 million coming out of a profitable second quarter.
"Following the financial outperformance in the first half of the year and the recently renewed partnerships with FDC and the NFL, we have validated our core strategy, differentiated our technology stack, and proven our sustainable business model,” Genius Sports Co-Founder and CEO Mark Locke said. “The ongoing success through the second quarter perfectly demonstrates our balanced approach in delivering near-term results, while accelerating Genius towards our long-term growth and profit targets."
Staying put
The NFL is banking so heavily on this new product and the provided data through the Genius partnership that the powerful pro football league extended the deal earlier this summer through the 2028 Super Bowl.
The in-play, live betting ability to watch a game in the same app of Genius’ mobile operators is expected to create a “compounding effect,” Locke said Monday. Not only will the advanced streaming attract attention and viewers, but Genius will also get a cut from the potential surplus of betting that may occur from its operators.
“The more profitable the operators, the better it is for us,” Locke said. “We’re very excited to see these operators improve. Overall, we’re happy with how the U.S. is moving.”
Revenue rises
Genius enjoyed a profit bump of 22% year-over-year in the second quarter to revenue of $86.8 million. Income from the sports betting sector, including content, services, and technology, made up $56.9 million of the revenue, up 27% year-over-year.
Meanwhile, second-quarter revenue from the media side jumped 22%, thanks to the growth in North America and with the NFL. Operating costs fell 33.7% to $32.5 million.
Additional partners
Genius also agreed in June to a new deal with Football DataCo. to deliver official live betting data for three major European soccer leagues, including the English Premier League.
Between that and the NFL partnership, Genius is providing some of the top sportsbooks in the U.S. market and beyond with plenty of live betting technology.
FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, WynnBET, bet365, and SI Sportsbook are some of the North American operators partnered with Genius.
