Genius Sports came out of the third quarter of 2023 pleased with its fiscal guidance and touting early returns on “BetVision,” a one-stop shop for making live wagers through online sportsbook partners.
The legal sports betting and media company, and data provider, announced during Monday’s Q3 release that the latest venture of the NFL has produced 121% in-play betting handle growth among streamers of the new “BetVision” since the product launched in Week 1.
"Importantly, (BetVision) also simplifies and enhances the discoverability of in-play betting," Genius Sports CEO Mark Locke said. "BetVision now delivers many of the features that users want to see alongside their in-play betting experience. And although it's still in early days and early in the season, the initial results in September have been very encouraging."
Genius Sports’ operating partners that use “BetVision” have seen an 87% increase in total handle per streamer as well. The innovation allows bettors to use a single platform to view the lowest latency stream of NFL games, find real-time data, control broadcast enhancements all to place bets on games.
Genius reported that 54% of wagers made by bettors were in-play bets, and 84% of bets made by streamers came from in-play wagering.
“While live streaming has existed on sportsbook apps for several years, the key difference in BetVision is the combination of all our best technology assets that are unique to Genius: real-time NFL stats, live betting markets, computer vision and augmentation capabilities, and integrated bet slips,” Locke said. “This sets us up on the path to revolutionize sports betting experience and represents the first genuine example of the convergence of sports betting media and broadcast.”
Revenue rises
Genius Sports, which is partnered with sportsbook operators FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, WynnBet, bet365, and SI Sportsbook, reported overall revenue of $102 million for the third quarter that ended Sept. 30. That’s up 29% year-over-year and slightly ahead of the $100 million guidance for the quarter.
Sports betting technology made up most of the group profits with $65.9 million, up 34% year-over-year and “driven by new customer acquisitions, increased customer utilization of available content, and growth in business with existing customers due to price increases on contract renewals and renegotiations alongside the expansion of value-add services, and new service offerings,” the company reported.
Group adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization grew 121% year-over-year to $17.7 million in Q3.
“We have achieved these significant financial milestones ahead of expectations due to our disciplined execution throughout the year, balancing growth and profitability whilst continuing to strengthen our long-term position with our most important partners,” Locke said.
Products and partnerships
There were several other innovations and new partnerships produced during Genius Sports’ Q3, including being awarded a provisional gaming license by the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission and creating the first official fantasy game for the Rugby World Cup.
Through Genius Sports’ data and media sectors, the company’s technologies have been featured during NFL and the English Premier League broadcasts. Genius Sports recently partnered with NFL+ to provide data-driven overlays and visualizations, something it’s also going to be providing for the EPL broadcasts in another recently announced deal.
