Better Collective remains confident in its global position in digital sports media in the face of difficulties in North America, offset by European and Latin American progress.
The Denmark-headquartered media group outlined group-wide revenue of €95m in Q1 2024, an uptick of 8% from €88m in Q1 2023. Recurring revenues rose 14% from €47m to €53m, accounting for 57% of group revenues.
This is a significant achievement for the group, due to it outperforming the previous year’s record set just after the trading period around the FIFA Qatar World Cup 2022, a significant driver of engagement with sports and sports betting media outlets.
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.”
Geographically, Latin America remains a key focal area for Better Collective. Latin America is undergoing a period of substantial international interest in its sports business sectors, particularly betting.
Launch of a nationwide regulated betting market in Brazil is expected to have a significant knock on boost effect across Latin America. To capitalise on this, Better Collective acquired Playmaker Capital for €176m, completing this takeover in February 2024.
The integration of Playmaker Capital, one of Latin America’s leading digital sports media outlets, contributed around €7m in revenue during Q1. On a broader scale, during this period Better Collective 450,000 new depositing customers (NDCs) in this period, with 77% acquired on revenue-share contracts.
Success was also reported in Europe. Revenue for European and Rest-of-the-World (ROW) markets rose 20% to €61m from €50m in Q1 2023, generating €20m in operating profits. These regions are heavily exposed to recurring revenue share income models.
In Europe, Q1 trading was followed by an expansion of Better Collective’s UK activity via the acquisition of AceOdds. The sports betting affiliate was acquired for €42m, in a move Better Collective believes will bolster its position in both the UK and US.
However, challenges were encountered in North America, where 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.
Better Collective remains confident of its US prospects, however. In a post-results call with investors, Søgaard stated that the company has ‘never been stronger commercially’ in North American markets.
Concluding its Q1 statement, Better Collective upgraded 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.
