Endeavor, the parent company of the UFC and WWE, is selling two core components of its betting offering, OpenBet and IMG Arena.
The US holding company revealed in its Q2 financial results that it is actively marketing the two businesses, which make up its Sports Data and Technology segment.
Due to the company actively marketing the businesses for sale, Endeavor considers both OpenBet and IMG Arena held for sale and are therefore presented as discontinued operations in its Q2 results.
The companies compose Endeavor’s core offering to the sports betting sector, although IMG Arena also partners with various media outlets.
IMG Arena is a data and technology provider, which collects data from its partner sports leagues to deliver to betting and media firms.
OpenBet, on the other hand, is a sports betting platform provider. The company processes bets for multiple prominent sports betting operators, and also has a responsibility function via its acquisition of Neccon in 2022.
Selling OpenBet and IMG would mark the latest in a series of major structural and organisational changes at Endeavor in recent years. Earlier this year, the company’s shares were acquired by former minority investor Silver Lake, a private equity group, which plans to take Endeavor private – this saw the company commit to divesting certain assets.
Endeavor’s wider group results for Q2 2024 revealed revenue of $1.75bn, a net loss of $253.8m and adjusted EBITDA of $380.7m. Income chiefly comes from its majority ownership of UFC and WWE via TKO Holdings and full ownership of Professional Bull Riders (PBR).
Revenue from these assets, classed as owned sports properties, rose 162.9% from $554m to $894.1m. adjusted EBITDA was up 135.9% from $243.6m to $422.8m.
Events, experiences and rights revenue, on the other hand, dropped 20.1% to $472.2 (Q2 2023: $591.1m), with adjusted EBITDA also down $145.3m to a loss of £68.7m.
Lastly, representation revenue increased 7.9% from $411.4m ($441.7m), with adjusted EBITDA up 0.2% from $107.2m to $107.4m.
“TKO and PBR benefited from strong consumer demand and engagement during the quarter, and we continued to drive growth in our representation segment,” said Ariel Emanuel, Endeavor CEO.
“We remain focused on delivering for our clients and partners and maintaining momentum throughout the business as we work toward the close of our take-private transaction with Silver Lake.”
Insider Sport will publish the financial results of TKO Group Holdings, Endeavor’s asset which controls the UFC and WWE, later today.
