Swiss sportstech Sportradar has upped its financial expectations for 2024, predicting revenue of over €1bn, marking a small improvement on its previous projections.
Publishing its financial results for the second quarter, Sportradar revealed revenue growth of 29% year-over-year from €216.4m to €278.4m, a difference of €62m.
This was accompanied by an increase in adjusted EBITDA of 22% from €40.1m to €48.8m, although the margin dropped from 18.5% to 17.5%. Overall profit, however, did take a small hit.
At the end of the three month period, covering April to June 2024, Sportradar profit from continuing operations dropped to a loss of €1.5m, a drop of 1.6% from the year prior.
This was likely due to increases in costs. The cost of purchased services and licences rose 44% YoY to €72.6m, personal expenses were up 6% to €89.1m, total sports rights costs rose 83% to €95.9m and other operating expenses were up 8% to €22.6m.
Regardless of the impact these expenses may have had on profitability, Sportradar’s impressive revenue figures have given the firm cause for celebration.
Carsten Koerl, Sportradar CEO, said: “Our strong second quarter results, including another quarter of record revenues are a testament to the operating momentum we are generating across our business and the clear execution against our strategies to drive outperformance versus the market.”
Segment by segment, revenue for the firm’s Betting Technology and Solutions division rose 30% YoY from €176.1m to €229.4m, accounting for 82% of group-wide revenue (Q2 2023: 81%).
The Sports Content, Technology and Services division, meanwhile, recorded revenue growth of 22% from €49.3m to €40.3m, accounting for 18% of group revenue – down slightly from 19% the year prior.
Geographically, the US continues to serve as a solid base for revenue growth for Sportradar. Home to a huge and growing betting market, some of the world’s most high value and widely viewed sports leagues and an extensive media broadcasting network, the country is a lucrative market for sports tech and data firms.
US revenue during Q2 2024 rose 59% YoY from €38m to €60.6m. Although Rest of World revenue remains larger – increasing by 22% from €178.4m to €217.8m – the fact the US accounts for 22% of Sportradar’s global revenue, up from 18% last year, is important to note.
One of Sportadar’s biggest US clients is the National Basketball Association (NBA), though as its figures suggest it also has active partnerships across various other sports and geographies – China’s CBA League (basketball) and UEFA (football) being two notable partnerships renewed this year, the latter extended in Q2.
Whilst these arrangements with prominent sports leagues have contributed to Sportadar’s rising media rights costs – the firm has highlighted NBA and ATP rights in particular – these deals have contributed heavily to Sportradar’s strong position in the global sports tech and data sector.
Looking ahead, the firm expects revenue for 2024 to reach €1.07bn, up slightly from its previous projection of €1.06bn, marking YoY growth of 22%. Adjusted EBITDA, meanwhile, is expected to reach €204m, also 22% more than the year prior and 1% more than its previous expectation of €202m, with a margin of around 19%.
Koerl remarked: “We delivered robust growth across our high-value product portfolio and strong client uptake, while continuing to strengthen our business by driving efficiencies and significant cash flow.
“I am pleased to once again raise our full year guidance as we continue to build long-term shareholder value through strong topline growth, a focus on delivering additional operating leverage and increasing cash flow generation.”
