The commercial value of sports data and technology continues to be laid bare by the financial performance of the various firms active in this space.
In the latest round of financial results, Genius Sports, a London-based sportstech firm with various high-profile partnerships, revealed revenue of $120.2m in Q3 2024, up 18% on the year prior ($101.7m).
This exceeded revenue expectation of $119m and brings the group’s total year-to-date revenue to $335.5m, 17% more than the $285.8m YTD revenue recorded in Q3 2023. With the end of the year just two months away, Genius expects to close 2024 with revenue of around $511m, 24% more than last year.
The group’s adjusted EBITDA, meanwhile, rose 45% from $17.7m to $25.7m in Q3 and by 30% YTD from $41.4m to $53.4m. The group added that it expects adjusted EBITDA of around $86m at year-end, which would be 61% more than at the close of 2023.
Mark Locke, Genius Sports Co-Founder and CEO, said: “Our strong results are underpinned by our successful commercial execution, positioning us to capture profitable growth alongside our partners as the sports betting industry continues to evolve and expand.
“We are empowering partners across the sports ecosystem to better reach, engage, and monetize fans using our innovative technology and unique data-driven insights.”
Betting segment stands out
Genius’ success in the global sports data sector has come through its many partnerships with various major sports organisations. Perhaps it’s most notable in its arrangement with FootballDataCo, the data rights holder of English professional football.
This deal makes Genius Sports the primary data and sportstech partner of the Premier League and English Football League (EFL). Earlier this year it also inked a deal with the Premier League to enhance the top-flights Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology using its AI solutions.
Outside of association football, the company has deals in place with various other sporting stakeholders including leagues, betting companies, and teams like the LA Rams, its most recent club partner. Data plays a particularly crucial role in the relationship between these different organisations, informing betting lines, fan engagement and media activity.
A breakdown of Genius’ products saw its Betting Technology Content and Services division record the sharpest growth. The division’s revenue rose 30% year-over-year from $75.9m to $85.6m.
In contrast, its Media Technology, Content and Services segment and Sports Technology and Services segment actually saw revenue decline in Q3 by 3.5% and 3.2% respectively to $22.1m ($22.9m) and $12.5m ($12.9m).
Genius’ betting activity therefore stands out as the main growth driver this quarter, indicative of the growing value of the global betting sector. The emergence of the US as a prominent market in 2018 and the forthcoming launch of a Brazilian betting market in January 2025 will only serve to drive this forward further.
This is also despite Genius entering some media-focused deals this quarter. The company signed a long-term arrangement with ESPN covering data-driven storytelling for NCAA, NBA and WNBA fixtures and a separate deal with social media platform Reddit concerning NFL data.
The impact of these deals may be felt more in the coming months, however. Regardless, Genius’ betting partnerships and data products are driving a positive performance at the firm, which closed Q3 with profit of $12.5m, a significant turnaround from a loss in Q3 2023 of $11.6m.
