Latest News

Sportradar Reports Strong Growth In First Quarter 2022

Published

4 years ago

May 18, 2022

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Overall revenue increased 31%; U.S. revenue increased 124% year over year
Company reiterated annual outlook for fiscal 2022 projecting strong annual revenue growth of 18% to 25%

Sportradar Group AG, the leading global technology company enabling next generation engagement in sports, and the number one provider of business-to-business solutions to the global sports betting industry, today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2022.

First Quarter 2022 Highlights

Revenue in the first quarter of 2022 increased 31% to €167.9 million ($186.4 million)¹ compared with the first quarter of 2021, driven by strong growth across all business segments. In particular, the U.S. segment revenue grew by 124% to €25.7 million ($28.5 million) compared with the first quarter of 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA² in the first quarter of 2022 decreased 5% to €26.7 million ($29.6 million)¹ compared with the first quarter of 2021 primarily due to higher costs associated with being a public company as well as reversal of certain temporary COVID-19 related cost savings versus the first quarter of 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA margin² was 16% in the first quarter of 2022, compared with 22% over the prior year period.
Adjusted Free Cash Flow² in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 100% to €12.9 million, compared with the prior year period. The resulting free cash flow conversion² was 48% in the quarter.
Strong Net Retention Rate², based on the last twelve months, increased to 121% at the end of the first quarter of 2022 compared with 107% the same period in 2021 highlighting the continued success of the Company’s cross-sell and upsell strategy across its global customer base.
Cash and cash equivalents totaled €715.5 million as of March 31, 2022. Total liquidity available for use at March 31, 2022, including undrawn credit facilities was €825.5 million.
The Company reiterated its previously provided annual outlook for full-year 2022 for revenue and Adjusted EBITDA². Please see the “Annual Financial Outlook” section of this press release for further details.

Key Financial Measures	Q1	Q1	Change
In millions, in Euros €	2022	2021	%

Revenue	167.9	128.5	31%

Adjusted EBITDA²	26.7	28.2	(5%)

Adjusted EBITDA margin²	16%	22%	–

Adjusted Free Cash Flow²	12.9	6.5	100%

Free Cash Flow Conversion²	48%	23%	–

^{____________

1} For the convenience of the reader, we have translated Euros amounts in the tables below at the noon buying rate of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on March 31, 2022, which was €1.00 to $1.11.
² Non-IFRS financial measure; see “Non-IFRS Financial Measures and Operating Metrics” and accompanying tables for further explanations and reconciliations of non-IFRS measures to IFRS measures.

Carsten Koerl, Chief Executive Officer of Sportradar said: “Our fiscal 2022 is off to a fast start, with core, high-margin betting products driving growth around the world. Our U.S. business continues its tremendous growth story as more states legalize and sports betting becomes live, mainstream entertainment. As the market leader, our technology and data-driven insights continue to transform the converging media, entertainment and sports industries and fuel our consistent and long-term profitable growth story.”

Segment Information

RoW Betting

Segment revenue in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 25% to €86.7 million compared with the first quarter of 2021. This growth was driven primarily by increased sales of our higher value-add offerings including Managed Betting Services (MBS) which increased 51% to €26.4 million and Live Data/ Odds Services, which increased 16% to €46.8 million. MBS growth is attributable to increased turnover³ and Live Data/ Odds Services grew as a result of upselling content to existing customers. MBS includes Managed Trading Services (MTS) and Managed Platform Services (MPS). Additionally, increased content sales from the Synergy acquisition contributed to the growth.
Segment Adjusted EBITDA² in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 13% to €44.6 million compared with the first quarter of 2021. Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin² decreased to 51% from 57% in the first quarter of 2021 driven by temporary savings in sport rights and scouting costs in the prior year related to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as acquisition of new sport rights.

RoW Audiovisual (AV)

Segment revenue increased in the first quarter of 2022 by 17% to €45.9 million compared with the first quarter of 2021. This growth was primarily a result of increased content from Tennis Australia and the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as upselling content from the Synergy acquisition.
Segment Adjusted EBITDA² in the first quarter of 2022 was flat at €8.9 million compared with the first quarter of 2021. Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin² decreased to 19% from 23% compared with the first quarter of 2021 primarily due to higher sports rights costs driven by the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic versus prior year, and acquisition of new sports rights.

United States

Segment revenue in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 124% to €25.7 million compared with the first quarter of 2021. This growth was driven by increased sales of U.S. Betting services primarily as a result of new states legalizing betting. We also experienced growth from increased sales to media companies and a positive impact from the acquisition of Synergy Sports.
Segment Adjusted EBITDA² in the first quarter of 2022 was (€6.4) million compared with the first quarter of 2021 of (€3.6) million, primarily due to increased investment in the Company’s league and team solutions focused business. Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin² improved to (25%) from (32%) compared with the first quarter of 2021 reflecting an improvement in the U.S. segment operating leverage.

^{____________

2} Non-IFRS financial measure; see “Non-IFRS Financial Measures and Operating Metrics” and accompanying tables for further explanations and reconciliations of non-IFRS measures to IFRS measures.
³ Turnover is the total amount of stakes placed and accepted in betting.

Costs and Expenses

Personnel expenses in the first quarter of 2022 increased by €13.7 million to €52.3 million compared with the first quarter of 2021 primarily resulting from additional hires in the Company’s product and technology organizations across high and low-cost locations. Employee headcount increased by 620 to 3,075 full time employees at the end of the first quarter of 2022 compared with the first quarter of 2021.
Other Operating expenses in the first quarter of 2022 increased by €5.0 million to €19.5 million compared with the first quarter of 2021 mainly driven by higher costs associated with being a public company, and the reversal of temporary COVID-19 related cost savings versus the prior year.
Total Sport rights costs in the first quarter of 2022 increased by €13.1 million to €54.0 million compared with the first quarter of 2021, primarily resulting from new rights for 2022 for ICC, UEFA, ATP and a normalized schedule in sports such as NBA, NHL and MLB, as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions eased.

Recent Business Highlights

In April 2022, Sportradar acquired Vaix, a pioneer in developing AI solutions for the iGaming Industry. Vaix’s innovative AI technology allows betting and gaming operators to gain a personalized view of their customers, which provides a more targeted, player-friendly experience. Sportradar has partnered with Vaix previously and incorporated its technology into its Managed Trading Services (MTS) offering. Sportradar’s MTS solution is a sophisticated trading, risk, live odds and liability management offering that helps betting operators boost margins and profits, while increasing efficiency and managing risk.
Sportradar was awarded a supplier registration for online/mobile wagering in Ontario. With this registration for online/mobile wagering from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, Sportradar now holds over 36 licenses in North America across states, territories, tribes, and Canada. Additionally, Sportradar Integrity Services and the Canadian Hockey League announced a multi-year education and bet monitoring services agreement. This new relationship increases Sportradar Integrity Services’ portfolio of ice hockey partners to nine different leagues and federations around the world and strengthens its leadership position across North American sports leagues.
The Company continued to strengthen its U.S. leadership by appointing former Fiserv executive Michael Gandolfo as Group Head, Regional Sales. Gandolfo led Fiserv’s Large Financial Institution Sales and Service Team, responsible for over 300 top financial institutional clients.
Norwegian state gaming operator, Norsk Tipping, will deploy Sportradar’s internet-based Self-Service Betting Terminal (iSSBT) into 245 retail outlets across Norway to support the gaming operator’s growth. iSSBT is deployed in over 500 retail outlets, enabling Norsk Tipping to establish a mobile-first and online digital strategy, along with a retail presence.
Sportradar continued to advance its mission to detect, investigate and prevent betting-related match-fixing, doping and other threats to the integrity of sport by announcing a multi-year integrity partnership with NASCAR, an expansion of a previous agreement to provide bet monitoring and reporting with its Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS), launching a Sportradar Integrity Exchange, a network that enables bookmakers to report suspicious betting activity and extended its work with the Austrian Federal Criminal Police on anti-doping.
The Company also announced that it will act as an advisor to Bowl Season on the sports betting space in a responsible manner, with a focus on educating the organization’s membership on the rapidly evolving world of sports betting, as well as the opportunity to expand the scope to include Sportradar’s Integrity Services.

Annual Financial Outlook

Sportradar is reiterating its outlook for fiscal 2022 provided on March 30, 2022 as follows:

Revenue is expected to be in the range of €665.0 million to €700.0 million ($738.2 million to $777.0 million)¹, representing growth of 18% to 25% over fiscal 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA² is expected to be in the range of €123.0 million to €133.0 million ($136.5 million to $147.6 million)¹, representing growth of 21% to 30% over fiscal 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA margin² is expected to be in the range of 18.5% to 19.0%, an improvement over the prior year.⁴

^{____________

1}For the convenience of the reader, we have translated Euros amounts in the tables below at the noon buying rate of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on March 31, 2022, which was €1.00 to $1.11.
² Non-IFRS financial measure; see “Non-IFRS Financial Measures and Operating Metrics” and accompanying tables for further explanations and reconciliations of non-IFRS measures to IFRS measures.

crypto betting

Duelbits adds Same Game Parlay for soccer player props and World Cup betting

Published

9 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Wladimir P.

duelbits-adds-same-game-parlay-for-soccer-player-props-and-world-cup-betting

New SGP lets users combine up to 10 same-match selections plus 10 across multiple events on desktop and mobile.

Duelbits has launched Same Game Parlay (SGP), adding a sportsbook feature that lets players combine multiple player and match markets within a single bet slip. The company said the initial rollout is focused on soccer and World Cup betting and is available on desktop and mobile.

The SGP product supports same-match combinations across player props including goals, shots, shots on target, assists, cards, fouls, tackles and goalkeeper saves, alongside match and team markets such as match winner, goals, corners and shots. Duelbits also said users can build parlays across multiple events where SGP markets are available.

Duelbits positioned the launch as a fix for bet combinations being rejected or marked invalid, saying the feature is powered by a specialist player props and statistics provider to reduce rejected selections and streamline odds updates and settlement. At launch, players can include up to 10 selections within a single event and a further 10 selections across multiple events, with plans to expand those limits in future updates.

Jasper Hoekert, Chief Marketing Officer at Duelbits, said: “Same Game Parlays have become one of the most popular sportsbook products globally, particularly as player prop betting continues to grow across major sports. We saw a clear opportunity to improve the experience available to our players by offering significantly more combinations, reducing invalid bet rejections, and creating a smoother betting journey overall.

“This initial launch is focused on soccer and the World Cup, but it’s only the first step. Our long-term vision is to allow customers to combine virtually any market they want across sports, events and player props, with US sports being the main focus for phase 2. We believe there is a significant gap in the crypto sportsbook market for this type of offering, and we’re excited to continue expanding the product over the coming months.”

The post Duelbits adds Same Game Parlay for soccer player props and World Cup betting appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Austria

Austria Could Force Offshore Operators To Sit Out Market Launch

Published

10 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Wladimir P.

austria-could-force-offshore-operators-to-sit-out-market-launch

Debate is raging within the Austrian government about whether to impose a cooling off period and freeze ex-grey market operators out of its upcoming open online casino market, with local operators looking to inflict maximum punishment and legal experts arguing that the proposal would be self-defeating.

Austria is on course for an historic opening of its long monopolized online casino market. Currently, only Casinos Austria, via its brand Win2Day, has the approval of the Austrian government to offer online casino games to the general public.

But for many years, that legal status was ignored by operators based largely out of Malta, who populated a vibrant grey market by leaning on the controversial argument that Austria’s monopoly model is in violation of EU law.

These offshore operators were eventually forced to retreat by a series of high profile court rulings that found Austrian consumers have the right to reclaim any and all losses to an operator without an Austrian licence.

Facing potentially hundreds of millions of euros in compensation claims, grey market providers have largely retreated to Malta, where Bill 55 continues to protect them.

With liberalisation now on the horizon, some forces within the Austrian government and the local gambling industry are insistent that companies which took part in the grey market should not be allowed to simply apply for a licence and wipe the slate clean.

Who’s in favour?

Those lobbying the hardest for a cooling off period are Austrian incumbents.

“One day you’re offering illegal services and the next day you get a license – that’s absurd,” a spokesperson for Casinos Austria told the Kronen Zeitung newspaper.

They are joined by German-headquartered gambling giant Novomatic, which operates a number of land-based venues in Austria under the brand Admiral.

Having sat on the sidelines of the online market for many years, Admiral is incensed by the idea that it could be competing on day one of a new market with operators who did not take the same approach.

The three parties that form Austria’s coalition government are still debating the issues, according to reports.

The only major practical example of a true “cooling off” period occured in the Netherlands, where an 18-month prohibition was in place that prevented many companies from entering the market when it opened in 2021.

At the time, Kindred reported that being forced to sit out market launch had cost it $16.2m a month, wiping out effectively 50 percent of the group’s EBITDA.

Kindred, which has since transformed into FDJ United following an acquisition by the French lottery giant, subsequently regained its strong Dutch position following the end of the cooling off window.

Likely to cool

At least one Austrian legal expert believes that there is a good chance that some form of cooling off, or an equivalent punishment, will be enacted as part of the new law.

“At the moment, it is likely that some form of cooling-off period will be introduced, perhaps by introducing sanctions that apply prior to licensing, but the details are yet to be determined,” said Nicholas Aquilina, a partner at Brandl Talos law firm.

“Whether a cooling-off period will be introduced and how restrictive measures will be will have a substantial impact on the success of the long-overdue opening of Austria’s online gambling market,” he added.

The time pressures referenced by Aquilina relate to the expiry of Win2Day’s exclusive licence, which is set to run out in October 2027. The government intends to establish its new online gambling regime well ahead of that date, so that new licences can be issued in time.

Any attempt to extend Win2Day’s monopoly could run into challenges with EU tender laws and the other highly unpalatable option is to leave the nation in limbo with no legal providers at all.

Complications

Despite how the debate has been framed by some parties, the reality will not be as simple as either allowing ex-grey market offenders into the new Austrian online casino marketplace free of consequence or forcing them to spend time in the sin bin.

There is broad political agreement that any international operator looking to obtain a licence in Austria must pay back taxes owed on its former activity in order to be granted approval.

Operators will also need to settle any outstanding player refund claims, something which could cost companies huge sums and may ultimately keep some of them out of the market for good.

There are thought to be thousands of pending refunds, which operators have largely been refusing to pay while they take refuge behind Malta’s Bill 55.

Against that backdrop, lawyers Christian Rapani and Felix Hohenthanner argue that the penalties for returning to Austria will likely be harsh enough.

“A further exclusion of two to three years on top of that would, in our view, work against the reform’s own central objective. The operators currently holding the largest share of Austrian play are exactly the ones a cooling-off period would shut out. If they cannot offer a licensed product for two to three years, their customers, it is highly likely, will not migrate to the licensed providers,” they told EEGaming.

Ultimately, the two lawyers said, the push for a cooling off period is more about protecting the vested interests in Austria’s casino market than an attempt to keep gamblers safe.

“Our impression is that the proposal is supported essentially only by the land-based operators and by the single provider that already holds a licence in Austria, in other words by those who benefit from keeping new entrants out. We therefore see it less as a genuine player-protection measure than as a last attempt to preserve existing market positions,” they said.

The post Austria Could Force Offshore Operators To Sit Out Market Launch appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Africa

African iGaming Alliance names SPRIBE a Platinum Supplier Member

Published

12 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Wladimir P.

african-igaming-alliance-names-spribe-a-platinum-supplier-member

The African iGaming Alliance (AiA) has signed a strategic partnership with iGaming supplier SPRIBE, with SPRIBE joining the pan-African industry association as a Platinum Supplier Member.

AiA said the partnership will focus on regulatory engagement, industry research, responsible gaming initiatives, policy advocacy and stakeholder engagement aimed at strengthening regulated gaming markets across African jurisdictions.

According to AiA, the collaboration will also support efforts to promote effective regulation, combat illegal gambling, improve market channelisation and encourage evidence-based policymaking.

Peter Emolemo Kesitilwe, Chief Executive Officer of the African iGaming Alliance (AiA), said:

“SPRIBE’s decision to join the African iGaming Alliance as a Platinum Supplier Member represents a significant endorsement of our vision for a sustainable and well-regulated African gaming industry. As one of the industry’s leading technology innovators, SPRIBE brings valuable expertise, insight, and global experience that will strengthen our efforts to support regulators, governments, operators, and other stakeholders across the continent. We look forward to working closely together to promote responsible gaming, regulatory best practice, and long-term industry sustainability.”

The post African iGaming Alliance names SPRIBE a Platinum Supplier Member appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.