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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%	–

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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.

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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

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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.

blask

When Africa gambles: seasonality patterns across five countries revealed by Blask

Published

55 minutes ago

February 25, 2026

Wladimir P.

when-africa-gambles:-seasonality-patterns-across-five-countries-revealed-by-blask

When Africa Gambles: Seasonality Patterns Across Five Markets Revealed by Blask , Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Egypt operate under diverse regulatory regimes and follow different domestic sports calendars — Egypt also observes a Friday–Saturday weekend. Yet, across these markets, gambling activity exhibits a shared rhythm: engagement climbs into Q4 and remains elevated through the year-end, with softer periods either mid-year (Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, DR Congo) or late winter (Egypt). Peaks broadly coincide with the European club season, while in some markets domestic leagues run in parallel.

Blask’s Seasonality feature, drawing on data from January 2016 to February 2026, allows mapping engagement by month, day, and hour, revealing nuanced patterns in each market:

Nigeria: The Long Saturday

Annual curve accelerates into Q4: October is the top month, followed closely by September, November, and December. June marks the low point, with a modest rebound in July before the late-summer climb.

Weekly cycle is weekend-led: Saturday dominates, Sunday and Friday show smaller peaks, weekdays are quieter.
Hourly pattern forms a broad plateau on Saturday, with elevated activity from early morning to late evening (5am–9pm Lagos time). Weekday engagement is lower, concentrating in the late afternoon and evening.

Tanzania: Saturday as a Corridor

Annual rhythm mirrors Nigeria: softening in June–July, rising from August into a Q4 plateau. Top months are November–December, with October close behind.

Weekly cycle hierarchy is clearer: Saturday is strongest, Sunday elevated but lower, Friday leads weekday peaks.
Saturday functions as a corridor rather than a sharp spike: activity stays high from 7am–11pm Dar es Salaam time, peaking mid-afternoon to early evening (3pm–7pm). Weekday activity tilts toward evening post-work.

Kenya: Two Clocks in One Market

Annual curve rises from August into Q4, with December at the peak, October and November following. Low points in June–July.

Weekly peaks favor the weekend: Saturday #1, Sunday #2.
Hourly pattern shows dual peaks: a primary late-afternoon to evening spike (3pm–9pm Nairobi time) and a secondary pre-dawn rise (3am–7am), particularly visible on weekends.

DR Congo: The Morning Market

January remains unusually strong alongside December, which is the top month.

Weekly cycle follows the familiar weekend pattern: Saturday leads, weekend days generally brighter.
Hourly peak occurs in the morning, roughly 5am–9am Kinshasa time, shifting an hour later in eastern regions. Weekdays maintain the morning lift, with Saturday adding extra intensity.

Egypt: Friday Leadership and After-Midnight Play

Annual curve climbs steadily to year-end: December tops, followed by November and October. Softest periods are February and March.

Weekly cycle differs: Friday peaks, Thursday and Saturday slightly behind, reflecting Egypt’s Friday–Saturday weekend.
Nighttime engagement is strongest in the group, concentrating after midnight (2am–5am Cairo time), consistently across all days of the week.

The Bigger Picture

Q4 is peak season across all five markets. Nigeria peaks earliest (October), while Tanzania, Kenya, DR Congo, and Egypt maintain high engagement through November–December. Four markets soften mid-year, Egypt peaks late winter.
Weekend structures explain weekly splits: Saturday for Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, DR Congo; Friday for Egypt.
Hourly patterns diverge: Nigeria and Tanzania show broad Saturday blocks, Kenya focuses on prime time with pre-dawn tails, DR Congo peaks in the morning, Egypt peaks after midnight. Cross-market scheduling without these insights risks missing most demand.

The post When Africa gambles: seasonality patterns across five countries revealed by Blask appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Africa

Groove Targets Africa’s iGaming Boom at SiGMA Cape Town 2026

Published

55 minutes ago

February 25, 2026

Wladimir P.

Groove Targets Africa’s iGaming Boom at SiGMA Cape Town 2026 , Groove, the defiantly innovative iGaming platform and aggregator, has confirmed its attendance at next week’s SiGMA Africa Summit in Cape Town, signalling the company’s intent to establish a strong presence in the world’s fastest-growing iGaming market.

Africa’s iGaming sector is expanding at unprecedented speed, and Groove is entering not as a spectator, but as a builder, bringing its signature “Unseen Architecture” approach to scalable, compliance-ready aggregation, combined with a commitment to listening before acting.

Leading the company’s presence at the summit will be Yahale Meltzer, Founder and CEO of Groove, whose vision for the continent extends far beyond content delivery.

“Africa is not an emerging market,” Meltzer said. “It is an emerging universe. You feel it in the numbers, the youngest population on earth, mobile engagement that bypasses desktop entirely, fintech leapfrogging traditional banking in ways the West is only beginning to understand. This is not a place where you parachute in with a European playbook and hope it lands. This is a place that demands listening, adaptation, and genuine partnership.”

At Groove, the founding philosophy has always been about rhythm — the pulse that connects operators, providers, and players in sync with seamless iGaming experiences. Africa’s rhythm, Meltzer notes, is distinct.

“It’s mobile-first, payment-adaptive, and hungry for experiences that feel local, not imported. That’s exactly the kind of challenge our architecture was built to solve.”

The structural advantages driving Africa’s iGaming growth are considerable. The median age in multiple key markets is under twenty, smartphone adoption is climbing rapidly, and over ninety percent of iGaming interactions now occur via mobile, bypassing desktop entirely. Fintech integration, through systems like M-Pesa, has brought millions of previously unbanked players into the ecosystem. Regulatory frameworks are also maturing in markets including Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, offering licensed operators clearer paths to compliance.

For an aggregator like Groove, whose platform delivers over 15,000 games from 150+ providers via a single API, these conditions represent not just opportunity, but alignment.

Groove’s presence in Cape Town is built around four core objectives. First, forging meaningful operator partnerships. The summit gathers Africa’s most ambitious operators alongside global players seeking regional entry, and Groove will showcase localised content packages, mobile-optimised experiences, and payment-agnostic infrastructure designed for African realities.

Second, deepening regional intelligence. Meltzer emphasises: “The regulatory picture in Africa is not a monolith. What works in Lagos requires adaptation in Nairobi, and something entirely different in Johannesburg. You don’t learn those nuances just from a report, even with Groove Command, our data-driven game matching system. You learn them by sitting in the room with the people who live them.”

Third, offering African operators clear pathways to growth. Fourth, positioning for the long term: attendance at SiGMA Africa is not a checkbox exercise — it signals that Groove views the continent as integral to its global strategy.

“We’re not coming to Cape Town to hand out brochures and fly home,” Meltzer said. “We’re coming to listen, to learn, and to find the partners who see what we see: a region on the cusp of something extraordinary. Groove’s job is to provide the infrastructure and games that turn that ‘something’ into sustainable, thrilling player experiences, whether that’s in Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg, or beyond.”

He added: “Africa’s rhythm is rising. We’re here to Groove with it.”

The post Groove Targets Africa’s iGaming Boom at SiGMA Cape Town 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Latest News

First-Time Player of The UAE Lottery Takes Home Life-Changing AED 5 Million

Published

55 minutes ago

February 25, 2026

Wladimir P.

first-time-player-of-the-uae-lottery-takes-home-life-changing-aed-5-million

First-Time Player of The UAE Lottery Wins Life-Changing AED 5 Million , The UAE Lottery recently celebrated a major milestone in its Lucky Day Draw by awarding its first-ever AED 5 million Second Prize winner, marking a momentous occasion for the popular weekly draw.

Forty-two-year-old Murugananth Govinthan, an Indian resident of the UAE, experienced beginner’s luck when he registered with The UAE Lottery, operated by the Game LLC, for the first time. He purchased a single ticket, shared with a close friend, which secured them the AED 5 million Second Prize, splitting the life-changing winnings. The increased prize, up from AED 1 million, has generated renewed excitement among players across the Emirates.

Murugananth shared his thoughts on the win: “I couldn’t stop thinking about everything I’ve been through over the past three years, the challenges, my marriage, my children’s education, and all the responsibilities on my shoulders. That’s why I came to the UAE. I didn’t expect it to happen so soon. I feel very happy.”

The UAE Lottery, which celebrated its first anniversary in November 2025, has already made history by awarding an AED 100 million Grand Prize winner, four AED 1 million winners, and over 290 Lucky Day, Lucky Chance, and scratch card players with AED 100,000 each. The 2026 AED 5 million Second Prize winner demonstrates that the lottery continues to be a premier destination for life-changing prizes and thrilling gameplay in the Emirates.

The first-time winner added: “We are still living in a rented house and have always wanted to build our own home. My children want that too. The situation didn’t allow it before, but now I feel I’m on the way to resolving these struggles. I feel happy and consider this a great blessing from God.”

Since 29 November 2025, the Lucky Day Draw has taken place weekly every Saturday at 8:30 PM, creating a shared moment of anticipation for players in the UAE. The AED 5 million Second Prize complements the AED 30 million Grand Prize and the weekly Lucky Chance Raffle, which awards three winners AED 100,000 each.

The UAE Lottery maintains a strong commitment to responsible gaming, providing education and support to ensure a positive, well-regulated player experience. All games are fully approved and regulated by the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA), guaranteeing integrity and transparency for all participants.

The post First-Time Player of The UAE Lottery Takes Home Life-Changing AED 5 Million appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.