Latest News
Sportradar Reports Strong First Quarter 2023 Results
Sportradar Group AG, a leading global technology company focused on enabling next generation engagement in sports through providing business-to-business solutions to the global sports betting industry, today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2023.
First Quarter 2023 Highlights
Revenue in the first quarter of 2023 increased 24% to €207.6 million ($226.2 million)1 compared with the first quarter of 2022.
The RoW Betting segment, accounting for 52% of total revenue, grew 25% to €108.5 million ($118.3 million)1, primarily driven by strong performance from Managed Betting Services (MBS) and Live Odds.
The U.S. segment revenue grew 55% to €39.7 million ($43.3 million)1 compared with the first quarter of 2022, driven by higher sales of betting products as well as the Company’s digital advertising (ad:s) product. The U.S. segment generated positive Adjusted EBITDA2 for the third consecutive quarter with an Adjusted EBITDA2 margin of 17%.
Total Profit for the first quarter of 2023 was €6.8 million compared with €8.2 million for the same quarter last year. The Company’s Adjusted EBITDA2 in the first quarter of 2023 increased 37% to €36.7 million ($40.0 million)1 compared with the first quarter of 2022, demonstrating operational leverage from higher revenue despite increased investment into Artificial Intelligence (AI) for liquidity trading, and Computer Vision technology.
Adjusted EBITDA margin2 was 18% in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 176 bps compared with the prior year period.
Adjusted Free Cash Flow2 in the first quarter of 2023 was €12.4 million, compared with €12.9 million for the prior year period, as a result of improved working capital management offset by an unfavorable impact from foreign currency exchange rates. The resulting Cash Flow Conversion2 was 34% in the quarter.
The Company’s customer Net Retention Ratio (NRR) was 120% in the first quarter of 2023, an improvement over the NRR from the fourth quarter of 2022 of 119%.
Carsten Koerl, Chief Executive Officer of Sportradar said: “We started fiscal 2023 on solid footing, as we continued to deliver strong top line growth, predominately by growing our value add products such as MBS and Live Odds in the Rest of World business, and strong, profitable growth in our U.S. segment. We are also demonstrating operational leverage as we continue to focus on cost discipline across the organization and invest prudently to grow our top line. We are confident that our ongoing product innovation in AI and computer vision will enable us to remain a market leader and increase shareholder value for our investors.”
Key Financial Measures
In millions, in Euros € Q1 Q1 Change
2023 2022 %
Revenue 207.6 167.9 24 %
Adjusted EBITDA2 36.7 26.7 37 %
Adjusted EBITDA margin2 18 % 16 % –
Adjusted Free Cash Flow2 12.4 12.9 (4 %)
Cash Flow Conversion2 34 % 48 % –
Segment Information
RoW Betting
Segment revenue in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 25% to €108.5 million compared with the first quarter of 2022. This growth was driven primarily by increased sales of the Company’s higher value-add offerings including MBS, which increased 40% to €37.1 million as well as Live Odds services which increased 29% year over year.
Segment Adjusted EBITDA2 in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 6% to €47.4 million compared with the first quarter of 2022. Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin2 decreased to 44% from 51% in the first quarter of 2022 due to increased investment in AI technology for MTS and Computer Vision technology. These investments will enable the Company to further grow revenue and improve its Adjusted EBITDA margin over time.
RoW Audiovisual (AV)
Segment revenue in the first quarter of 2023 decreased 3% to €44.6 million compared with the first quarter of 2022. Revenue was impacted by the expected completion of the Tennis Australia contract partially offset by growth in sales to new and existing customers.
Segment Adjusted EBITDA2 in the first quarter of 2023 increased 27% to €11.3 million compared with the first quarter of 2022. Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin2 improved to 25% in the first quarter of 2023 compared with 19% in the first quarter of 2022 due to savings associated with the completion of the Tennis Australia contract.
United States
Segment revenue in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 55% to €39.7 million ($43.3 million)1 compared with the first quarter of 2022. Results were driven by growth in core betting data products and the ad:s product.
Segment Adjusted EBITDA2 in the first quarter of 2023 was €6.8 million ($7.4 million)1 compared with a loss of (€6.4) million in the first quarter of 2022. This is the third consecutive quarter with positive Adjusted EBITDA2 indicating the strong operational leverage in the U.S. business model despite continuous investments. Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin23improved to 17% from (25%) compared with the first quarter of 2022.
Costs and Expenses
Purchased services and licenses in the first quarter of 2023 increased by €11.6 million to €48.4 million compared with the first quarter of 2022, reflecting continuous investments in content creation, greater event coverage and higher scouting costs. Of the total purchased services and licenses, approximately €14.0 million were expensed sports rights.
Personnel expenses in the first quarter of 2023 increased by €25.2 million to €77.5 million compared with the first quarter of 2022. The increase was primarily as a result of increased investment for growth which was driven by higher headcount associated with investments in AI and Computer Vision, increased share based compensation, and inflationary adjustments for labor costs.
Other operating expenses in the first quarter of 2023 increased by €1.7 million to €21.2 million, compared with the first quarter of 2022, primarily as a result of higher software license costs, higher audit fees and implementation costs for a new financial management system.
Total sports rights costs in the first quarter of 2023 decreased by €2.8 million to €51.2 million compared with the first quarter of 2022, primarily due to savings from the expected completion of the Tennis Australia contract.
Recent Company Highlights
SportradarSportradar renewed its partnership with the Big Ten Network extends partnership with the Big 10 Conference to broaden its footprint in the U.S. college space by powering its OTT platform B1G+ through the 2024-2025 college athletics season. Sportradar is providing its technology and data-driven OTT solutions to manage B1G+’s OTT web, mobile and connected TV apps, UX/UI design and third party integration.
Sportradar announced the integration of its ad:s technology into Snapchat, creating a new channel for betting operators to engage and acquire customers using the Company’s paid social media advertising service. Using Snapchat’s advanced age and location targeting capabilities to ensure only legally qualified audiences are reached, betting operators have a potential to reach Snapchat’s 350 million daily active users and over 750 million monthly active users.
Sportradar was selected as the successful bidder for the global Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) data and streaming rights starting in 2024 as a result of the Company’s commitment to product innovation. Sportradar offers the broadest reach to tennis fans globally and has been a supplier of official ATP Tour and Challenger Tour secondary data feeds since 2022.
Sportradar published its first Sustainability Report highlighting its commitment to sustaining its business, communities and environment. The report is based on Sportradar’s five key sustainability priorities, sustainability, people, oversight, respect and technology-led (SPORT), which are aligned with the standards and framework of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).
Sportradar Integrity Services released its second Annual Report on Betting Corruption and Match-Fixing in 2022, revealing the Company had identified 1,212 suspicious matches across 12 sports in 92 countries, an increase of 34% year over year. The overall data confirmed that 99.5% of sporting events are free from match-fixing, with no single sport having a suspicious match ratio of greater than 1%.
Sportradar named technology executive Gerard Griffin as Chief Financial Officer effective May 9, 2023. Mr Griffin previously served as CFO of Zynga Inc., a global leader in interactive entertainment, and will be responsible for Sportradar’s accounting, finance and investor relations functions. Mr. Griffin brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in financial and operational management within the gaming, media and technology sectors.
Annual Financial Outlook
Sportradar reaffirmed its annual outlook provided on March 15, 2023, for revenue and Adjusted EBITDA2 for fiscal 2023 as follows:
Sportradar expects its revenue for fiscal 2023 to be in the range of €902.0 million to €920.0 million ($983.2 million to $1002.8 million)1, representing growth of 24% to 26% over fiscal 2022.
Adjusted EBITDA2 is expected to be in a range of €157.0 million to €167.0 million ($171.1 million to $182.0 million)1, representing 25% to 33% growth versus last year.
Adjusted EBITDA margin2 is expected to be in the range of 17% to 18%.4
Powered by WPeMatico
A discussão sobre a proibição de apostas online no Brasil ressurge em um momento sensível do debate público, marcado por soluções simplistas para temas complexos.
Neste artigo, Thiago Iusim, fundador e CEO da Betshield Responsible Gaming, analisa os paralelos entre o mercado de cigarros eletrônicos e o setor de ‘Bets’, destacando como a tentativa de eliminar uma atividade por decreto tende a empurrá-la para a informalidade.
Para ele, a experiência brasileira mostra que proibir não extingue mercados — apenas reduz a capacidade de controle do Estado e amplia riscos para o consumidor.
O Brasil já viu esse filme antes.
Existe uma solução mágica que sempre reaparece no debate público brasileiro, normalmente em período eleitoral, quando um tema se torna politicamente incômodo: proibir.
A lógica é sedutora. No discurso, o “problema” desaparece. Na prática, ele apenas muda de endereço.
O caso dos cigarros eletrônicos mostra isso com clareza.
Os vapes nunca foram autorizados no país. São oficialmente proibidos desde 2009. Em teoria, portanto, não deveriam existir em terras tupiniquins. Na prática, estão por toda parte, sem controle sanitário, sem fiscalização efetiva e sem qualquer garantia sobre a procedência do produto.
A proibição não eliminou o mercado. Apenas eliminou a possibilidade de cercá-lo com regras.
Uma reportagem recente da CNN sobre o avanço das apreensões de cigarros eletrônicos ajuda a dimensionar esse fenômeno. O país não acabou com os vapes. Apenas empurrou esse mercado para um ambiente onde o Estado perdeu capacidade de controle.
O Estado proibiu. O crime organizado agradeceu e aplaudiu de pé.
Essa experiência ajuda a entender o momento atual do debate sobre apostas online no Brasil.
As bets já existiam antes da Lei 14.790/2023. Durante anos, o país conviveu com um mercado ativo, acessível pela internet e operando a partir do exterior, sem arrecadação, sem supervisão e sem instrumentos efetivos de proteção ao consumidor.
A atividade não surgiu com a lei. A lei surgiu porque ela já existia.
Regular foi a forma racional de trazer esse mercado para dentro de um ambiente controlável, com licenças, outorgas, identificação de usuários, prevenção à lavagem de dinheiro, regras de publicidade, mecanismos de proteção ao jogador.
Dezesseis meses depois, o debate público volta a flertar com a mesma solução simplista aplicada aos vapes: a ideia de que proibir faria a atividade desaparecer.
A essa altura, já deveríamos saber que não funciona assim.
No caso das apostas, o Brasil havia escolhido um caminho diferente: regular para controlar. Proteger o cidadão e a economia popular.
Voltar agora a discutir proibição como resposta para um mercado que já existe seria mais do que um erro regulatório.
Seria uma contradição histórica.
Ou, talvez, apenas a manifestação mais confortável de um certo moralismo público que prefere empurrar a atividade para a clandestinidade em vez de reconhecer sua existência.
No plano do discurso, a proibição pode soar vitoriosa. Na prática, ela serve apenas como embalagem moralmente confortável para soluções apressadas e politicamente convenientes.
Isso não passa de fantasia eleitoral. E, desta vez, ninguém poderá dizer que não conhecia o roteiro.
Thiago Iusim
Fundador e CEO da Betshield Responsible Gaming
The post Bets, vapes e a ilusão da proibição appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
The debate over banning online betting in Brazil is resurfacing at a sensitive moment in the public discourse, marked by simplistic solutions to complex issues.
In this article, Thiago Iusim, founder and CEO of Betshield Responsible Gaming, analyzes the parallels between the electronic cigarette market and the ‘Bets’ sector, highlighting how attempts to eliminate an activity by decree tend to push it into informality.
According to him, the Brazilian experience shows that prohibition does not eliminate markets — it merely reduces the State’s ability to control them and increases risks for consumers.
Brazil has seen this movie before.
There is a magic solution that always seems to return to public debate, especially in election season, whenever an issue becomes politically inconvenient: ban it.
The logic is seductive. In the political narrative, the issue disappears. In real life, it simply moves elsewhere.
E-cigarettes make that point painfully clear.
Vapes have never been authorized in Brazil. They have been officially banned since 2009. In theory, they should not exist. In practice, they are everywhere, sold through social media, messaging apps, marketplaces, street vendors, and small retail shops, with no sanitary controls, no effective oversight, and no real guarantee of origin.
Prohibition did not eliminate the market.
It only eliminated the possibility of surrounding that market with rules.
A recent CNN report on the surge in e-cigarette seizures helps show the scale of the problem. Brazil did not get rid of vapes. It simply pushed the market into an environment where the state lost the capacity to control it.
The state banned it. Organized crime applauded.
That experience helps explain the current debate around online betting in Brazil.
Bets existed long before Law 14,790/2023. For years, Brazil lived with an active market operating online and from abroad, with no local tax collection, no regulatory oversight, and no effective consumer protection tools.
The activity did not emerge because of the law. The law emerged because the activity already existed.
Regulation was the rational response. It was the way to bring an already existing market into a controllable framework, with licenses, concession fees, user identification, anti-money laundering requirements, advertising rules, and player protection mechanisms.
And yet, just eighteen months later, public debate is once again flirting with the same simplistic solution applied to vapes: the fantasy that prohibition would make the activity disappear.
By now, Brazil should know better.
In the case of betting, the country had chosen a different path: regulate in order to control. Protect consumers. Protect the broader economy.
To now return to prohibition as a response to a market that already exists would be more than a regulatory mistake.
It would be a historical contradiction.
Or perhaps simply the most comfortable expression of a certain kind of public moralism that would rather push an activity into the shadows than acknowledge its existence.
In political discourse, prohibition can sound like victory.
In practice, it often functions as morally comfortable packaging for rushed and politically convenient decisions.
This is nothing more than electoral fantasy. And this time, no one will be able to say they did not know how the story would end.
Thiago Iusim
Founder and CEO of Betshield Responsible Gaming
The post Sports Betting, E-cigarettes and the Illusion of Prohibition appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
En un artículo exclusivo para Gaming Americas, Udo Seckelmann, socio de Bichara e Motta Advogados, analiza cómo el mercado brasileño de iGaming ha entrado en una nueva fase de madurez tras el BiS SiGMA South America 2026.
Dejando atrás las expectativas regulatorias, la industria ahora enfrenta presiones reales a nivel operativo, político y económico, lo que plantea interrogantes clave sobre la sostenibilidad, la fiscalización y el equilibrio entre crecimiento y protección del consumidor en uno de los mercados de apuestas más dinámicos del mundo.
En un artículo exclusivo para Gaming Americas, Udo Seckelmann, socio de Bichara e Motta Advogados, analiza cómo el mercado brasileño de iGaming ha entrado en una nueva fase de madurez tras el BiS SiGMA South America 2026. Dejando atrás las expectativas regulatorias, la industria ahora enfrenta presiones operativas, políticas y económicas reales, lo que plantea preguntas críticas sobre sostenibilidad, aplicación normativa y el equilibrio entre crecimiento y protección del consumidor en uno de los mercados de apuestas más dinámicos del mundo.
BiS SiGMA 2026 dejó en claro que la conversación en torno al sector de apuestas en Brasil ha cambiado de forma fundamental. La industria ya no se discute como una oportunidad futura moldeada por expectativas regulatorias, sino como un ecosistema en funcionamiento sujeto a presiones del mundo real. Con el marco regulatorio en vigor y operadores activos, el foco se ha desplazado hacia cómo se comporta realmente el mercado bajo regulación y en qué puntos ese marco está siendo puesto a prueba.
Este cambio fue evidente tanto en la calidad de las discusiones como en el perfil de los participantes. En ediciones anteriores, gran parte del debate se centraba en el marco regulatorio ideal, la tributación y las estrategias de entrada al mercado. En 2026, el foco se trasladó hacia temas más sofisticados y, en muchos sentidos, más desafiantes: implementación regulatoria, fiscalización y el equilibrio entre crecimiento y protección del consumidor.
Un elemento adicional que permeó muchas de las discusiones fue el reciente endurecimiento del discurso político hacia el sector. Declaraciones del Presidente que sugieren la posible eliminación del mercado regulado de apuestas, así como iniciativas en el Congreso orientadas a restringir de forma amplia la publicidad del sector, revelan preocupaciones legítimas sobre externalidades negativas, pero también un riesgo concreto de que la política pública se diseñe de forma desconectada de la nueva realidad regulatoria.
La crítica aquí no se dirige a la preocupación por la protección del consumidor, que es sin duda esencial, sino a la forma en que se ha llevado a cabo este debate. Medidas prohibitivas o excesivamente restrictivas, particularmente en el ámbito de la publicidad, tienden a producir efectos adversos ya observados en otras jurisdicciones: menor capacidad de canalización hacia el mercado regulado, fortalecimiento de operadores ilegales y debilitamiento de los propios mecanismos de protección al consumidor.
En este contexto, la publicidad no debe ser vista únicamente como un factor de riesgo, sino también como una herramienta de política pública. Es a través de la publicidad que los operadores licenciados pueden diferenciarse de entidades no reguladas, comunicar prácticas de juego responsable y operar dentro de parámetros auditables. Las restricciones desproporcionadas, en la práctica, reducen la visibilidad de quienes están sujetos a regulación, al tiempo que amplían el espacio para quienes operan fuera de ella.
Además, la inestabilidad del discurso político, especialmente cuando coquetea con escenarios de prohibición tras años de esfuerzos para estructurar un mercado regulado, genera una importante inseguridad jurídica. Las inversiones realizadas bajo un marco regulatorio reciente son reevaluadas, los costos de cumplimiento aumentan y el apetito de nuevos entrantes tiende a disminuir. En última instancia, esto afecta no solo el desarrollo del sector, sino también la recaudación del gobierno y los objetivos regulatorios originales perseguidos por el Estado.
Otro tema clave discutido durante el evento fue el impacto del aumento de la carga impositiva, particularmente tras el incremento del Gaming Tax, sobre la competitividad del mercado regulado. Existe una preocupación legítima de que un entorno excesivamente gravoso, combinado con fuertes restricciones publicitarias, pueda generar un escenario económicamente inviable para los operadores licenciados, incentivando nuevamente la migración hacia el mercado no regulado.
Otro punto destacado del evento fue el debate en torno al rol de los intermediarios tecnológicos, incluidos los market makers en segmentos emergentes como los prediction markets. La expansión de estos modelos plantea importantes interrogantes regulatorios: en qué medida los marcos existentes son suficientes para acomodar estas innovaciones y cuándo será necesario avanzar hacia regímenes regulatorios específicos, posiblemente bajo la supervisión de autoridades como el regulador del mercado de valores.
Una comparación con ediciones anteriores de BiS SiGMA demuestra claramente la creciente madurez del sector. Si Brasil alguna vez fue visto como una gran promesa, hoy es una realidad compleja que requiere ajustes finos y coordinación institucional. La agenda ha pasado de la apertura del mercado a la gobernanza, ahora bajo un escrutinio político y social mucho más intenso.
Por último, un aspecto que merece especial atención es la creciente profesionalización de todos los actores involucrados. Operadores, reguladores, proveedores de servicios e incluso el debate público han evolucionado significativamente. Hoy existe una comprensión más clara de que el éxito del mercado brasileño depende de su credibilidad y de su sostenibilidad a largo plazo.
Udo Seckelmann
Socio del área de Gambling & Crypto en Bichara e Motta Advogados
The post Los nuevos desafíos de la industria del iGaming en 2026 appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
-
Akshat Rathee6 days agoManish Agarwal Joins NODWIN Gaming Board as Non-Executive Director
-
AGCO6 days ago
Platipus Gaming secures Ontario supplier licence
-
Bally’s Intralot6 days ago
Bally’s Intralot Signs New Contract with British Columbia Lottery Corporation
-
Caesars Digital5 days ago
RubyPlay partners with Caesars Entertainment in Ontario to advance North American expansion
-
Africa5 days ago
TaDa Gaming joins inaugural iGaming AFRIKA Summit in Nairobi
-
Amazons’ Wonders4 days ago
SYNOT Games Enters into Partnership with Bulgarian Operator BETVAM
-
Aviator5 days ago
SPRIBE Wins Interim Injunction in Brazil – Court Orders Betnacional to Immediately Cease Unauthorized Use of “AVIATOR”
-
Blueprint Gaming5 days ago
Blueprint Gaming adds pots mechanic to Cash Strike with Triple Action Cash Strike
