Weekend Edition #92
Entain’s 365scores deal, Ontario data, FanDuel and Caesars analyst takes, regional US data +More
Good morning. On the agenda in this weekender edition:
Entain acquires live scores app provider 365scores.
Compliance+More reports on another gambling White Paper leak.
Ontario data suggests it is a top five North American market.
FanDuel and Caesars get new analyst takes.
The Jobsboard for this week includes a CPO role.
Entain buys 365scores
The sports media business has been bought for up to $160m.
Scores on the doors: Entain has snapped up the Israeli-based provider of one of the world’s most popular live score apps for $150m upfront with a further $10m due depending on its performance.
365scores is one of the top five live score apps in the world with over 15m users.
Enain said the deal would allow it to “provide customers with a broader offering of interactive content and experiences”.
Who scored? 365scores was founded by Ami Serkis, Roei Aharoni, Yevgeny Brener and Roy Hayumi back in 2008. In 2015 it received $5.5m of backing from the Cedar fund. Part of its revenues come from affiliation deals with gambling operators but a large slice also comes from advertising.
No financial details for 365scores were offered but analysts at Jefferies said they assumed the deal was completed on a ~10x EV/EBITDA multiple pre-synergies.
They added that Entain was likely to derive revenue synergies from higher-value customer traffic as well as marketing synergies.
Jefferies said the deal offered Entain a “new funnel of potential betting customers, over-indexing in the LatAm market”.
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ICYMI
In Compliance+More this morning, there is news of more White Paper leaks as the Sun reveals Cabinet Office papers that suggest the upcoming document will consult on restricting under-25s to £2 a spin on online slots. Plus, pro-gambling MP Scott Benton is caught in a newspaper sting operation.
Datalines – Ontario
The regulator claims the first year of regulated online gaming proves it to be a top-five North American jurisdiction.
Big claims, little Canada: The licensed Ontario market recorded a GGR of C$1.4bn on C$36bn of stakes, according to the data from iGaming Ontario. But analysts at JMP suggested the implied spend-per-head figure was at ~75% of the US market average.
Average monthly spend per active player account was around CA$70 and according to an Ipsos survey carried out in March, 85% of Ontarians gambled on regulated sites over the past three months.
The JMP team suggested the higher levels of wagering are being restricted by marketing regulations, resulting in a GGR underperformance vs. iGaming and OSB states such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Michigan.
Fight for the right: iGaming Ontario noted that 1.6m active player accounts were shared between 40 licensed operators and 60+ brands. JMP said market share “appears more fragmented” with BetMGM, FanDuel, and Flutter garnering an estimated 10% to 20% GGR market share.
“Existing operators have made the Ontario launch one of the most difficult market entrances for the US-listed companies,” thye added.
Recall, GAN’s Coolbet has exited the province due to the “sheer number of entrenched operators” in the province.
“History has demonstrated this can be sustainable, but in a rational spending environment such as the UK,” said JMP.
“The cost of capital, spending levels, and low-returns will make it increasingly difficult for brands with no scale to justify competing against well-capitalized operators like Bet365, or Flutter.”
Analyst takes
FanDuel: After meeting up with FanDuel CFO David Jennings, JMP’s analysts said that it a recent marketing pullback from a major competitor allowed FanDuel to “lean into acquiring customers” and noted the growth in iCasino (see E+M’s recent data month).
“FanDuel’s time advantage and global experience is driving scale, and accelerating growth at a faster rate vs. the competition,” the team added.
They noted that in-house pricing now accounts for 90% of FanDuel’s bets vs. 80% in the prior year.
Caesars: Providing some color from a recent meeting with Caesars CEO Tom Reeg, the team at Deutsche Bank said the company was surprisingly upbeat on recent Strip performance and noted that Ceasars expects a ~$25m boost to EBITDA from F1 in November.
The company also outlined the drivers for its push towards annualized online EBITDA of $500m including a greater share of iCasino market share and “rolling off” uneconomic partnerships.
The iCasino push includes a redesigned app, additional content and extra, “modest”, promo spend.
Regional margins
Better weather and fewer disruptions should see regional casino profits “surprise on the upside”.
Quarterly upside: Analysts at Roth MKM suggested EBITDA margins could be the surprise in Q1 thanks to a “clean quarter” of a warmer spring and fewer market disruptions. The roth team said this implies Q1 industry GGR growth by 6-7%, well above forecasts.
Macquarie largely echoed those numbers and said regionals were “benefitting from easy comps and low unemployment”.
However, Wells Fargo said the visitation data from March suggested March regional GGR will fall by 2% YoY.
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Sector Watch – fan tokens
Collectiballs: Socios has launched its ‘Own the ball’ campaign that sees it offer “game-scored balls” from 25 Serie A games to Socios fan token holders.
Authentic: Socios will use the Gameused.com blockchain authentication service developed by its Chiliz platform to ensure the football’s authenticity.
Gameused inserts an NFC chip to each matchball and allows fans to relive the goal on their smartphones.
Alpine heights: Meanwhile crypto exchange Binance has expanded on the partnership it has with the BWT Alpine F1 Team by launching the Alpine Race Collectibles on its fan token platform.
As part of the deal Binance will launch a new Alpine collectible for every race day of the 2023 F1 season.
Horizon now: Sorare is also signing partnerships, this time with the British esports company Horizon Union, reports Esports Insider. The deal will focus on Horizon Union’s FIFA esports players and team, which will develop and deliver content for Sorare.
Horizon Union was acquired by branding agency Kairos Media in February 2022 for an undisclosed amount.
No news: French regulator ANJ was due to provide an update this month on Sorare’s push to increase the accessibility of its free-play offering, but at the time of writing had not replied to E+M’s enquiries on the topic.
Recall, ANJ has been in contact with Sorare for the past year in relation to its business model and whether it is analogous to real-money sports betting.
Earnings in brief
Elys Game Technology: Italian B2C turnover increased 3% in 2022 to €731m while GGR was up 4% to ~€50m, subject to final audit. The company will release final FY figures on April 18.
Sharplink Gaming: FY revenue rose 177% to $7m in 2022 driven by contributions from the FourCubedand SportsHub Games Network acquisitions. Net losses were slightly lower at $15m.
M&A newslines
Gamechanger: The Parsec Capital Acquisitions SPAC has acquired a majority interest in Enteractive Media with the combination now being led by Enteractive’s Kelly Kellner. The company is expected to change its name to GameChangerz Media in the near future and reapply for a listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
Kings Entertainment has agreed to terminate the planned acquisition of Sports Venture, the parent company of Canadian OSB and iCasino brand Bet99.
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Newslines
Allwyn, IGT, Scientific Games, Française des Jeux and The Lottery Corporation are all considering bidding for a majority stake in the Irish national lottery, according to the Irish Times.
Desert Diamond and Chalkline have teamed up to deliver F2P sports prediction games online for the mobile sportsbook and for retail customers at all of its four Arizona casinos.
Not a sprint: DraftKings submitted a request to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to allow betting on the Boston Marathon.
Zeal Network’s LOTTO24 has received permission to operate virtual slots in Germany.
Intralot has signed a three-year contract, including an option of three annual extensions, with British Columbia Lottery Corporation for the provision of its next-generation sports-betting platform.
Calendar
Apr 11: Deal Talk
Apr 17: 888 investor presentation
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