Sportradar reports strong first quarter 2023 results

Sportradar delivered 24 per cent revenue and 37 per cent Adjusted EBITDA growth in the first quarter of the year.

Press release.- Sportradar Group AG 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 per cent to €207.6m ($226.2m) compared with the first quarter of 2022.
• The RoW Betting segment, accounting for 52 per cent of total revenue, grew 25 per cent to €108.5m ($118.3m), primarily driven by a strong performance from Managed Betting Services (MBS) and Live Odds.
• The U.S. segment revenue grew 55 per cent to €39.7m ($43.3m) 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 per cent.
• Total Profit for the first quarter of 2023 was €6.8m compared with €8.2 million for the same quarter last year. The Company’s Adjusted EBITDA2 in the first quarter of 2023 increased 37 per cent to €36.7m ($40.0m) 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 €12.4m, compared with €12.9m for the prior year period, as a result of improved working capital management offset by an unfavourable impact from foreign currency exchange rates. The resulting Cash Flow Conversion2 was 34 per cent in the quarter.
• The Company’s customer Net Retention Ratio (NRR) was 120 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, an improvement over the NRR from the fourth quarter of 2022 of 119 per cent.

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.”

Recent Company Highlights

• Sportradar renewed its partnership with the Big Ten Network 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 the 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 per cent year over year. The overall data confirmed that 99.5 per cent of sporting events are free from match-fixing, with no single sport having a suspicious match ratio of greater than 1 per cent.
• 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 €902.0m to €920.0m ($983.2m to $1002.8m), representing growth of 24 per cent to 26 per cent over fiscal 2022.
• Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in a range of €157.0m to €167.0m ($171.1m to $182.0m), representing 25 per cent to 33 per cent growth versus last year.
• Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be in the range of 17 per cent to 18 per cent.