That revenue growth covers a period of time when the COVID-19 pandemic brought the global sports calendar to standstill. In the statement, the company said its full-year revenue projections were approximately $145 million.
Genius Sports is a middleman of sorts between sports entities and the companies that rely on their data. The firm acquires info from hundreds of thousands of sporting events per year, and then sells that data to TV networks, media companies and sports books. That’s the core business, though Genius Sports has other services, including advertising support and integrity monitoring.
The company has relationships with the English Premier League, NCAA, NBA, PGA Tour and NASCAR, among other organizations.
The filing gives a new glimpse into the company’s financials, and of the wider sports betting world. For the full year 2019, the latest full year available, Genius generated $114.6 million in sales, and a net loss of $40.2 million. Much of the expense for Genius is cost of sales, largely the rights fees associated with league data. Genius said in the filing it expects those fees to “be highly scalable,” meaning revenue should increase faster than rights fees going forward.
Product-wise, nearly three quarters of Genius revenue ($75.4 million) in the first three quarters of 2020 came from its betting partners, according to the filing. The rest ($27.4 million) was from media and sports technology products. From a geography standpoint, 80% came from Europe, with 13% coming from the Americas and the rest from around the globe.
Genius expects a lot of revenue growth to come from sports gambling—as sportsbooks race to give gamblers more options, fast and reliable data is becoming more important. That’s especially true for in-game betting, which is quickly becoming the most popular form of wagering. The European Gaming and Betting Association said that among its members in 2019, about 63% of sports betting activity came from in-game wagers.
The deal with dMY Technology Acquisition II is expected to close in the first quarter. dMY II’s shares, which closed at $17.44 on Friday, are up 74% since the deal was first reported. The new company will list under the ticker symbol GENI.
Genius Sports co-founder and CEO Mark Locke will own 10.3% of the new company. Apax Partners, which invested in the firm in 2018, will own 39.4% if SPAC investors don’t exercise the option to return their shares for cash.
The filing also details the new company’s board of directors. The ten-person board will be:
– Mark Locke, Genius co-founder and CEO
– Nicholas Taylor, Genius Sports CFO
– Steven Burton, Genius Sports COO
– Jack Davison, Genius Sports CCO
– Campbell Stephenson, Genius Sports CIO
– Albert Costa Centena, Apax Partners principal
– Gabriele Cipparrone, Apax Partners partner
– Harry L. You, dMY Technology Group chairman
– Niccolo de Masi, dMY Technology Group CEO
– Daniel Burns, Oakvale Capital founder and partner
Source: Genuis Sports / Sportico / GMB
