TheScore posts $5m EBITDA loss on increased betting investment
Operator reports losses for FY19 were up 171% before its New Jersey app launch in September
Sports media and betting company theScore announced an EBITDA loss of $5m for the financial year ending August 31 2019 after ramping up investment in its betting business.
EBITDA was down 171% on the previous fiscal year, despite revenues for the media arm of the business increasing 12% year-on-year to $23.8m.
The firm launched its Bet.Works-powered betting app in New Jersey in September, and inked a deal with Penn National to enter 11 additional states.
It developed the front-end of the product in-house, with the majority of the firm’s developers dedicated to the project over the last year.
CEO and founder John levy said: “The continued growth of the media business, combined with our unique and differentiated entry into the sports betting space, puts us in a strong position as we enter fiscal 2020.”
Average monthly active user sessions on the media app grew 6% YoY to 272 million in Q4 FY19, representing 75 app sessions-per-user-per-month on a base of 3.6 million average monthly app users.
In the earnings presentation Levy did not give any indication to how theScore betting app had performed in its first month.
He said the firm was bullish about converting its userbase onto its sportsbook and will be looking to expand into new states via additional market-access deals.
TheScore received $40m in investment from private equity firm Fengate Asset Management Fund in September.
At the time, Levy said the capital would go towards continued expansion into new states.
Read EGR North America’s full interview with CEO John Levy here.