BetMGM, the joint venture between Entain and MGM Resorts International, is “confident” of achieving up to $2.00bn in net revenue in 2023 after exceeding financial targets during its 2022 financial year.
The operator said it delivered against a number of key strategic initiatives in 2022, which in turn led to net revenue reaching $1.44bn, based on estimated figures published in a trading update. This, BetMGM said, was ahead of guidance for the year of $1.30bn.
While BetMGM also forecast an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) loss for the year of approximately $440.0m, this would be in line with its prior guidance and the operator expects to be EBTIDA-positive by H2 of 2023.
As for the reasons behind better-than-expected revenue, BetMGM said this was down to a number of factors including higher gross gaming margins resulting from improved customer experience and other product improvements.
BetMGM also said that same state cost per acquisitions (CPAs) were down 21% year-on-year due to data-focused marketing strategy and increased scale, while an improve approach to player bonusing also contributed to the performance.
Looking at the wider business, BetMGM went live in additional six jurisdictions in 2022 – New York, Louisiana, Illinois, Ontario, Kansas and Maryland – taking the overall number of markets in which it operates to 25.
Four new retail sportsbooks opened in Washington DC, Puerto Rico, Nevada and Arizona, while BetMGM also went live in Ohio on January 1, 2023, both online and with a retail sportsbook.
Other key achievements in 2022 included creating the first industry-led online responsible gaming standards in collaboration with a coalition of other online operators, committing more funds to gaming research and rolling out the GameSense responsible gaming program.
Having taken all this into account, BetMGM said net revenue from operations in 2023 will likely amount to between $1.80bn and $2.00bn, with EBTIDA being positive by the end of the second half.
To support this, Entain and MGM Resorts committed to investing a combined additional $150.0m in the BetMGM brand during the 2023 financial year, taking the total amount invested since the business launched to approximately $1.25bn.
“The talented team at BetMGM continues to execute our plan with purpose, passion, and discipline,” BetMGM chief executive Adam Greenblatt said. “2022 was a year in which we delivered against many key strategic initiatives and achieved several company milestones, including exceeding our financial targets, launching a redesigned BetMGM mobile app and furthering our commitment to Responsible Gambling.
“With continued and unwavering support from our shareholders, we look to 2023 confident in achieving further key milestones, including $1.80bn to $2.00bn in net revenue from operations and being EBITDA positive in the second Half of 2023.”