Genius Sports reports $85.9M in Q1 revenue as sports tech and services more than double

Genius Sports announced Thursday its financial results for the first quarter of 2022, which left the company $85.9 million in group revenue, representing a 59.9% year-over-year growth, and outperforming the quarter's outlook by 10%. 

The group’s Adjusted EBITDA was $2.9 million, exceeding the company’s projections for the period by 42%. 

The company broke down its group revenue results and showed that its Betting Technology, Content & Services revenue increased 27.6% year-over-year to $49.7 million, driven by growth in business with existing customers as a result of price increases on contract renewals and renegotiations, expansion of value-add services and new service offerings, and new customer acquisitions. 

Media Technology, Content & Services’ revenue increased over 150% year-over-year to $24.1 million, substantially organic growth driven by continued acquisition of new customers, primarily for programmatic advertising services, and the inclusion of incremental from recent acquisitions. 

For Sports Technology & Services, revenue more than doubled —129% on a constant currency basis— year-over-year to $12.1 million, primarily driven by the inclusion of revenues derived from recent acquisitions, including Second Spectrum, as well as expanded services provided to existing sports league and federation customers across all tiers of sport. 

In an official press release, Mark Locke, Genius Sports Co-Founder and CEO, spoke about these numbers and said: “Our strong first quarter is a result of successful execution. We began 2022 with a comprehensive Investor Day, outlining our strategic plan and underlying assumptions supporting our financial outlook. Our financial and operational achievements in the quarter demonstrate our ability to deliver on that plan and increase our competitive advantages through unique and proven technology”. 

The group’s Adjusted EBITDA decreased, driven by continued investment in the high-growth U.S. business and overall revenue mix. 

These results allowed Genius Sports to reaffirm its 2022 group revenue and Adjusted EBITDA outlook of $340 million and $15 million, respectively, and 2023 projections of $430 million to $440 million in revenue, and $40 million to $50 million in EBITDA.

During the first quarter of the year, the company continued to develop deeply integrated partnerships, further positioning Genius at the heart of the ecosystem with competitive advantages via differentiated technology. 

The brand agreed to fan engagement, official data, and integrity partnership with the Mid-American Conference and NCAA Division I Conference that sponsors championships in 24 sports. It also reached a new partnership between Second Spectrum and NBA G League to deploy data tracking technology across all venues.

Genius also delivered optical tracking, data visualization and video augmentation solutions for Turner Sports and ESPN broadcasts of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division 1 Basketball Tournaments. It also announced official data, fan engagement and streaming partnership with the Icelandic Club Association (ITF) and the Icelandic Football Association (KSI).

The group also obtained regulatory approval from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), among other develoments.