Genius Sports surpasses expectations with a 21% revenue jump in Q4 2023
Genius Sports, a leading player in the sports data and technology market, has reported a group revenue of $127.2 million in Q4 2023, marking a significant 20.7 percent increase year-on-year. This impressive performance exceeded expectations and underscores the company’s resilience and strategic effectiveness in a highly competitive market.
The company’s revenue is reported across three separate business divisions: ‘betting technology, content and services’, ‘media technology, content and services’, and ‘sports technology and services’. The betting technology segment continued to be the company’s largest revenue driver, generating $86.7 million during the quarter, up 32.3 percent. The media technology division also saw growth, generating a further $28.6 million, up 11.3 percent. However, the sports technology division experienced a decline, with revenue falling by 15.8 percent to $11.9 million.
The company’s betting technology segment generated $86.7m, up 32.3%, remaining the largest revenue driver, while the media technology division saw an 11.3% increase to $28.6m, and the sports technology division experienced a 15.8% decrease to $11.9m. Source: SiGMA
Year of challenges, growth and profitability
Despite the mixed performance across its divisions, Genius Sports’ overall financial health improved significantly. The group’s adjusted EBITDA more than quadrupled year-on-year from $2.7 million in Q4 2022 to $12 million. This resulted in a much-improved adjusted EBITDA margin of 9.4 percent, up from 2.5 percent.. However, the business continued to declare a net loss, which this quarter came to $38.5 million, down from a $127.7 million net loss in Q4 2022.
Looking at the full-year results, a strong Q4 helped the business significantly outperform its previously issued guidance for full-year 2023. At the beginning of the year, the business projected revenue of around $391 million. Instead, Genius generated $413 million in full-year 2023, marking a 21.1 percent year-on-year improvement and surpassing its original guidance by 5.6 percent. Full-year adjusted EBITDA was $53.3 million, representing a 238 percent increase compared to the $15.8 million reported in full-year 2022. However, the business declared a full-year net loss of $85.5 million, though that represented a significant improvement on the $181.6 million net loss reported in 2022.
Mark Locke, co-founder and CEO of Genius Sports, expressed his excitement about the company’s performance, stating, “We are excited to report our eighth consecutive quarter of financial results above expectations, while demonstrating the increasing profitability of our business model and our ability to consistently execute on our strategic objectives.” He further added, “The business is now better positioned than ever to benefit from multiple structural growth drivers across the digital sports ecosystem, and we’re excited to continue our momentum into 2024.”
Looking ahead to this year, the business has issued new guidance pointing to full-year revenue of $480 million and adjusted EBITDA of $75 million. The business also said it expects to generate positive cash flow for the full year.
Despite the challenges, Genius Sports has demonstrated its ability to navigate the market effectively and deliver strong results. With its strategic initiatives and focus on profitability, the company is well-positioned to continue its growth trajectory in the coming years.
