Rivalry flexes market leadership in esports, next gen consumers during Investor Day
Sharpr is a weekly newsletter covering the intersection of esports and betting
Hi everyone, Cody here.
This week we take a deep dive into Rivalry’s preliminary Q3 results and investor day presentation, as well as a few key headlines that cropped up over the week while the gambling industry collided at G2E in Las Vegas.
Let’s dive into the action.
In this week’s edition of Sharpr…
Rivalry flexes market leadership in esports, next gen consumers during Investor Day.
Caleta Gaming reveals Counter-Strike-inspired slot game.
JuJu Smith-Schuster invests in esports fantasy company.
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Rivalry flexes market leadership in esports, next gen consumers during Investor Day
Toronto-based sports betting and media company Rivalry has revealed preliminary Q3 2022 results coinciding with its first-ever ‘Investor Day’ livestream, outlining expectations for record-setting betting handle and revenue.
Rivalry reported a betting handle of $70.3M CAD in the third quarter of 2022, up 203% year-over-year, and 83% from the previous quarter.
Revenue also reached an all-time high of $7.1M CAD, a 93% increase year-over-year.
Among the financial results and presentation were key audience metrics highlighting Rivalry’s foothold among next generation consumers. The operator shared that 82% of its active users are under 30-years old, compared to an average bettor age of 35-45 on legacy sportsbooks like DraftKings or Bet365.
Additionally, Rivalry outlined that esports betting accounted for more than 90% of its sportsbook handle in Q3–a figure that likely exchanges power with the operator’s demographic of youthful players.
CEO Steven Salz says that brand equity, consumer engagement, and original casino IP development are central pieces of the company’s sustained momentum, and this past quarter has underscored its overall market approach.
“Our customer base demonstrates our ability to engage a highly sought-after audience of Gen Z and Millennials in global markets, and further validates our overarching player acquisition and brand strategy,” Salz said. “We are very well positioned for a strong finish to 2022 and continued momentum into next year. We expect to benefit from a number of near-term catalysts, including several major esports events, a growing presence in traditional sports betting, the launch of a mobile app, and the ongoing introduction of new casino games, media content, and influencer partnerships.”
Rivalry’s stock is down 5% to $0.90 since the announcement. The rebroadcast of the Investor Day webinar can be viewed here.
🦈 Sharpr Take: It’s a red letter day for Rivalry which has yet again achieved record-breaking quarterly results. This upward trend has continued for exactly a year now, with its first-ever investor day arriving one year after the company’s public listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange in October 2021.
Amidst a healthy day of presentations and dialogue from the Canadian operator, its focus on building brand equity is one of the most admirable silver bullets in Rivalry’s chamber.
Thanks to a reimagined art direction transpiring over the last few years, Rivalry has been able to lean on an eccentric brand and unignorable creative (I mean, look at this investor deck–click ‘slides’) to land with a generation of consumers born on the internet and build serious street cred with them.
Sophisticated sports bettors are known to shop promotions across a myriad of operators, but Rivalry is betting that this next generation of customers will choose the right combination of entertainment, brand, and product over the best odds or bonus. It’s a concept close to home for an industry wrestling with dire profitability woes and managing billion dollar marketing blitzes.
In a previous interview, Salz said that “bonusing is not a way to salvation this industry,” and that if you can’t build a brand that people love organically, your only competitive advantage is your balance sheet.
Despite being built on esports, Rivalry won’t be seen playing the promo game with other big name operators, and it doesn’t need to be either. The operator is finding success with its own unique strategy involving cat memes and shitposting that are together rewriting the current customer acquisition playbook in sports betting.
Caleta Gaming reveals Counter-Strike-inspired slot game
Brazilian online game developer Caleta Gaming has partnered with Sportsbet.io, Gamdom, and esports organization Imperial to create a Counter-Strike-inspired slot game, “Imperial: Operation Rio.”
The game features Imperial members Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and Fernando “fer” Alvarenga, two of the most popular Brazilian Counter-Strike players in the world.
A number of different features and mechanics in the game are said to be “well-known among Counter-Strike fans” and help attract customers familiar with the space.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an esports-themed slot, either. Back in 2019, Betway released a Counter-Strike casino game featuring Swedish esports team Ninjas in Pyjamas–and it’s almost identical to Caleta Gaming’s take on the concept. A year later, Betway released ‘One Shot Multiplier,’ a more interactive casino game leveraging a shooting mechanic as opposed to traditional reel-spins.
🗞 In the news
NFL Star JuJu Smith-Schuster has inked an equity investment in esports fantasy company World Champion Fantasy.
Zealium Media, the media company launched by Betway’s former esports director Adam Savinson, has acquired Valorant news site THESPIKE.
Esports Entertainment Group reported Q4 2022 revenue of $11.7M.
📈 By the numbers
Americans bet $300 billion annually through unlicensed offshore sites and gambling machines.
BetMGM reported a year-on-year Q3 NGR of $400 million – a 90% gain fueled by several new state launches.