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13 the world ,” he said . “ Last year , we succeeded in either fully or partially transitioning the first of our partners to this way of collaboration .”
Pedersen added that Better Collective was willing to take the short-term hit inherent in switching from money upfront to a more staggered – but more rewarding – revenue structure . He noted that if Better Collective had “ just continued on full CPA , clearly , the revenue and earnings would have been higher year on year .”
But the aim is to accrue longerterm benefits . “ I would like to stress that this transitional phase will continue to have a short-term dampening impact on our financial performance in the coming quarters , also heading into next year ,” he said . “ However , this is something we must seek through , as it simply is an opportunity we don ’ t want to miss out on .”
THE US SPORTSBOOK BACKDROP
In the background of the thirdquarter calls was the news from the US sportsbook market where ESPN Bet was in the process of launching . Søgaard was keen to stress how more competition within the market was a good thing for the affiliate space generally and Better Collective specifically .
“ In general , competition is good for us as we cater to all the players in the market ,” he said . “ The more players , the more
“ Clearly , newer states have higher growth because when it ’ s new there ’ s a spike . But we also see GGR and betting volume growth in states that came out earlier after the PASPA repeal ”
FLEMMING PEDERSEN , BETTER COLLECTIVE
potential customers for Better Collective . And concretely related to ESPN Bet , we saw Barstool Sports being pulled because of the deal with ESPN Bet . So in the third quarter , as an example , we had lost revenue with Barstool , whereas now , as ESPN Bet has gone live , we are doing business with them . So that ’ s , of course , something we are pleased to see and off to a good start with them .”
Looking more widely at the US market , and specifically with regard to the current crop of regulated states , Pedersen said Better
Collective saw growth “ across all states .”
“ Clearly , newer states have higher growth because when it ’ s new there ’ s a spike ,” he said of the inflow of NDCs associated with newly opened states . “ But we actually see a solid GGR growth underlying betting volume growth , also in the states that came out earlier after the PASPA repeal with New Jersey being the first one . There , we still see solid growth in online wagering . So it ’ s across the board .”
Asked about how the first quarter of next year would shape up against a tough comparative from last January when Ohio launched , Søgaard was relatively relaxed .
“ To be honest , we are focused on the long term and executing the business and we think we ’ re really developing according to plan ,” he said . “ So there can be quarters with tougher comparisons . But for the long term , we definitely think we are in a very good position and are building on the strength we have .”
Indeed , Søgaard very much stated Better Collective ’ s position as wanting to be the number one affiliate in the North American market . That is why the company has “ acquired quite a lot of strong sports media brands in North America ,” he added . “ I do believe we have that position , which is why we are also able to strike attractive deals with the important players in that market .”
February 2024