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Affiliate Monitor Company-by-company review : Playmakers igamingbusiness . com
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PLAYMAKERS SECOND QUARTER REVIEW
BARKING UP THE RIGHT TREE ?
Playmaker ’ s debut results as a listed entity showed revenue coming in at $ 3m ( pro forma $ 4.2m ) while first half revenues hit $ 7.6m pro forma versus $ 3m in the same period last year . Pro forma adjusted EBITDA came in at $ 1.6m in the second quarter and $ 2.8m pro forma for the first half .
As noted earlier in this report , Playmaker has made a splash early in its listed life with a selection of acquisitions . The backbone of the company on float was the Futbol Sites business it bought in April and it followed that up with the Yardbarker acquisition in July for $ 4m which included within it the Morning Bark newsletter .
On the earnings call , CEO Jordan Gnat said the Morning Bark was the “ jewel ”. “ Over 360,000 subscribers have curated their personal sports page , based on their preferences , and we deliver it to their inbox every morning ,” he continued . “ Imagine how valuable that will be to sports betting companies ?”
KEEPING SCORE
Asked about any read-across from Penn National ’ s deal to buy Score Media and Gaming , Gnat said he saw it as validation of their strategy of placing themselves in among the ecosystem of sports fans .
“ Over 360,000 subscribers [ to the Morning Bark ] have curated their personal sports page , based on their preferences , and we deliver it to their inbox every morning . Imagine how valuable that will be to sports betting companies ”
JORDAN GNAT , PLAYMAKERS
“ If there is anything that validates the value of fans , it is Penn ’ s deal for theScore ,” he said . “ When we look at our opportunities , we have looked at theScore for quite a while . We believe fans are at the core of what we are building for our industry and our core business model is to build out an immersive fan ecosystem . TheScore has done a fantastic job of that and we ’ re just getting started at doing something very similar .
Noting Futbol Sites ’ presence in LatAm markets , Gnat said they were “ theScore in those particular markets .”
“ That ’ s who we are and that ’ s where our opportunities lie ,” he added .
MORE DEALS ON THE HORIZON
Asked about further deals , Gnat said that generally the company would look for a “ good balance between cash , equity and earnout ”. “ When you look at our acquisitions , if everyone hits their earnout targets , we are still paying less than five times revenues and nine times EBITDA ,” he explained . “ We feel very good at those levels in the US . If something larger in scale [ appears ] – if a whale brushes up against our boat – we will put a line in . We will be very opportunistic .”
iGB Market Monitor October 2021