The house always wins, they say. But that wasn’t the case for theScore Bet, which posted a $300,000 loss in gross gaming revenues in the three months to August 31.
After accounting for bonuses and the value of open bets, net gaming revenue dropped $900,000 into the red.
Those revenue figures came on handle of $11 million. TheScore didn’t specify where it lost money, but early NFL betting results were generally favorable for bettors.
Trading questions after rough quarter
The company was asked by analysts whether it was happy with its trading team following the GGR loss.
“It’s just luckiness that can happen with the low volume we have currently,” CEO John Levy explained. “We are happy with risk and trading team. When we dissect what’s happening, it’s really no more or less than some lumpy action on the volume we have right now. Once we get more significant volume, we are fully confident we’ll be in the range we talked about. And we’ll probably be at the higher end of that range.”
TheScore Bet’s risk is handled by supplier Bet.Works.
The poor results were felt across the business, as theScore posted a $6.4m EBITDA loss in the quarter (its financial Q4.) That more than doubled the loss from the same period last year.
The company said the loss was down to the expansion of the gaming operations and the impact of COVID-19.
Brighter days ahead for theScore Bet?
Despite the losses, CEO John Levy was positive about the gaming business going forward.
“With sports leagues now back in action, our media and gaming operations are thriving again in early Q1 F2021,” Levy said.
He noted betting handle was up 500% year-over-year in September.
“Our unique formula of fusing media with gaming is resonating with fans,” Levy said. “We’re also excited by the early momentum in Colorado and Indiana, contributing to an extremely strong start to our new fiscal year across gaming and media.”
Levy promised further enhancements to the scores app “in the coming weeks” to tie it more closely to the betting app.
Next steps
The company plans to launch an online casino product in New Jersey in the second half of 2021, via an access deal with Twin River. TheScoreBet brand had around a 1.5% share of the NJ sports betting market.
Elsewhere, the company said it was “closely monitoring” the sports betting landscape in Canada and aimed to launch “in its own backyard” when possible.
It will also launch in Iowa in early 2021.
