Playmaker Capital has outlined its expectations of ‘strong results’ across the upcoming FIFA World Cup as it reported another successful quarter, headlined by its acquisition of Wedge Traffic.
Publishing its Q3 statement, Playmaker Capital declared total revenues of $8.8m, up 83.3% year-over-year as the company reaps the rewards of previous M&A activity.
Q3 saw Playmaker enjoy record engagement metrics across its owned and operated web properties, reaching 95m users and generating 715m sessions, up 30% and 55% YoY.
Altogether, Playmaker Capital’s properties garnered over 2bn monthly ad impressions during the quarter, whilst its social media portfolio boasts over 175m followers.
Meanwhile, the sports media firm secured numerous sales and partnership agreements with tier-one advertisers and sports betting operators ahead of the FIFA World Cup. Direct sales increased by 30% YoY and 88% growth in direct sales from sports betting operators YoY.
“We are very proud to announce another strong quarter of revenue growth and profitability,” said Jordan Gnat, Playmaker CEO. “Our vertical focus on sports, continued momentum of direct sales, organic audience growth, differentiated content, and diversified revenue streams is serving us very well.
“Our acquisition of Wedge Traffic in October was a bullseye. We identified the need to add meaningful affiliate revenue and now we have the team and the business that can deliver that at scale. We remain on track, continue to deliver strong results, and we are looking forward to Q4 and the FIFA World Cup.”
Playmaker’s key strategic move during the quarter was the acquisition of igaming affiliate operator Wedge Traffic, delivering its first purely affiliate business and marking its entry into the igaming space.
The firm introduced Wedge Co-Founders, Dan Kersh and David Copeland, as well as its Chief Technology Officer, Ryan Barnett, to its senior leadership team, whilst the acquisition is set to increase the firm’s exposure to the US sports betting market through 15 active affiliate relationships.
Further sports betting integrations were made via a partnership with OddsChecker and Yardbarker. The deal sees a sports betting hub launch on Yardbarer.com to provide a content mix to sports fans and sports bettors.
Playmaker recorded an operating loss of $0.4m during Q3, compared with an income of $1.0m in Q321. However, the company noted that the loss included $1.7m in non-cash expenses related to stock-based compensation.
For the year-to-date, for the first nine months of the year, revenue stood at $28.4m, up 29% from the $22.0m in the first nine months of 2021.
Meanwhile, YTD adjusted EBITDA was $8.5m, up 9.5% YoY.
“We remained sharply focused on profitability during Q3,” said Mike Cooke, Playmaker CFO. “Our operating segments produced $2.3 million of Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter on an IFRS basis and $2.7 million on a pro forma basis. Our organic growth remains strong, as shown by the 20% growth in pro forma revenue compared to Q3 2021.
“Meanwhile, the $20.0 million convertible debt facility that we closed during Q3 provides significant additional capital to continue pursuing acquisitive growth opportunities as they arise. As we look ahead to Q4 and beyond, we are excited to continue building on the momentum we have generated in the first nine months of 2022.”
