Rivalry cuts losses by 50% in Q1 as revenues reach all-time high

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Rivalry has reported several records for Q1 2023 as the esports, sports betting and media firm continues its march towards profitability.

Publishing its financial results for the three-month period ended Mar. 31, the Toronto-based company announced it cut down net losses by 50% from CAD$6.6m ($4.84m) in Q1 2022 to CAD$3.3m ($2.42m) last quarter, as the operator continues to head in the direction of net profitability.

Some of the quarterly records achieved by Rivalry include a betting handle of CAD$120.2m ($88.17m), up from CAD$40.2m ($29.49m) in Q1 2022 and up from the previous high of CAD$83.9m ($61.54m) in Q4 2022.

The company also posted record gross profit – CAD$5.4m ($3.96m) – last quarter, an increase of 9% from its previous record of CAD$5m ($3.67m) achieved in the previous quarter.

Revenue of CAD$12m ($8.8m), meanwhile, represented a jump of 151% YoY and 27% QoQ.

Steven Salz, Co-Founder and CEO of Rivalry, commented: “Our position at the intersection of esports and entertainment continues to create operating leverage in the business and drive organic growth as seen in our most impressive quarterly results to date.”

Rivalry also highlighted that registrations had doubled YoY, reaching 1.5 million users, with Millenials and Gen Z representing 97% of active users as the firm continues to hone in on its target market.

The company further acknowledged the work of esports teams and influencers in helping to bolster customer activations during ‘tentpole’ events, and these partnerships and holdings helped reach a total of 85 million followers in Q1, despite a 5% YoY reduction in marketing spend.

“Rivalry’s content and brand strategy is setting the industry precedent for betting entertainment, allowing us to acquire customers profitably and engage them through authentic touchpoints without having to consistently deploy additional marketing and promotional spend for growth.

“And it is this approach that is generating breakthrough industry economics, user engagement, and charting a path to profitability for the company that we are very bullish on.”

Rivalry’s update also noted the work of its proprietary sportsbook and casino products which contributed toward an ‘uptick’ in user engagement and site activity, with the firm’s in-house technology enabling customisation of its products to ‘create an original, engaging, and entertaining betting experience tailored for next generation users’.

“Building innovative products, which add to an overall unique and interactive betting experience on Rivalry, will remain a strategic focus in 2023,” Salz concluded.

“The competitive advantage of engaging and fun products is increased user activity and satisfaction, and when combined with a profitable acquisition strategy, creates a flywheel effect in the business generating consistent organic momentum and enhancing our operational efficiency.”

Rivalry closes Q1 with CAD$17.85m ($13.1m) in cash and no debt, whilst also having raised CAD$10m ($7.3m) through a non-brokered private placement led by global bookmaker Pinnacle last month, after which it made a $10m investment in product innovation and development.