Election betting is one of the most debated topics in the industry right now. Asked about it on an investors update call on Tuesday, BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt didn’t rule out pursuing that avenue as event contracts continue to spread into the sports betting space.
Noting that BetMGM’s co-parent Entain has experience in legally offering such markets in Europe and BetMGM has also dabbled in it in Ontario, Greenblatt suggested he thinks BetMGM has what it takes to be a leader in the are if the playing field was level.
BetMGM better suited to offer election wagers than Kalshi?
“I think for us, it’s a watch and see,” he said on Tuesday’s call. “We certainly have the skills to offer an equivalent and frankly more dynamic, in our minds, product. And so, to the extent it represents an opportunity, we will certainly participate in that… We do see this as a potential opportunity. It’s very popular elsewhere in the world. Entain Group is one of the leaders in election betting. Obviously, it’s allowed in Europe, and so we have the skills and capability. So we’ll wait and see what’s allowed.”
He said there needs to be “a level playing field” when it comes to election markets and the growing world of event contracts trading. “Something that is allowed under a different set of rules should also be allowed for us,” he added.
Greenblatt’s comments came the day after prediction market Kalshi and fintech firm Robinhood announced they intend to offer event contracts for Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX. Kalshi also offered wagering on November’s election and began offering its sports event contracts to users in all 50 states, while it is still entangled in a legal battle with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
iGaming-driven BetMGM vaunts sports betting progress
Greenblatt was speaking after BetMGM posted its fiscal year results earlier on Tuesday.
The brand reported a net revenue rise of 7% year-on-year to a total of $2.1 billion for FY24. As it has typically been, iGaming was the primary revenue driver, generating an annual record $1.5 billion for the year, up 13%.
But Greenblatt told investors and analysts that 2024, “was perhaps the year that we made most strategic progress in online sports.” He noted that BetMGM’s business is now two-thirds iGaming, one-third sports and that “we think we found our niche” in sports.
Online sports wagering revenue ticked up 4% for the year to $554 million, while handle grew 20.2% to $13.1 billion.
Cross-sell opportunity materializing
The company also vaunted 11.5% improvement in cross-sell from online sports to iGaming, something that Greenblatt has suggested in the past is an important piece of the puzzle.
He told investors that during this football season, the percentage of BetMGM’s sports players also iGaming in some capacity was “north of 70%.”
“We think this is very exciting, which is frankly one of the reasons why we are very excited about this moment for our sports business. We’ve managed to stabilize and even increase our share in gaming with a smaller sportsbook in a period of transition and, as we look to a future where we have the wind in our sails in sports, we think that’s only a good thing for our iGaming business.”
Looking at the bigger picture, BetMGM’s EBITDA plummeted 118% to negative $244 million in 2024. That drop included a negative $50 million impact from December alone due to “favorable consumer results” in sports. However, Greenblatt insisted the EBITDA dropoff was consistent with predictions given that 2024 “was a year of investment and rebuilding of momentum.”
Despite that heavy hit, Greenblatt said that BetMGM’s “encouraging exit rate momentum carrying into 2025” gives executives confidence that FY 2025 will be EBITDA-positive, and net revenue guidance has been set at $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion.
The company claimed it ended 2024 with iGaming market share of 22% across all active jurisdictions, while its online sports GGR share is 8%, numbers it said “cement[s] BetMGM’s podium position.”