Sportradar Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results and Announces Agreement to Acquire IMG Arena and Its Strategic Portfolio of Global Sports Betting Rights

Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ: SRAD) (“Sportradar” or the “Company”), a leading global sports technology company focused on creating immersive experiences for sports fans and bettors, today announced financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2024.

Carsten Koerl, Chief Executive Officer of Sportradar, said: “We are pleased with our strong execution in 2024, achieving record revenue, operating margins and free cash flow generation. Importantly, we continued to build on our key competitive advantages including enhancing the depth and breadth of our content portfolio and further innovating on our product offerings. On the content front, with the extension and expansion of our Major League Baseball partnership, we now have all our existing major rights locked in for an average of six years, providing us with great cost visibility. And with the announced agreement to acquire IMG ARENA’s sports rights portfolio, we will further enhance our sports coverage in some of the most bet on sports globally. This past year we also grew our product offering, launching a number of award-winning products that expand our best-in class product suite and bring fans closer to their favorite sports. Importantly, as we grow our topline, we are at an inflection point for multi-year margin expansion and increasing cash flow, positioning us to deliver meaningful shareholder value for years to come.”

FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR REVENUE BY PRODUCT GROUP

Revenue

FULL YEAR FINANCIAL RESULTS

Revenue

Total revenue for the full year was €1,107 million, up €229 million, or 26% year-over-year driven by 29% growth in Betting Technology & Solutions and 15% growth in Sports Content, Technology & Services.

Betting Technology & Solutions revenues of €907 million were up 29% year-over-year primarily driven by a 33% increase in Betting & Gaming Content benefiting from existing and new customer uptake of products and premium pricing from NBA and new ATP product offerings, as well as from overall strong U.S. market growth. Managed Betting Services of €200 million were up 15% driven by strong growth in Managed Trading Services from higher trading margins and increased betting activity from existing and new clients.

Sports Content, Technology & Services revenues of €200 million increased 15% year-over-year primarily driven by 16% growth in Marketing & Media Services with strength in both European and North American ad:s revenue, with a variety of sportsbooks investing in marketing campaigns during the year.

The Company generated strong revenue growth globally with Rest of World up 19% and the United States up 58%. As a percentage of total Company revenues, United States revenue represented 24% of total Company revenue for the full year as compared to 19% in the prior year due to continued market growth, additional customer uptake of our products and premium pricing.

Profit for the period

Profit for the full year was €34 million, in line with the prior year. The strong operating results were primarily offset by a foreign currency loss of €38 million for the full year compared to a €23 million gain last year, due to unrealized currency fluctuations associated with the U.S. dollar-denominated sport rights. The current year also included higher financing costs due primarily to our new ATP, NBA and Bundesliga partnership deals, as well as an income tax benefit of €11 million driven primarily by the recognition of deferred tax assets.

Adjusted EBITDA

Full year Adjusted EBITDA was €222 million, up €56 million, or 33% compared to €167 million in the prior year. The increase was largely driven by the 26% revenue growth, partially offset by increased sport rights costs primarily related to the NBA and ATP partnership deals, higher purchased services driven by investments in developing our product portfolio and increased personnel expenses primarily due to headcount growth and a higher bonus accrual in the current year.

FOURTH QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS

Revenue

Total revenue for the fourth quarter was €307 million, up €54 million, or 22% year-over-year driven by 21% growth in Betting Technology & Solutions and 23% growth in Sports Content, Technology & Services.

Betting Technology & Solutions revenues of €247 million were up 21% year-over-year primarily driven by a 30% increase in Betting & Gaming Content benefiting from existing and new customer uptake of our products and premium pricing, led by the addition of new ATP content, as well as from overall strong U.S. market growth. Managed Betting Services revenues of €55 million were down 1% as strong growth in Managed Trading Services from higher trading margins and increased betting activity from existing and new clients was more than offset by the impact a year ago from the one-time initial setup revenues related to hardware deliveries for the new Taiwan Lottery deal.

Sports Content, Technology & Services revenues of €60 million increased 23% year-over-year primarily driven by 22% growth in Marketing & Media Services with strength in both European and North American ad:s revenue as several sportsbooks invested in marketing campaigns during the quarter.

The Company generated strong revenue growth globally with Rest of World up 16% and the United States up 41%. As a percentage of total Company revenues, United States revenue represented 24% of total Company revenue in the fourth quarter as compared to 21% in the prior year quarter due to continued market growth, additional customer uptake of our products and premium pricing.

Customer Net Retention Rate of 127% increased sequentially and from prior year demonstrating our ability to cross sell and up sell to our clients, as well as the market growth in the United States.

Loss for the period

Loss for the period was €1 million, down €24 million, compared to profit of €23 million in the same quarter a year ago, as the strong operating results were more than offset primarily by a foreign currency loss of €38 million in the quarter as compared to a €27 million gain last year, due to unrealized currency fluctuations mainly associated with the U.S. dollar-denominated sport rights. The current quarter also included higher financing costs due primarily to our new ATP and Bundesliga partnership deals, as well as an income tax benefit of €20 million driven primarily by the recognition of deferred tax assets.

Adjusted EBITDA

Fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA was €61 million, up €21 million, or 53% compared to €40 million in the same quarter a year ago. The increase was largely driven by the 22% revenue growth, partially offset by increased sport rights costs primarily related to the ATP partnership deal, higher purchased services driven by investments in developing our product portfolio and increased personnel expenses primarily due to headcount growth and a higher bonus accrual in the current year.

Additional Business Highlights

• Announced the extension and expansion of our partnership with Major League Baseball (“MLB”) for 8 years, beginning with the 2025 season. Sportradar will exclusively distribute ultra-low latency official MLB data, media content, including MLB Statcast Data, and audiovisual content across our global client network. Additionally, Sportradar and MLB will collaborate on the creation of AI-driven products powered by player tracking data to create immersive, hyper-personalized fan experiences.
• Announced the extension and expansion of our partnership with UEFA covering all UEFA Club and National team competitions, which includes over 900 high-profile matches, a 33% increase from the previous agreement.
• Announced a new long-term partnership with UTR Sports for the UTR Pro Tennis tour, the top tennis tour for rising professionals. Tennis is the second most bet on sport and UTR provides Sportradar with a consistently high volume of tennis matches throughout the year.
• In partnership with the NBA, launched a suite of next generation products and solutions for the 2024 – 2025 season including 4Sight Streaming, emBET, Live Match Tracker and advanced visualizations.
• Introduced micro markets for ATP tennis and basketball, expanding this cutting-edge product to tennis from other popular sports such as soccer and table tennis.
• Enhanced ad:s marketing services providing the most comprehensive 360 degree solution for customers with the launches of new channels including paid search and audio, and the addition of affiliate marketing capabilities through XLMedia.
• Opened an office in São Paulo, Brazil, marking a major milestone in Sportradar’s strategic expansion into that country and across Latin America.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

The Company’s cash and cash equivalents were €348 million as of December 31, 2024 as compared with €277 million as of December 31, 2023. The increase was primarily driven by net cash generated from operating activities of €353 million due to strong operating performance, partially offset by net cash used in investing activities of €255 million, primarily from the acquisition of additional sport rights, most notably its new NBA and ATP deals, and the acquisition of assets of XLMedia, and from net cash used in financing activities of €37 million, due primarily to share repurchases. Free cash flow for the year ended December 31, 2024 was €118 million, an increase of €67 million from €50 million in the same period a year ago.

Including its undrawn credit facility, the Company had total liquidity of €568 million at December 31, 2024 as compared to €497 million as of December 31, 2023, and no debt outstanding.

2025 Annual Financial Outlook

Sportradar is targeting fiscal 2025 outlook as follows:

• Revenue of at least €1,273 million, representing year-on-year growth of at least 15%
• Adjusted EBITDA of at least €281 million, representing year-on-year growth of at least 26%
• Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion of at least 200 basis points
• Free cash flow conversion¹ rate above the 2024 level of 53%

The 2025 guidance does not include any impact from the pending acquisition of IMG ARENA given the uncertainty around the timing of close. Guidance will be updated to incorporate the uplift resulting from this acquisition upon closing.

Share Repurchase Plan

In March 2024, the Board of Directors approved a $200 million share repurchase plan and commenced purchases during the second quarter. During the quarter ended December 31, 2024, the Company repurchased approximately 467 thousand shares for a total of $5.7 million. For the full year 2024, the Company repurchased 1.8 million shares under the plan for a total of approximately $20.3 million.

Subsequent Event

This morning, Sportradar announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. to acquire IMG ARENA and its global sports betting rights portfolio. IMG ARENA’s portfolio will enhance Sportradar’s content and product offering and further strengthen its strategic position as a leading content provider in the most bet upon global sports, including tennis, soccer and basketball. Under terms of the agreement, IMG ARENA will provide financial consideration totaling $225 million (subject to customary purchase price adjustments), comprised of $125 million cash paid to Sportradar and up to $100 million cash prepayments made to certain of the sports rightsholders. Sportradar will not be required to pay any financial consideration to the Endeavor Group.

With its highly scalable technology platform and extensive client network, Sportradar will seamlessly integrate and monetize these rights, driving incremental value for clients, partners and shareholders. This addition will further accelerate Sportradar’s robust revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow growth and will be immediately accretive to adjusted EBITDA margins.

IMG’s portfolio of global betting rights comprises strategic relationships with over 70 rightsholders covering approximately 39,000 official data events and 30,000 streaming events across 14 global sports on six continents. Prominent properties include Wimbledon, U.S. Open, Roland-Garros, Major League Soccer, EuroLeague basketball, and PGA Tour, amongst others.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is currently expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Sportradar will host a conference call to discuss the fourth quarter and full year 2024 results today, March 19, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Those wishing to participate via webcast should access the earnings call through Sportradar’s Investor Relations website. An archived webcast with the accompanying slides will be available at the Company’s Investor Relations website for one year after the conclusion of the live event.