A challenging week for North American affiliates concluded with an announcement from Better Collective regarding a revenue forecast downgrade.
The company revised its 2024 forecast, reducing the expected full year revenue from €395–425 million to €355–375 million ($418–450 million to $376–397 million) and EBITDA before special items from €130–140 million to €100–110 million ($138–148 million to $106–116 million). If these targets are met, revenue will exceed the 2023 result of €327 million ($346 million), though there is a risk that EBITDA may fall below last year’s level of €111 million ($117 million).
Revenue adjusted downward after lackluster US numbers
The note to investors attributed most of the downgrade to “lower activity than expected from U.S. partners”, but also noted that decreasing interest in Brazil had an effect on the bottom line.
That being said, the company reiterated that they still believe the two markets are worth pursuing in the long term.
It is a different tune than the one sung by XLMedia, who determined on Monday that it was no longer financially viable for the company to continue its North American operation. Sportradar does believe in the potential of the market and purchased XLMedia’s assets for a deal that will be worth between $20-30 million.
Like Catena Media, Better Collective said they will once again streamline operations with planned cost savings of more than €50 million ($53 million) annually. Catena Media said on Tuesday that it was eliminating 29 positions from its organization, resulting in €2.2 million ($2.3 million) in annual savings.
In August, Better Collective sunsetted the news sections of its sites SportsHandle and U.S. Bets, moving the news writing staff over to Action Network.
Action Network plans future ‘streamlining’
“Since 2017, Better Collective has grown significantly both organically and through 35 acquisitions expanding our team while adding increased complexity to our organization. As external market conditions shift, it’s important for us to recalibrate our spending and investment strategies to ensure sustainable long-term success,” said Better Collective Co-Founder and CEO Jesper Søgaard.
“We are currently implementing adjustments that will better prepare us for the future and I am confident that Better Collective will emerge even stronger following this exercise. We operate in a market with strong underlying growth, despite being subject to volatility, and we are well-equipped to adapt and are strategically positioned to sustain our growth in the future.”
Better Collective will have its full Q3 earnings call on Nov. 13.
Don’t forget to subscribe to our Telegram channel!
