theScore Releases Latest Earnings Report, Misses the Mark

There is always a lull in gambling activity when March winds down. The NFL’s Super Bowl in February is done, the NCAA’s March Madness is over and there aren’t any other major contests on the schedule. A spattering of competitions in the PGA, NBA and other sports leagues helps buoy the market, but doesn’t produce the results sports gambling operators enjoy earlier in the year. Canada’s own sports gambling operator, theScore, released its latest financial health report yesterday and the results are well below what the company and analysts had expected.

Swing and a Miss For theScore

Yesterday, theScore, officially Score Media and Gaming, provided its earnings report for its fiscal third quarter that ran from March 1 to May 31. It reported a handle of $74 million, a dip from the $81.6 million it recorded in the prior period. That period, however, covered the NFL and NCAA, which partially explains the greater performance. Off that handle, theScore was able to record revenue of $6.43 million and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of -$21.1 million.

The results were not only worse than what the company had expected, but they were also lower than analysts’ forecasts. It had previously been expected that the company would show around $9.31 million in revenue and -$8.99 million in adjusted EBITDA. The drop significantly impacted the company’s shares, as well, which registered a significant drop. Trading on NASDAQ under the ticker SCR, the Score saw its six-month high of $26.88 on March 31 before registering a slide that has continued. It bottomed out at $13.12 in May before seeing some corrections; however, the earnings report led to a new drop. Monday afternoon, the company was trading at $24.28, but finished Tuesday at $17.74.

Good News on the Horizon

theScore had previously reported a gaming handle of $55.8 million in its first fiscal quarter of 2021. That was a year-over-year increase of 535% and showed that the company was capable of achieving great things. The latest results are likely only going to be a tiny blip in the larger picture, thanks to Canada’s newly expanded sports gambling market and increased attention to the US market.

With single-event sports betting coming to Canada, theScore will have many more options to offer bettors. In the US, which is constantly finding new states looking to capitalize on the revenue legalized sports gambling offers, the company will have plenty of opportunities to establish itself. It is already set to ramp up operations through a market access deal with Caesars that gives it entrance into Illinois, and it is also found in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa and New Jersey. It currently only has about 1% of the entire market share, but expects to double its presence in the US over the next 12 months.

theScore especially believes the Canadian market will offer a lot of action, particularly in Ontario. John Levy, the company’s CEO, said when releasing the earnings report, “With a large and passionate Canadian user base, strong brand identity, and experience operating a powerful mobile betting platform in the U.S., we are extremely well-positioned to succeed in Ontario, and across the country.”