Genius Sports to Acquire FanHub and It's Free-to-Play Games Suite

Genius Sports, a London-based company well-known for the major role it plays as a sports betting data provider. The company has recently announced its deal to acquire FanHub Media Holdings. An acquisition that will further the company’s reach in the gaming industry by leveraging FanHubs resources to touch different sectors of the market.

FanHub was established in 2012 and provides a suite of solutions developed around three main service offerings: social interaction and activation, betting and games. The company offers these services and has operations in Ukraine, Australia, the UK and the US. The acquisition will complement what Genius Sports already has on offer by providing expanded services to sportsbooks, media companies, sports leagues and broadcasters all over the world.

Not Many Details As Yet

While there haven’t been any financial details of the deal disclosed as yet, the completion of the transaction can be expected to be in the current quarter. Other details of the deal have been made public. Upon completion of the acquisition, Genius Sports will also have access to and control FanHub’s suite of Free-to-Play (F2P) games. These include polling games, pick ‘em, bracket challenges, trivia, and fantasy sports. These services will be added to Genius Sports’ established services to provide players with a better and more entertaining gaming experience.

The legal sports betting market is on the rise in North America and many operators are looking to use F2P solutions to increase customer acquisition and keep fans and players engaged. By acquiring more users in a specific region, it builds platforms to a ready state when gaming and betting offerings are given the green light on a legalized gaming market. Bally has used a similar strategy to gain more clout in the industry, by announcing a deal to acquire SportCaller in February 2021.

Complementing its Services

The latest deal marks Genius Sports’ first acquisition after completing a merger with (SPAC) dMY Technology Group, Inc. II, a special purpose acquisition company. After the deal is inked, the FanHub assets could complement the partnerships that Genius Sports already have going. Partners such as the MLS, MLB, PointsBet and Betway should all benefit from the acquisition, especially because the F2P provider already has existing relationships with these operators and sports leagues. The NFL is also slated to be part of future proceedings.

It was recently reported that Genius Sports signed an agreement with the NFL. A deal that is believed to be worth approximately 1 billion USD. The deal aims to provide sports betting operators with NFL data and live feed options that are a superior alternative to what is currently being used. The underlying goal to have the league pay for the Genius Sports Platform that will ultimately boost revenue for the NFL and the company.

A statement regarding the deal was released and said that the acquisition will be building on the official data capabilities of Genius Sports. The company seeks to integrate FanHub solutions into its media services. The strategy will be used to ultimately drive customer engagement and acquisition as well as deliver high-quality and trusted content solutions with an additional aim of reducing the cost per acquisition.

Moving Forward

While Genius Sports finalizes its latest and first acquisition, there hasn’t been any verified reports that the company will be making any deals any time soon. However, Genius Sports does have some ammunition to negotiate and engage in other deals or acquisitions going forward. Genius Sports’ balance sheet is robust and the company currently has no major debt with 145 million USD in cash on the said balance sheet. To complete any other deals the company could also use share options to motivate and interested parties. Genius Sports stock options have grown over 40% in the past month and the current value of all shares is estimated to be about 3.8 billion USD.

Genius Sports has also recently spoken about its earnings and state that in 2020, its revenue increased significantly. The figures showed that the company’s revenue was up by 31% to the tune of 150 million USD year-on-year. Additionally, the company also reported 18 million USD for its 2020 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). A big win for the company considering that in 2019, EBITDA reported came in at a loss of about 6 million USD.