PointsBet’s turnover in the first quarter of 2023 rose by 18.0% year-on-year to AU$1.15bn (£1.02bn/€1.17bn), yet its gross win was down by AUS$2.0m.
The results came as the business also revealed a change in US strategy to focus less on casual customers and more on high-volume bettors.
In total, AU$523.8m of the turnover came from US operations. Australia made up AU$611.9m of the turnover, while Canada contributed AU$20.9m.
Gross win, meanwhile, was AU$115.1m, down by 1.7% from AU$117.1m in Q1 2022.
Gross win in the US was AU$40.5m, while in Australia it was AU$73.0m. Canada contributed AU$1.6m to the gross win, after PointsBet launched in Ontario in April of this year.
The total revenue for the quarter – made up of B2B and B2C operations – was AUS$81.5m.
In terms of costs, advertising and marketing made up the highest expense at AUS$54.7m.
However, Aitken said that PointsBet had reduced marketing spend significantly in the first quarter.
“This year we took a measured approach to the launch of the new NFL season,” he said.
“We spent 70% less in total marketing during the quarter compared to the previous corresponding period as well as significantly reducing promotions as a percentage of gross win.”
Product manufacturing and operating costs came to AUS$40.9m, while staff costs amounted to AUS$27.5m. After administration and corporate costs, which added up to AUS$17.1m, the business reported a loss of AUS$58.8m.
After interest, the total net loss was AUS$44.9m.
During the quarter, PointsBet launched in Louisiana through a partnership with Penn Entertainment, and launched retail sports betting in Maryland. It also began offering online sports betting in Kansas.
Johnny Aitken, PointsBet’s US CEO, said that the new launches in Louisiana and Kansas had been successful, and the operator was looking forward to launching in Maryland and Ohio.
“In Q1, we launched two new online sports betting states in Kansas and Louisiana,” said Aitken. “Kansas was launched at the start of September, and we are satisfied our relevant to our investment in the state with our early performance. Our focus in all states is to lead on product and make revenue.”
“We continue to take learnings from new state launches and are primed to capitalize on our next two market launches in Maryland and Ohio. Our high priority state for PointsBet continues to be Illinois, one of the largest online sports betting revenue markets, and one of our best performing states.”
