Better Collective reports Q3 2025
Summary by AI BETAClose X
Interim report July 1 - September 30 2025
Regulatory release 52/2025
Flash Q3 2025 highlights:
- Revenue of 78 mEUR, impacted negatively by 10 mEUR versus last year due to lower sports win margin following player-friendly results
- Recurring revenue of 50 mEUR, 64% of total revenue
- Revenue share income from the North American market doubled versus last year
- EBITDA before special items of 21 mEUR, 26% margin
- Successful launch of AI betting solution, Playbook, sending millions of bets to partners
- Full-year guidance remains unchanged
Jesper Søgaard, Co-founder & Co-CEO of Better Collective, comments:
“I’m pleased to see that, when adjusting for the unusually low sports win margin of the quarter, Better Collective is back to organic revenue growth. It’s a clear sign of the strength and resilience of our diversified business model and the solid execution across our organization. The launch of Playbook marks the next evolution of Better Collective as the digital home of sports fans - expanding our focus from customer acquisition to retention. Playbook is already generating millions of bets with our partners, showing strong early traction and user adoption. Thanks to all my colleagues for your hard work, innovation, and commitment to pushing us forward.”
Highlights Q3, 2025:
The financial guidance for full-year 2025 remains unchanged.
Revenue decreased by 4% to 78 mEUR, with organic growth reflecting the same development. The performance was in line with expectations when adjusting for the impact of an unusually low sports win margin. The main year-over-year drivers impacting performance during the quarter were as follows:
- Sports win margin: Player-friendly results in September led to a record-low sports win margin for the month, negatively impacting Q3 revenue by approximately 10 mEUR compared to the same period last year.
- The Brazilian market: Revenue share income from the Brazilian market continued to develop ahead of expectations, yet the ongoing regulatory transition had a negative impact of around 4 mEUR.
- Foreign exchange: FX movements negatively affected revenue by approximately 2 mEUR during the quarter.
- North American revenue share: North American revenue share doubled and thus, increased by 4 mEUR, driven by the substantial unrecognized revenue share accumulated since Q3 2022, when the US transition from upfront payments to recurring revenues began.
- Growth: Underlying business performance was strong, with several areas contributing to solid growth of approximately 9 mEUR. The main drivers were Paid Media, Sports Media, and Talent-led Media.
Recurring revenue declined by 5% YoY to 50 mEUR, primarily driven by lower revenue share stemming from the unfavorable sports win margin and the ongoing regulatory transition in Brazil.
Since Q3 2022, Better Collective has been transitioning towards revenue share agreements in the North American market. While this shift has temporarily impacted reported revenue, it has built a strong foundation for future recurring revenue to be recognized in the coming quarters and years. During Q3, revenue share income in North America began to ramp up, doubling compared to the same period last year. Management expects revenue share income in North America to continue growing steadily, ultimately providing a more stable recurring revenue base, similar to the Group’s established model in the rest of the world.
CPM-based revenues remained flat during the quarter, reflecting market rates returning to normal levels after a weak H1. Better Collective sees early positive impact of several internal initiatives within AdVantage, which are expected to drive incremental growth in the coming quarters.
Costs decreased by 2% year-over-year, remaining broadly in line with Q3 2024. It is important to note the following factors for year-over-year comparison:
- The comparable quarter last year benefited from several one-off cost reductions of around 6 mEUR, including variable pay reversals and more.
- Furthermore, given the strong performance in the Paid Media business, it has increased the spend by 2 mEUR.
- The cost reduction this year reflects the execution of the 50 mEUR cost-efficiency program initiated in 2024, resulting in approximately 8 mEUR in cost reductions.
Following these factors, EBITDA before special items amounted to 21 mEUR, representing a decrease of 8% year-over-year, corresponding to an EBITDA margin before special items of 26%. Profitability was negatively affected by the record-low sports win margin and the ongoing regulatory transition in Brazil.
Free cash flow amounted to 11 mEUR in Q3 and 32 mEUR year-to-date 2025, in line with expectations and the full-year guidance range of 55–75 mEUR.
Cash flow from operations before special items was 35 mEUR with a cash conversion of 168% in Q3 2025. Previously delayed customer payments in Brazil positively impacted the cash flow this quarter.
On 30 September, Better Collective entered into a new three-year committed club facility of 319 mEUR and an 80 mEUR higher accordion option with Nordea and Nykredit. The new club facility is set to expire in October 2028, with an option to extend for one additional year.
By the end of September 2025, capital reserves stood at 88 mEUR, consisting of cash of 23 mEUR and unused bank credit facilities of 65 mEUR.
On September 12th, 2025, Better Collective launched Playbook, an AI-powered betting solution transforming how fans place bets by fitting seamlessly into the way they already engage. Find out more about Playbook in the CEO letter.
On September 16th, 2025, Better Collective announced a content partnership with BetMGM, making BetMGM the presenting sponsor of Playmaker HQ’s “Roommates Show” as well as debuting a new casino show called “No Limit”.
On August 27th, 2025, Better Collective completed its share buyback program, buying back approximately 10 mEUR since May 22nd, 2025. Furthermore, Better Collective’s Board of Directors decided to initiate a buyback of up to 20 mEUR running until March 4th, 2026. So far in 2025, Better Collective has repurchased 978,362 shares in the first buy-back program and 807,900 shares in the second program, equal to approximately 2.9% of the company’s 61,958,870 shares outstanding. Including the newly initiated 20 mEUR program, based on the current share price, this corresponds to approximately 6% of shares outstanding. Furthermore, at the Annual General Meeting earlier in 2025, the company cancelled 1.8% of its share capital.
NDCs developed in line with expectations when excluding the impact of the Brazilian regulatory transition. For the quarter, the total number of NDCs was 279,000, of which 81% were on revenue share contracts. Activity levels remained affected by the situation in Brazil, where the prohibition of welcome bonuses has redirected many new players to offshore sportsbooks. In addition, the conclusion of EURO 2024 in July created a challenging comparison base for the quarter.
Introduced in Q2 2025, Value of Deposits (VoD) measures the total amount deposited by referred users across partner platforms over time. This KPI provides a clear indication of traffic quality and player value. The continued positive development underscores Better Collective’s ability to deliver high-quality traffic, as referred players demonstrate increasing lifetime value - even amid lower NDC volumes. This reflects the Group’s strategic focus on attracting higher-value customers for its partners.
During Q3, Value of Deposits reached 726 mEUR, representing 2% year-over-year growth. This performance shows that the company has effectively offset the impact from the Brazilian regulatory transition and indicates a healthy underlying development of the revenue share base.
Significant events after the close
On October 1st, 2025, Better Collective announced a strategic partnership with X to launch Playbook as the premier sports betting bot across the US. Find out more about Playbook in the CEO letter.
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