What happened
Shares of Genius Sports (GENI +2.76%) were running 9% higher in afternoon trading Thursday after the official sports-data provider reported robust first-quarter results.
So what
As sports betting has taken off in the U.S., Genius Sports is the straw that stirs the drink, mixing data and media with sportsbooks, which allowed it to raise prices as contracts came up for renewal or were renegotiated.
Image source: Getty Images.
Betting-technology revenue jumped 42% in the quarter to $39 million, sports-technology revenue also rose 42% to $5.4 million, and media technology surged 127% to $9.4 million as it acquired new customers in the Americas and Europe.
Now what
Co-Founder and CEO Mark Locke told investors, "Our strategy of powering the global sports data ecosystem has supported our growth in the quarter, and we're confident in our ability to continuously improve our end-to-end solution and deliver on our increased guidance for the year."
Genius Sports now expects full-year revenue to rise $250 million to $260 million, up from $190 million at the midrange of its previous guidance, with acquisitions adding $10 million to $15 million to the total.
The tech stock also signed a six-year contract with the National Football League to be its exclusive distributor of real-time, official, play-by-play statistics; next generation stats data; and official sports-betting data to media companies and sports-betting operators globally.
If micro-betting becomes a reality in the U.S., this could be an even more lucrative contract.
