XLMedia expects a slower financial start in 2019 compared to 2022 due to state launches from the US.
At its annual general assembly, the affiliate said it had seen a “strong start” to Q1 due to the launch of sports gambling in Ohio. In other markets, however, it is expected that results will be lower due to the launch in New York and Massachusetts of online sports betting by 2022.
XLMedia noted that operators’ acquisition costs have also decreased, and “fewer generous promotions are available to attract new clients”. It said that this reflected the fact that it understood growth in the US would not be “linear”, but rather a series of spikes caused by state launches.
The company expects the US market will pick up again in second half of this year, with new products being launched in the sector in advance of the NFL season.
XLMedia stated that “looking at the longer term we can expect many more US States to legalise online gambling and sports betting,” “23 states have not legalised online sports betting yet, including California Georgia and Texas. Three states, including Florida are legal, but are still in the process of launching. And 43 states have yet to legalise casino online.”
The company also confirmed that the performance in Europe was in line with expectations. XLMedia said that it would release a trading report for the first half year in July.
