Catena Media will offer a full look at the company’s financial standing during its earnings call on Nov. 7 but an announcement today indicates the direction the company is headed.
The affiliate announced it will be laying off 29 employees in advance of the call in an attempt to mainstream and, what it called “rightsize” the content and marketing teams.
Roughly 10% of the company being let go
“As part of our drive to embed our new product-led organization, we are optimizing the operational teams to achieve a flatter structure that is more closely aligned with our product goals. Today, our priority is to support all the individuals who are affected by the changes,” said Catena Media CEO Manuel Stan.
The cuts will cost the company €400,000 in the short term but is expected to save the company €2.2 million annually.
Sources tell SBC Americas the company currently had around 300 employees with roughly one-third of them based in North America prior to this round of layoffs. Catena Media offloaded its British and Australian sites in 2023 after selling the AskGamblers brand to GiG in 2022. The group also conducted a previous round of layoffs on shared services between the U.S. and European teams.
“It is important that our balance sheet reflects current realities. In sports betting, we have been operating at a loss for an extended period. We have responded to market challenges by shifting resources away from loss-making products and into those that we believe have the best potential to generate long-term value. I believe that this strategy will position us for success in the coming quarters,” Stan said of the changes.
Per the release, the company plans to focus on product development, put resources behind the major brands in the portfolio and to diversify revenue streams.
Catena putting faith in AI going forward
Catena Media has leaned heavily on AI after a strategic review of the company. During the Q1 earnings call, former CEO Michael Daly spoke of a new joint venture to create an AI-powered content production tool that was said to launch in February of this year.
The news of the layoffs comes a day after XLMedia announced it was selling its remaining assets to Sportradar. Like Catena Media, XLMedia had ditched its international portfolio to focus on North America. As part of yesterday’s announcement, the company said the reality was that the North American market was not generating enough revenue for shareholders.
