Betmakers Technology Group Ltd (BET) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

March 1, 2022

Australian Securities Exchange AU Consumer Discretionary Hotels, Restaurants and Leisure earnings 42 min

Earnings Call Speaker Segments

Jane Morgan

executive
#1

Good morning, and thank you for joining the BetMakers FY 2022 Half Year Results Presentation. I'm Jane Morgan. And today, I am joined by our CEO, Todd Buckingham, our CFO, Anthony Pullin; and our COO, Jake Henson. We'll be running through today's presentation, which was lodged with the ASX on Monday. Todd, I'll hand over to you.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#2

Yes. Thanks, Jane, and thanks, everybody, for coming on and listening into our half year results. I think we've had quite an outstanding half in the first half of FY '22, setting us up nicely for the second half and all the things that we've got planned. And so we'll just take you through a few of the highlights before I hand over to Anthony to take you into a bit more detail on the financials, and then I think we'll hand over to Jake Henson, the COO, to give you a real update on the company and how it's performed across our business units. So we just get down, Jane to Slide 3. These are the highlights. I won't touch too much on the financial performance because Anthony will cover off on that. We have the operational highlights are quite substantial for us in the first half. We're up to now 450 staff across 10 locations globally. That's -- it's increased. And while it will increase a little bit further, we see that setting off and we're really concentrating on getting on high-quality staff and high-quality people across all jurisdictions. We're able to -- we've now got offices in Melbourne, Newcastle and Brisbane here in Australia and in other locations globally. And so we're getting a real good influx of candidates that are wanting to come on board BetMakers, which is quite exciting none more so than Christian Stuart, who we appointed as the CEO of our North American operation. A really important hire for us. We feel that North America is a key focus for us and where we're heading. We've got a lot of operations over there and having someone of Christian Stuart's criteria and standard and background is a real testament to the BetMakers business and where we've come from and where we're at in the industry. Christian had 17 years running the digital space across Caesars Properties, a really good experienced operator, and we're really excited to have him on board, recently appointed Rebekah Giles to the Board an exciting addition to us, gives us a broader range across legal background from the Board perspective. Rebekah has a lot of experience in the sports industry here in Australia. She sits on the board for Greyhound Racing New South Wales and for her to have a racing experience and be able to come on and give us a hand with BetMakers is, again, a real attribute for us, and we're excited. One of the things that we've been working on, which a lot of you guys would know, and it's taken us a long time, but there's been a lot of work go into it, is our New Jersey fixed odds, the rollout of fixed odds betting on horse racing in the U.S. It's been a huge achievement for us to get this done. Now that we've got the legislation kicked off and the regulation kicked off, which has taken us some 18 months to 2 years to do. We were able to go back and amend our agreement with the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horseman and demonstrated at Monmouth Park extend that term to a 15-year term. We really -- we did that to show that we're in for the long haul. We think this is a real play for us that we can put our stake in the ground in the U.S. We can use that as the basis to launch fixed-odds betting and horse racing in particular. We think there's got a huge growth opportunity in that U.S. market. And so for us to be able to extend that to a 15-year term and help the guys out in New Jersey to expand horse racing within that state. It's a state that's extremely impressive in terms of how it's rolled out in the sports betting market, and we hope to execute on that in the near future. We also signed a binding heads of agreement with our top business in Las Vegas, which is the Caesars Entertainment. We're running all of the Caesars Entertainment properties. We run all of their pari-mutuel betting on horse racing. It's an exciting contract for us, not only financially, but also it puts us front and center with the biggest casino group in the U.S. So an exciting contract for us that one. On the back of that, we have invested heavily in hardware in the U.S., bringing in new processes, new platforms. bringing in new technology and terminals into that U.S. market. We're excited about how they look. We're getting extremely good feedback from our customers. It's allowed us to execute on a number of deals and we look to roll those out throughout the calendar year of FY '22. Our platform clients here, which Jake will touch on in Australia has outperformed even our expectations, I know we get excited sometimes, and I think the products are going to work. But the way this product has been taken up in Australia has exceeded all of our expectations, and we're excited about the future of that which Jake will touch on through his update as well. So with that, I'll hand over to Anthony. He will be able to give you a bit of an overview of the financials.

Anthony Pullin

executive
#3

Todd. Look, you would have seen some of the highlights on the first slide as Todd ran through it, but I'll just run through the P&L and cash flow, not a little more detail. So revenue of $43.5 million for the half, which is up 473% compared with the prior corresponding period. We completed on the acquisition of the racing digital assets from Sportech in June 2021. So these results reflect the full half of those assets. In addition, as Todd just touched on, we see some really good results across our platform and managed trading services offering operations here in Australia, both in terms of growing the number of customers that we have across that product as well as you've seen improving results in maturity across those existing customers. Gross profit for the period was $32 million, a 700% increase compared with the prior corresponding period. we also saw good margin improvement, looking up to 74% for the half. On the expenses, we know we've got $25 million of share-based payments expense for the period. The majority of that expense relates to performance rights issued Waterhouse VC in relation to managed trading services offering and the performance rights and options issued to Matt Tripp in relation to his B2B advisory agreement. Lastly, we reported adjusted EBITDA for the half of positive $2.3 million. On the next slide, for the cash flow. We reported $1.8 million in positive net operational cash flow for the period. Movements to see across investing activities related to the acquisition of Sportech and the final payments there as well as our investment into hardware in the U.S. So we finished the half with $111 million of cash on the balance sheet and no debt. So putting us in a really, really strong position to execute on our current pipeline of activities -- sorry, pipeline of opportunities. I'll hand across to Jake now to run through the performance across each division.

Jake Henson

executive
#4

Thanks, Anthony, and hi to everyone who has dialed in. We certainly appreciate your interest in the BetMakers story. As Todd touched on earlier, we've grown to 450 staff over the last half, which is reflective of the business executing on our resource plan that we identified during the acquisition stage of the Sportech racing and digital assets. That completed in June 2021. So obviously, correlating pretty tightly with this half. It's been very pleasing that the business as it was, has continued to grow, as has the newly acquired business through that resourcing stage, and we've now positioned extremely well to capitalize and take that next step in '22. As highlighted in the last presentation, we've broken the business now out into 3 main units that cover all of our stakeholders and products. And we're really excited about the prospect of having some of our customers interact with multiple units. We now see waging operators requiring tote services. Racetracks are now needing to shift into the digital wagering space and have a presence with mobile apps and on track functions. And wagering operators are also in the business of now owning some racetracks in certain markets, which basically gives us a chance to secure global large-scale deals across multi functions of the business. Global betting service is the first of those functions. These are the solutions BetMakers provide to licensed wagering operators. This includes 20 digital racing betting platforms in the U.S., 10 white label platforms here in Australia and 30-plus data content and pricing customers globally. This division saw a healthy growth from our Managed Trading Services product, including a strong upcoming contracted pipeline. We see this as a great endorsement of the model we've pulled together and the results our operators are getting. We'll continue to develop this white label platform and MTS solution, whilst moving forward with pricing and betting engine services that we continue to receive strong demand for in the Australian and U.K. and North American markets. Further to this, we look forward to integrating some of our BetMakers global product assets, including recent acquisitions of Swopstakes and Form Cruncher and some proprietary BetMakers bet types we're excited to bring to the market. In the near term, our focus will certainly be on signing operators within the North American market to take a host of these wagering solutions, including the managed trading services. We just rolled to the global slide now, please, Jane. This is the first full half of the consolidated global tote business. We did have a few weeks at the end of the previous half there, which is reflected in the graph, as you can see. It's been a big half for us in modernizing this area of the business through new bet types and functions, but also technology upgrades from a hardware and a software sense. This culminated in seasons, the largest casino group in the United States, signing a HoA for global tote to provide exclusive pari-mutuel services within Nevada. Secondly, it's been a busy half year for renewals with a host of our key partners, including the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Penn National, TVG, MGM Yonkers, Monmouth Park and [ Lakes ] are renewing their contracts with BetMakers own type division. We see this as a really great endorsement of our vision for those partners to get behind us in that first 6 months. And as mentioned, it's an endorsement for our global vision that we continue to invest in, and we hope the results will tell the story for them. Going forward, we continue to invest improving the race day experience through big boards, through new software, through new hardware, through new display networks including the rollout of our bed line self-service and tele-betting hardware. We also want to continue to connect our global tote partners to raising new customers via digital means. The global racing network. This is the area of the business where we empower racing bodies, racetracks and rights holders through our technology to drive new revenues and to ensure their current revenues are sustainable. Our integrity reporting and distribution solutions are examples of all of that, and these are services we'll be rolling into new markets like New Jersey and other states within the U.S., the 6 tote-betting rolls out. From a revenue perspective and performance within this function, we expect this part of the business will grow as our footprint in these new markets does. Our focus in the short term will be around onboarding new tracks and of course, the launch of fixed odds betting in New Jersey. So with that, I'll hand back to Todd, who will cover off on an update on the New Jersey market and also summarize our key strategic focus areas for the second half of FY '22.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#5

Yes. Thanks, Jake. Yes, as you -- as I've alluded to previously, this has been a journey for us. It's been 18 months in the making. We first signed a deal back in May 2020, we had to start a process of legislation and regulation to work through the assembly in New Jersey. With that kicked off in August '21, we've been able to work our way through that legislative and regulatory process, and we're now in a position where we can see the finish line. There's a few things to tick off in regards to issuing of licenses. We've now put out our contracts and agreements with operators and with content owners. So we've got those contracts now out in the market. There's an expectation that we will get operators joining PointsBet, the first operator assigned and look like being ready for launch in May. We will be ready to launch fixed odds betting when the racing kicks off at Monmouth Park on May 7. We'll be doing a soft launch prior to then, but we've got all of the infrastructure in place, ready to go and quite an exciting time for us in New Jersey, where we strike the first -- first fixed-odds bet on Thoroughbred racing. And we really think this will be the catalyst of the industry growing, the industry being acknowledged as moving forward, the industry being able to capture that sports betting market that has been growing with phenomenal growth all across the U.S. We see that racing has been left behind a little bit because it hasn't been in a position to be able to execute. This puts racing front and center in the operator's eyes, it's a high-margin product for them. It's a 24/7 product that can be access to their customers. And so we're really excited about being able to launch fixed odds betting in New Jersey, come May. And that leads us into our opportunities, obviously, and what our focus will be in the coming months. A lot of that is focused around New Jersey and fixed odds and horse racing growing in the U.S. market. So Jane, if you flip over to the next page, a lot of that's covered there. So launching fixed odds in New Jersey, bringing new operators on. So getting operators to sign up and deliver that fixed odds betting to their customers on horse racing. We're also looking to bring content into the New Jersey market. It's a huge opportunity for wagering, also for horseracing tracks and into international markets and domestic markets, opening up a brand-new opportunity for them with this New Jersey raising opportunity opening up. The sports betting market over there has grown dramatically. They're annualized at about $15 billion now on sports and I mean racing isn't capturing any of that. And so we see this as a real focus for us to get horseracing into that market. Additional contracts for Australian operators utilizing the BetMakers platform in Australia. As Jake pointed out, we've got 6 operators that we believe will be live. 2 of those are already live in this half, another 4 due to go live before the end of June, and we're looking to sign up some major players in this area as well. So it's a real focus for us, the Australian market. We're getting some really strong results out of it, and we see that we can still keep driving that further. We're also looking to enhance globally across all of our technologies, our people, improve our data software. We're looking to connect our customers into a global commingling sense. We've got customers all over the world. We want them talking to each other, offering each other's product and upselling the bet makers suite of products into our existing customers who might only be taking 1 or 2 of those. So a focus on joining the dots with our international operation and continue to improve our technology and hardware. So Jane, we'll flick over to some questions now.

Jane Morgan

executive
#6

[Operator Instructions] So on July 5, 2021, the announcement -- there was an announcement out that bet was in discussions with Tabcorp in relation to commercial opportunities internationally. Are these discussions still progressing?

Todd Buckingham

executive
#7

Yes, I'll take that one. At this stage, there's nothing progressing with Tabcorp. We've got some commercial deals that we've got in offer to them. But at this stage, nothing's happened. They're quite busy, obviously, with the demerger focus. And from a BetMakers perspective, we're extremely busy with what we've got in front of us as well. So that's concentrating on what we have got. But at this stage, there's nothing happening with Tabcorp.

Jane Morgan

executive
#8

There's quite a few questions just coming to on the share base for Hayman to Waterhouse VC and to Tripp, maybe do you want to just cover off on that?

Todd Buckingham

executive
#9

Yes. Look, we -- this is a deal that we've had in place for a couple of years. I think we're 2 years into it. We're coming to the end of the Waterhouse deal. When the business was a lot smaller than what it was, we had the concept of developing a managed trading services business. We could have either went out and bought one or we could develop one ourselves and we felt that this was the right strategy for us. We incentivized Tom Waterhouse and Co. to be able to help us build out that product and that business. We feel from a Board and a management perspective, we're extremely happy with the deal. We've got this -- it's exceeded our expectations to be able to build that product out with the help of Tom and his team and actually have a product now that we can deliver into the market and take globally. It's really exciting for us. It's -- we think it's well worth what we paid. Obviously, it's a big ticket item when you're looking at it from this perspective and looking back in the rear-vision mirror. But at the time, we thought that was the right thing to do, and we can put our hand on heart and say it was.

Jane Morgan

executive
#10

And Todd another one just popped up. So has there been any news on FOX Bet looking to expand and also come into Australia in future market? And if so, how do you think they will do it with regards to doing partnerships or that will they likely go all alone?

Todd Buckingham

executive
#11

Yes, it's actually one of -- a number of people that we're talking to in regards to how BetMakers can fit into the puzzle of coming into the Australian market. The results that global operators are getting out of Australia are phenomenal. The growth here has been exceptional. We know that with our existing clients, our existing MTS clients or Managed Trading Services clients, the results, they're getting far exceeding their expectations. So look, we feel like we've got the right product for those people that want to enter the market. We think we're in a really good position. And anyone that wants to enter the market, albeit FOX Bet, any international operator that wants to come in here. We're looking to do deals with those partners and obviously get them onto the BetMakers system.

Jane Morgan

executive
#12

There's quite a few questions that are coming through just on the competitive landscape. I just want to maybe just perhaps touch on that.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#13

Yes. It's one of those things that the more successful you are. Obviously, it highlights there's areas of opportunity. We feel that we've been working on this for 10 years. We've been working on our technology for that time. We feel like we're a long way in front of anyone that comes into the market. Those people are coming in copying us -- it just gives us more confidence that we're doing the right thing. We know that there's going to be competition across our business. We've got 3 real sectors of the business, and each 1 of those has its own competitors. As far as a company that has the whole game bet, it's -- there's no one like BetMakers, we feel. We feel like we can offer our customers a full suite service unlike anyone else. But the more competitors, the more confident it gives us that we're doing the right thing.

Jane Morgan

executive
#14

And so can we just -- there's a question here, just can you please discuss how the New Jersey experience positions bet to replicate fixed odds in other states and what other states are likely to favor bet as a result of the New Jersey experience.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#15

Look, I think it's just a focus of just looking and seeing what happens. We believe that New Jersey is set up for success. There's only 1 way that you can bet on horse racing in New Jersey at the moment, and this is true a legislative law that says you can only bet on it through 1 site called 4 New Jersey Bets that's going to be coming up into competition with all of the bookmakers to 33 operators that can bet on fixed odds. So we think that we're going to get some really strong growth on horse racing within New Jersey and a lot of people looking to see what happens in the same way that sports betting went live in New Jersey and then other states got on the back of it. We can't say who will go next. There's a lot of people that we're talking to. But I think it comes down to the success of the New Jersey market and the success of the BetMakers model. And so once you've got that established, then it makes it hard to do something different. So we're well positioned in the U.S. We're quite happy with where we're at in New Jersey, and we look forward to other states opening up after.

Jane Morgan

executive
#16

Thanks, Todd. Anthony, one for you now. So how should we forecast future CapEx spend on systems?

Anthony Pullin

executive
#17

Sure. So we had a fairly significant spend in half gone. About $10 million cash-wise $7.5 million increase on the balance sheet. And as we noted, that's heavily focused on the rollout of the new bet line terminals in the U.S. Given -- we still see the U.S. is a very large opportunity for us, an opportunity for us to enhance the rating experience over there. We're going to continue to invest in that market in the hardware and CapEx space. So going forward, we will have continued CapEx, but not at the same levels that we've seen in the last half. We do expect that to decrease down to a more consistent, I guess, maintenance level of CapEx.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#18

Keep in mind with our CapEx as well, guys, that we spend that money to obviously invest in our customers, get our contracts, extends our contracts. We just extended Monmouth Park, for example, to a 10-year contract now with the expenditure. We also then changed the commercial models that we invest in the upside. So if we can bring technology that obviously is improving the product to a consumer is going to get more bets, then that's going to benefit us as well. And then the other reason that we're obviously investing in modern technology is saving on maintenance. Maintenance is a real battle for old systems and old technology and some of these terminals that are in the U.S. market, not only with BetMakers, but with our competitors as well have been in there for 20 years. And so it's very difficult to have an old machine, and when they break down, be able to fix them instantaneously. So the new terminals that we're bringing in were all built so that it's a lightweight in terms of maintenance and it saves us money in the ongoing future.

Jane Morgan

executive
#19

Thanks, Todd. One for you, Jake. So for global type question actually. Strategic focus and outlook, what is meant by reduced minimum bet amount? Is this to increase bet frequency.

Jake Henson

executive
#20

It's more so about global access. Obviously, totes that commingle are underpinned by currency. And we have customers in 35-odd countries. So you have some countries where the U.S. dollar might be a smaller or large denomination of that. So it's about ensuring that we can take any bet from any customer. And further to that, reducing the friction points around those bet types. So if you had a minimum bet of USD 2 in some countries that might not correlate to how an operator has configured their UX and their user experience because $2 in Australia, for example, wouldn't be a direct mirror of that. So it's more so just around reducing some friction points and positioning the tote to be a product that can sit on digital operators as well as take cash bets on course.

Jane Morgan

executive
#21

Thanks, Jake. And just one on the managed trading services. What's the likelihood of coming threats it's coming through on Twitter. What's the likelihood of MTS to pick up in the U.S. market and particularly with some of the larger wagering operators.

Jake Henson

executive
#22

Yes. So the MTS model in the sports sense is quite popular throughout Europe and already in the states. The other thing we're seeing with the states, obviously, these operators are in a race for market access and a lot of their resource is taken up in that market access battle. And by virtue of that early-stage marketing. So we see not only MTS, but turnkey solutions in general being a pivotal piece to that market. And for us being in our racing field. It makes logical sense for these operators to parachute that into to handle that racing solution for them. The other thing this gives them going forward is product parity because we're 100% focused on development of solutions in this area. And it means they don't have to circle back and play catch up if a new bet type evolves in a market or a new function or a feature arrived. So it gets into market quickly, but also gives some parity going forward and obviously, without the overheads of the technology costs.

Jane Morgan

executive
#23

Just actually on managed trading services, but more to the Australian market. There's just a question around additional sign-ons here and what kind of size you're expecting to sort of be?

Jake Henson

executive
#24

Yes. Well, the success we've had over the last 6 to 12 months has obviously positioned us in a spot where we can be a little bit more selective around how we allocate our resource through partnerships. Certainly, we're seeing different type operators get results here. And for us, we want to partner with guys who are taking the opportunity seriously because we certainly are from our investment point of view, from cash and people. So certainly, I think you'll see people try to monetize their databases in new ways. The part to market being a lot cheaper and a lot more lightweight than previously. I think the prospect of becoming a wagering operator in Australia is a lot more real than what it has been in years to come. There's a lot less barriers to entry and certainly, that tech entry cost is much lower and you can structure your deals that way. So where we've got a lot of interest, but certainly as a business, we're lowering the eyes on to what we think can be needle movers going forward. And obviously, ones that can fit neatly into that turnkey solution, so they remain relatively lightweight from a resource standpoint.

Jane Morgan

executive
#25

Thanks, Jake. Todd, I might just go back to you now. There's just a few questions here just on the share price. So you maybe just want to make some comments on that.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#26

What questions in particular, Jane?

Jane Morgan

executive
#27

Well, just working about the share price drop, here sorry, they're coming through from in chat all over the place, but that result.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#28

Yes. Look, we -- the one thing we can't determine is the share price. What I can say is the Board and management are well and truly leveraged in BetMakers shares. So we're quite interested in the share price being higher than where it is at the moment. You would have noticed a month ago that I actually went on market and bought shares myself, I was confident in the share price of where it was at that particular point in time. And I'm still confident now. Look, we can't -- all we can do is just do business and run the company and deliver results like we're delivering. We've got a lot of opportunity in front of us. And I think as a shareholder, you can be confident that we are in a strong position. I can see a comment coming through there in regards to capital raising, we have got no intention of doing capital raising. We don't need to do a capital raise to run this business. We're cash flow positive. The business is profitable. We've got a lot of opportunities ahead that we have actually invested in and we've put dollars in advance of those opportunities that are coming through. There are things that we've put into the market like the New Jersey fixed odds like our customers coming into the Australian market. So there's a lot more in front of us that we've already invested in. And so we have no intention of any requirement to be able to raise money. And so that's certainly not affecting the share price. From that perspective, obviously, our market sector has been hammered across the board across the globe, people that operate within our sector. One thing we do want to point out is that we are a B2B operation. So we don't have to have the exposure that our customers have in regards to marketing dollars and spend. we're able to obviously have exposure to the market, but don't have the hangover of heavy marketing spend.

Jane Morgan

executive
#29

Thanks to that Todd. Is there anything else that I might have missed, Jake or Anthony, I don't know if you see a pop up.

Anthony Pullin

executive
#30

There's one here, Jane, just around the technology and ability to adapt for other sports. Certainly, there's elements of the technology that can -- we see a greater opportunity in partnering with the experts in this field, which we've obviously already done in the U.K. market and here in Australia. So I think the greater opportunity for us is positioning our solutions to be able to interact with those, and we see racing globally as more than margin up as a market for us and one with plenty of growth in it. So it's probably more from a partnership perspective that we have some overlap there and obviously helping those guys who have access to new markets improved their racing offering as well.

Jane Morgan

executive
#31

Thanks, Jake.

Anthony Pullin

executive
#32

Third question here, Jane, in regards to -- Kathleen's put a couple of questions in there in regards to whether we feel that the Tab -- when assuming the Tab bid it was a mistake. What we do know is that our shareholders categorically indicated to us that they wanted us to sustain B2B. We've hit the message. We understand that and that's where we're focusing on, and that's where we're focused on in regards to the business since then and moving forward, and that's where we'll be staying. So while we never -- we don't sort of apologize for having a -- what we're trying to do. We've got -- we had some grand plans, and we believe that there are some huge opportunities there. We are concentrating now on the existing business and where we see the opportunities there.

Jane Morgan

executive
#33

Thanks for that. There's just another one on the launch of fixed odds betting in New Jersey to date. I know we did mention it in the presentation, but let me just touch on that again.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#34

Yes. So the season kicks off at Monmouth Park on the 7th of May, which happens to be -- or the launch of the season. So we'll kick off our fixed odds betting that we'll have the terminals ready to be able to take fixed odds bets on course at Monmouth Park. The expectation is there will be one or more operators that we'll be betting online at that date as well. And we expect between now and sort of in the end of the year for a number of other operators to be rolling out fixed-odds betting on horse racing as well. We're not going to shoot the lights out on May 7th. We believe this is going to be a good strong growth and uplift in horse racing within New Jersey, which is expected to take 12 to 24 months to execute on.

Jane Morgan

executive
#35

Thanks, Todd. Is there anything else that you can see Anthony, Jake?

Anthony Pullin

executive
#36

Just to circle back on -- I think it was Paul's question, it was specific around the soft launch. It will be exactly that. So it would definitely be in sort of lead up to those dates. And for us is obviously about getting everything to connect end-to-end and giving the wagering operators obviously some tangible data around how that will occur. One other 1 that just come through here, there's a question around is Matt Tripp working on any deals. Certainly, he's helping us with a number of deals. I think it's probably important to note as well is also helping us with the existing customers and deals and how we structure that to capture new revenues going forward. It's not just limited to future deals so it's been a tremendous asset to the business. And obviously, a resource that the management team can lean on for advice around a number of things, not just strategic opportunities going forward.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#37

Yes. And Anthony, I might be able to touch on that a little bit. Matt hasn't -- in regards to the performance payments. He hasn't been paid anything to date, but the expectation is that he'll be delivering a deal, and so we've accounted for that in our accounts so far. So it's a prepayment, so to speak, of something that we believe will happen in the future.

Jake Henson

executive
#38

Just to flesh that out, it's basically assuming the cost of the equity instrument overlaying probability and then amortizing of the life, the expected life of that instrument is what we're actually looking as an expense. So to Todd's point, we're recognizing share-based costs today for what will hopefully be a deal in the future. And from our perspective, I hope we can rationalize a lot more on share-based payments expense in relation to Matt because that will mean a material deal for the company.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#39

There's a question here, Jane, from time around the COVID reopening leverage and how those figures may have been impacted and how that looks going forward. We're probably a little bit unique in that sense that we had a lot of digital solutions already in the market. So we're able to capture that transformation that happened quite rapidly through that period. What we will expect this year certainly is to have a lot more fixtures. There are still parts of the world impacted from a fixturing point of view through COVID throughout 2021. So more feature is obviously more races to bet on and for us, more ways in which we can put the ticket or our services will be paid for on a monthly basis. But from an overall standpoint, we're certainly still a flexible position where we think we can capture a piece of the overall market, whether that be point of sale or retail or digital handle?

Anthony Pullin

executive
#40

There's another question here on, from Mason. Did you have to give anything away for the New Jersey Horseman to lock in a 15-year deal. For example, was there a bit of give and take on the revenue share. The question is yes. We were able to once the regulations come down and the way it was structured we're able to put a commercial deal for operators and racetracks that are coming in, we're able to understand that better. And from there, we'll be able to get a better commercial outcome for BetMakers, which then allowed us to be able to give a little bit more back to the Horseman and to Monmouth Park as well. And so it was a deal where building getting that structure right, we're all able to share in the upside. From an operational point of view, that means that all operators that would like to be on fixed odds in New Jersey. We'll have to integrate the BetMakers system. Once you integrate the BetMakers system then, it will be available to operators to be able to use and utilize into other jurisdictions. And so if a new jurisdictions open, regardless of whether BetMakers runs that jurisdiction from that perspective, then the operator can still utilize the BetMakers product and suite of products in those new jurisdictions. So we think it puts us in a really good position operationally and obviously, in a better position from a commercial sense as well.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#41

There's a few questions here that will cover off on the same thing, Anthony, around forecasting revenues and obviously, margins and things like that, that will have changed and will continue to evolve as the business units mature a little bit. And the tote is a good example of that. So maybe if you could just touch on what we can in that regard around sort of future outlook.

Jake Henson

executive
#42

Yes, sure. Look, I think the margins we're seeing coming through in this half is what we expect to see into the future, and that's greatly improved. As Jake said, largely due to the scale of the company and the product mix we're currently running with. With regards to, I guess, forecast or forward-looking statements. No, we haven't put anything in the market I think it's important to note or to rehash some of the comments that I made earlier. We're not exposed to the U.S. market in terms of customer acquisition. So we don't expect to be growing OpEx or direct costs materially in order to catch customers over there. We're the operator. And naturally, our cost of customer acquisition is very low in that respect. So we think the margins hold up as we grow. And then once again on some of the comments or some of the points we've already touched on, we do expect strong growth as we roll out into new judgment in the U.S. as well as now managed trading services and platform offering here in Australia.

Jane Morgan

executive
#43

Thanks, Anthony. Jake, there's one that's come through just about different deals and different bookmakers that are using the BetMakers tech here in Australia. Can you maybe just shed some light on that?

Anthony Pullin

executive
#44

Yes. What we cannot, can't share in that's obviously outside of ASX rules around materiality. There's certain bookmakers that we have deals with where some things can be out and about. Previous slides and previous presentations that we've released, obviously, have listed some of those operators that are happy with that. So probably the best answer to that would be to reflect back on that or if Jane you could potentially share with them that slide from that relevant deck and that will give it a bit of a snapshot of the Australian market and the U.K. as it currently is.

Jane Morgan

executive
#45

Yes. I would encourage you to go back through our last investor presentation, which are on our website. Well, gentlemen, I think that looks like we've answered most of the questions. If we have missed anything, please feel free to reach out by the contact details on the bottom of our ASX releases, and a copy of recording of today's recording will be available online in the coming days as well. So thank you all for joining us.

Todd Buckingham

executive
#46

Thank you, guys. Thanks for coming along.

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