- New business deals finalized in U.S. markets
- Expansion in the UK through new partnerships with local sportsbooks
- Earn-out obligations restructured to minimize shareholder dilution and reduce cash expenses
- Strong balance sheet: $8.8M in working capital and $160.6M in total assetsas of June 30, 2022
- On an annualized basis, over $2.5M in operating costs have been eliminated without disrupting any current revenue streams
- Company to host an investor webinar on Tuesday, October 4th, 2022 at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 3, 2022) - FansUnite Entertainment Inc. (TSX: FANS) (OTCQX: FUNFF) ("FansUnite" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a corporate update on the Company's key business highlights.
Investor Webinar
The Company will be hosting a webinar to discuss its recent business highlights and growth outlook on Tuesday, October 4th, 2022 at 1:00 PM EST/10:00 AM PST.
Please click the link below to register for the webinar.
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__pmdqYcxQH6tcrDRGLZJUg
"Following the recent announcement of our restructured earn-out obligations, we are focused on streamlining our operations and optimizing our key revenue drivers," said Scott Burton, CEO of FansUnite. "We have made a concentrated effort to eliminate costs and provide a path to positive cash flow while expanding our operations through signed B2B partnerships, increased B2C traction, and affiliate sign-ups. Despite economic headwinds, our balance sheet remains strong, allowing us to continue growing our business without needing an additional capital raise. We are heading into what has historically been our most profitable quarters - Q4 and Q1. The return of NFL and college football sporting events, the start of the NBA and NHL seasons, the World Series, Super Bowl and March Madness are exciting times for sports fans and sports bettors, and will drive a significant portion of our annual revenue base. We are excited about our platform, recently signed partnerships, and our expansion potential."
Key Financial Highlights
Strong Balance Sheet
As of June 30, 2022, FansUnite continues to maintain a strong balance sheet with $8.8M in working capital and $160.6M in total assets. At this time, the Company does not need to raise additional growth capital.
Revenue and Growth Outlook
Given the seasonality of North American sports, the Company expects to capture significant customer traction during Q1 and Q4 due to the NFL, NBA, and NHL seasons, as well as other major sporting events such as the Super Bowl and March Madness.
On an annualized basis, FansUnite has eliminated over $2.5M in operating costs from its business without impacting its existing revenue channels.
In the current economic climate, the Company is focused on generating positive cash flow and will allocate more resources towards key revenue segments, specifically, the licensing of its technology platform and customer acquisition operations through American Affiliate in order to drive significant sales growth. FansUnite has taken significant steps towards becoming a business that generates positive cash flow.
Restructured American Affiliate Earn-out Obligations
FansUnite restructured its earnout obligations to minimize future dilution and retain more cash in the Company. The Company eliminated $43 million of contingent liability as part of the restructure. FansUnite is scaling its high revenue and cash flow business segments such as Betting Hero and Props.com, while at the same time, reducing its resource allocation and cost commitments to Wagers.com and Betprep.
B2C Brands, Partnerships, Clients and Expansion
DragonBet Launch
DragonBet, the new online sportsbook and casino, founded by the renowned Welsh bookmakers Lovell Brothers, recently completed its soft launch, which has exceeded expectations on early sign ups and customer deposits. Their full marketing campaigns and public launch are set for the weekend of October 7th. Powered by FansUnite's Chameleon platform, DragonBet is well-positioned to dominate the Welsh sports betting market, with a focus on horse racing, Welsh rugby and second-tier Welsh sports.
Rebranding of MoneyLine to Vegas City Poker
Moneyline Sports recently announced the launch of both a Real World and metaverse-Inspired Online Casino and sportsbook platform "Vegas City Poker" (www.vegascitypoker.com). Moneyline is currently in discussions to launch a Web3 version of Vegas City Poker in Decentraland within Meta.
Vegas City Poker will be a rebrand of the Company's current online sportsbook, casino and licensed gaming platform moneylinesportsbook.com. The Company's Vegas City Poker gaming destination and strategy are one of the first to create a hybrid model for players seeking gaming and entertainment as a licensed casino and sportsbook in the real world while extending the brand to the virtual Web3 world within the Metaverse.
Moneylinesportsbook.com will be placed on hold until its rebranding to Vegas City Poker is complete.
McBookie
McBookie is headed towards yet another record-breaking revenue year. The Company's plans to integrate McBookie to Chameleon this fall were paused as we moved forward with signing new B2B partnerships, including DragonBet and betr, both of which required launch prioritization to secure these partnerships. Once FansUnite has completed these B2B partner launches, the Company will shift its efforts back to finalizing the integration of McBookie onto the Chameleon platform.
VamosGG.com
Now that the Company has concentrated its focus on B2B licensing opportunities, we are now ready to step back from the B2C operations of VamosGG. FansUnite is in the process of finalizing an agreement with an experienced gaming group to take over the marketing and customer acquisition operations for VamosGG. This group already operates multiple white-label brands globally and maintains a significant affiliate presence in the Latin American market. FansUnite will continue to provide the platform infrastructure and licensing, while the partner group will focus on driving customer traffic. This partnership will be operated on a revenue share basis and a further announcement will follow once the agreement is completed.
Askott Games
As the Company narrows its focus to its most active business units, we will be changing the go-to-market strategy for Askott Games. Third-party integrations, with teams and timelines outside of our control, have been resource-intensive and consume valuable development time. In the short term, we will focus on hosting our games within the Chameleon platform where we can control the integrations and give them prime placement and marketing. As the games gain traction within our own environment, we will revisit a strategy for third-party licensing. We have now paused additional game production and will feature the suite of games that we have completed to date.
U.S. Licensing
FansUnite has submitted its application for a gaming supplier license in Ohio1 and is currently in the process of completing a supplier license application for the state of Indiana. The Company will be pursuing additional state licenses that align with the operations of its U.S. B2B partners. Initially, the Company had planned to submit a New Jersey license application to lay the groundwork for gaining regulatory approval to operate in other states. As business development discussions continued, FansUnite shifted its focus to the states that its partners were targeting and will avoid entering states without a partner to avoid incurring new state licensing application fees and maintenance costs until they are necessary.
Betting Hero / FansUnite Synergy
As the Company continues to integrate business lines since the acquisition, FansUnite and Betting Hero have found synergies and opportunities to win more business as a collective group. No other company has the ability to provide best-in-class operator clients with a true 360 support system from product development & maintenance, direct customer acquisition, industry research and VIP customer support services. We have begun presenting to potential B2B partners jointly and the unique value proposition has been well received.
About FansUnite Entertainment Inc.
FansUnite is a global sports and entertainment company, focusing on technology related to regulated and lawful online gaming. FansUnite's one-of-a-kind iGaming platform Chameleon offers operators a full suite of gaming solutions with a sports and esports focus geared for the next generation of online bettors and casino players. Along with providing B2B technology solutions, FansUnite operates multiple B2C brands, such as Scottish sportsbook McBookie and Brazilian esportsbook VamosGG, and produces casino style slot games under its Askott Games subsidiary. FansUnite is the parent company of North American-focused American Affiliate Co., which operates leading affiliate brands such as Betting Hero, Props.com, and BetPrep.
For further information, please contact:
Prit Singh, Investor Relations at FansUnite
ir@fansunite.com
(905) 510-7636
Scott Burton, Chief Executive Officer of FansUnite
scott@fansunite.com
Darius Eghdami, President of FansUnite
darius@fansunite.com
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION:
This news release contains certain statements that may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. All statements, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results, developments, performance or achievements that FansUnite anticipates or expects may or will occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking information. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" (or other variations of the forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, the statement that the Company is tracking to produce positive cash flow in Q4 of 2022, the statement that the Company does not need to raise additional capital at this time, the expectation to capture significant customer traction during Q1 and Q4 due to major sporting events, statements regarding allocation of resources, the statement that Dragon Bet is well-positioned to dominate the Welsh sports, rebrand of the Company's current online sportsbook, casino and licensed gaming platform, temporary pause of Moneylinesportsbook.com, programs featured by the new Vegas City Poker sites, shift in Company's focus to integrate McBookie onto the Chameleon platform, signing B2B licensing deals, halt of all third party integrations, Company's intention to pursue additional state licenses, as well as discussion of future plans, projections, objectives, estimates and forecasts and the timing related thereto.
Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's estimates and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of FansUnite to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Additional information regarding the risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's business are contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form dated June 15, 2021 filed on its issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and risks related to global pandemics, including the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) global health pandemic, and the spread of other viruses or pathogens and influence of macroeconomic developments. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. FansUnite disclaims and does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.
1 https://casinocontrol.ohio.gov/Portals/0/Sports%20Gaming/OCCC%20Sports%20Gaming%20License%20List%20-%20July%2020.pdf?ver=vXlOnQuDAUZDI4aZDAGr_w%3d%3d
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/139211
