In total, the Australian sports betting brand generated AU$139m (US$100m) in net revenue for the six-month period ended 31 December, up from H1 FY21’s AU$75m, while handle climbed 22% to AU$2.3bn, up from AU$1.9bn.
This was split between its Australian and US businesses relatively evenly, though the former was responsible for the majority of wagers, accounting for approximately AU$1.4bn of the group’s total handle, while the latter recorded nearly AU$948m.
However, despite this growth, PointsBet posted an EBITDA loss amounting to AU$126m, an over 82% increase from H1 FY21’s AU$69m loss.
PointsBet attributed this to expenses arising from employee benefits, marketing and product and technology rollout. Of these costs, US marketing represented an especially large slice of the pie, coming in at approximately AU$78m.
This was due, said PointsBet, to an increase in the number of operating jurisdictions, and it expects US marketing expense to rise as its footprint expands, but the operator did believe that an initial investment was prudent to establish market share and drive revenue growth.
PointsBet’s strategy may be paying off as well. Its US handle increased by 16%, while its total net win came to nearly AU$38m, up from a loss of AU$2m for H1 FY21.
Broken down, PointsBet’s largest US online sports betting market share was in Illinois, which stood at 7.1%, while Michigan and Colorado game in second and third at 5.1% and 3.8% respectively.
Going forward, PointsBet intends to launch iGaming in Pennsylvania in March, followed by B2B services for New York’s Resorts World Bet.
