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How to play Royal Unicorn
Canada-based Score Media & Gaming may have just scored a game-winning touchdown. In an announcement made after markets closed yesterday, the company behind theScore and Score Bet sports gambling brands has launched an initial public offering (IPO) as it goes live on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (NGSM). The move follows on the heels of Canada’s preliminary approval of single-event sports wagers, which is expected to greatly benefit Score Media, and could quickly lead to the company’s stock price skyrocketing.
Score Media announced that it is selling five million shares, fewer than previously expected. The company had changed gears with its public launch, announcing last week a reverse split that would cut out some of the available shares while increasing the per-share price. It has already found support, with underwriters Canaccord Genuity, Credit Suisse, Macquarie Capital and Morgan Stanley able to purchase another 15% on top of the initial five million shares. Should they exercise that option, there would be a total of 5.75 million shares available. The underwriters have 30 days to make up their minds, which will give it time to see how the market reacts.
Several gaming entities have jumped into public trading recently, most notably, DraftKings. It saw a huge response when it launched its IPO last year, and Score Media hopes it can see a similar response. With operations in Canada, Colorado, Indiana and New Jersey, heavy interest is not out of the question, and the company is ready to capture a larger piece of the market. It added in its announcement, “[Score Media] currently expects that the net proceeds of the offering will be used to fund working capital and other general corporate purposes, including the continued growth and expansion of theScore Bet’s operations in the United States and Canada by supporting the multi-jurisdiction deployment and operation of theScore Bet and user acquisition and retention in jurisdictions where theScore is, or will be, operating.”
How to play Royal Unicorn
While this initially seemed terrifying, I quickly discovered that this outsider status was a gift. It has allowed me to view the industry through fresh eyes. I do not have any preconceptions about companies or products. This has become my superpower, allowing me to analyse the industry without bias and, hopefully, help shape its future.
iGaming was not the industry I set out to work in. Before 2021, I worked in finance and business – agro companies, management consultancy and investment funds, none of which were remotely linked to the industry.
In 2021, I joined an investment fund focused on startups harnessing AI and machine learning. In the process, I had a chance encounter with an iGaming investor. This sparked a conversation that would change the course of my career. He pointed out that iGaming was dramatically underutilising its data potential. There was an opportunity here, and once we began exploring it, the thread just kept unravelling.
How to play Royal Unicorn
“If a customer finds black market sites that have all their preferred betting and gaming options, convenience dictates they will transfer a broad range of their expenditure there. Consumer recycling means that banning or restricting key products has a broader distortive impact on the entire market,” the report noted.
Notably for highly engaging verticals light online slots, if players are receiving a smaller-than-expected RTP (return to player), or bonuses have been restricted, they could again transition to an illegal offering where there are no such restrictions.
As has been flagged in previous reports, Regulus highlighted that the top 1% of active customers accounts for almost 50% of black market revenue across Europe. This follows a similar trend across licensed gambling as the report highlights “online gambling is a consumer discretionary expenditure item. This means a large proportion of expenditure is concentrated into a relatively small number of players.”
