Ladbrokes owner Entain’s aggressive marketing push in the US helped the gambling firm’s American division to bring in over a billion dollars (£780m) of revenue in the first half of the year.
Bet MGM, which is a joint endeavour between the FTSE 100 Entain and MGM Resorts International, saw its takings rise by six per cent year on year thanks to expansions into North Carolina which now mean it has licences that allow it to access over half of the North American population.
Its heavy investment into the region has, the firm claims, allowed it to capture roughly 22 per cent of the online gambling market share.
But that has come at a price, with first half adjusted losses at the firm coming in at $123m (£95m).
The firm disclosed it was expecting a “greater than planned marketing investment” in its online gambling division in the second half, which it said would be funded through bank debt.
Adam Greenblatt, Chief Executive Officer of BetMGM, said: “The first half of this year has been very important in laying the groundwork for BetMGM’s future. 2024 is a year of investment, focusing on improving our customer experience and stepping up our level of investment in players.
“We are encouraged to see this strategy delivering accelerating momentum. We have exceeded our goals for both acquisition and retention, which should lead to higher year-over-year revenue growth for the second half of this year into 2025.”
The results come just days after Entain, which owns Ladbrokes and Coral in the UK, announced Gavin Isaacs as its new chief executive. The industry veteran, who recently served as the chair of game development firm Games Global and will start in September, faces an unenviable in tray, as Entain looks to recover from a tricky trading period.
It has been weighed down by £2bn’s worth of acquisitions and a series of compliance battles, with investors in Turkey lining up for more than £100m in compensation for failing to disclose a high profile bribery case that forced them to pay HM Revenue and Customs almost £600m.