Hornbuckle told the audience at JP Morgan’s Gaming conference on 13 March that, while BetMGM is not the fastest product in the US market today, it is now twice previous iterations.
“I know we’ve stopped losing share,” the CEO said. “I think we see a lot of green shoots particularly in January, February and March. Everything we’ve seen would suggest the projection we’ve given is real and we can hit that target.
“The flow through is about 70%, I would say historically we did some things that we’ve learned from, marketing wise and expense wise.”
Reflecting on these “mistakes,” Hornbuckle said the operator had spent $13 million on a Super Bowl ad in 2023, which he acknowledged “wasn’t the greatest idea”.
“Nor was it a great commercial, to be honest,” he added.
In February, BetMGM reported $2.1 billion (up 7%) in 2024 full-year revenue, alongside a negative EBITDA of $244 million, which it pledged to turn around in 2025. This will come on the back of continued product updates and streamlined marketing efforts.
Hornbuckle said BetMGM had good brand recognition in the 28 states where it offers sports betting. He added that continued improvements to its live betting offering, thanks to the Angstrom platform, will further drive sports margins.
“Our single-game parlay cards, as a percentage of our business, have continued to increase by double digits every quarter. For our business can we get to 11%-12% margin on some products.”
BetMGM to leverage Grupo Globo subscription database
Elsewhere, Hornbuckle was particularly bullish on the opportunity in Brazil. Having secured one of the first betting licences in the market, LeoVegas’ BetMGM product is competing with hundreds of other legal brands.
Hornbuckle said the group would lean on its partnership with LatAm media conglomerate Grupo Globo, which it signed in September.
“Everyone is struggling to get people online in Brazil, as you have to use facial recognition to get through a sign-up process [that is] extensive.
“We’ve found something special and very specific to us in Globo, because of the way they sign up people for movie subscriptions and other products. There is leverage off that database, which will ultimately position us to really excel there. We have to really begin to dial that up in the next four to six weeks.”
He said Globo’s viewership in Brazil is equivalent to CBS, NBC and Disney combined in the US.
