BetR Disappointing Mass Numbers, PlayUp May Depart US Market
SBC Americas Jessica Welman was among those questioning the viability of the Jake Paul-backed sports betting venture Betr this week.
"Betr held less than 4% and made $11K in MA last month," Welman observed. "But please continue to enlighten me about this game-changing value proposition."
She also points out how a new entry into the regulated sports gambling market, Fanatics, managed to perform several times better.
"Fanatics, meanwhile, managed to do six times the handle of Betr despite still being in beta. Didn't pull 20% hold but still a strong 11.8% (disclaimer: hold is a metric to be taken with quite a dose of salt, esp for a single month)."
Betr held less than 4% and made $11K in MA last month, but please continue to enlighten me about this game-changing value proposition.
— Jessica Welman (@jesswelman) July 17, 2023
Betr bills itself as "the world's first microbetting app". Microbetting introduces instant gratification to sports betting, enabling you to bet on every moment of every live sporting event for the first time.
The company was co-founded by Jake Paul and Joey Levy. Paul, a YouTube influencer and boxer, is featured in the upcoming Sports Illustrated August issue highlighting the 50 most powerful figures in sports. The company continues to obtain significant funding, more recently $35 million.
In other sports betting news, the sports betting platform PlayUp appears on the verge of exiting the US market.
The Australian-based company, backed by the family of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, is in search of investors to back a $10 million capital raise after a failed effort to list on NASDAQ in the United States.
It's the latest disappointing chapter for a company that launched with a bang, hiring a number of industry luminaries.
Now we are learning that PlayUp was apparently entangled in the FTX cryptocurrency debacle back in December. FTX was to have invested $US35 million ($51 million) in PlayUp apparently.
From the Financial Review:
Sources told The Australian Financial Review that PlayUp was hoping to raise $10 million via a trust called BetClub, which will take security of PlayUp while it attempts to untangle itself from the collapse of FTX and the convertible note. The transaction is being run by Sydney-based Evolution Capital, and PlayUp presented to investors last week.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
