Better Collective posted group revenue of €86m in Q1 2026, up 5% year-on-year and 9% in constant currencies, as North American revenue share growth and Paid Media performance offset headwinds from foreign exchange, Brazil, and sports win margin.
Group Financials
Revenue grew from €83m in Q1 2025 to €86m. FX movements reduced reported revenue by €4m, driven primarily by USD weakness. Sports win margin weighed on revenue and EBITDA by €1.3m versus the prior year and €3.7m against the normalized margin. Brazil contributed a further approximately €1m headwind as regulatory changes — including the prohibition of welcome bonuses — continued to redirect users to unlicensed sportsbooks.
EBITDA before special items reached €25m, up 14% from €22m, with a margin of 29% (Q1 2025: 27%). Cash flow from operations before special items was €25m, up from €21m in Q1 2025, with a cash conversion rate of 101%. Net interest-bearing debt to EBITDA before special items stood at 2.45x at the end of March.
Net profit after tax was €7m, compared with €4m in the same period last year. Earnings per share was €0.12 versus €0.06 in Q1 2025.
North America and Revenue Share
North American revenue share income grew 46% to €6m, continuing the shift toward recurring revenue that Better Collective has been executing since Q3 2022. The transition has compressed near-term reported revenue but is building a recurring base that management expects to grow steadily over time.
Recurring revenue overall increased 2% to €50m, driven by 7% growth in revenue share income. Value of Deposits — the total deposited by referred users across partner platforms during the quarter — reached €799m, up 15% year-on-year. Better Collective positions VoD as an indicator of referred player quality and lifetime value.
Total NDCs were 308,000, broadly flat versus both Q1 2025 and Q4 2025. The share of NDCs on revenue share contracts rose to 77%, up from 73% in the prior quarter.
Segments
Publishing revenue reached €54m, up 1% (6% in constant currencies). Revenue share grew 4% despite FX drag and the Brazil regulatory impact. Sponsorship revenue rose 19%, led by Playmaker HQ. CPA declined 25% year-on-year. CPM revenue fell 11%, with Better Collective attributing part of this to advertisers deferring spend ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Publishing EBITDA before special items was €15m, up 5%, at a 29% margin.
Paid Media delivered €28m, up 12% (17% in constant currencies). EBITDA before special items grew 25% to €7m, with a margin of 25%. Management increased Paid Media spend by 10% during the quarter, citing confidence in the return profile of the business.
Esports revenue reached €5m, up 8%, returning the segment to growth. Sponsorship revenue from HLTV grew 29%. CPM fell 31%, driven by weaker user engagement on FUTBIN following the new EA FC title release. EBITDA before special items rose 58% to €3m, with a margin of 62% compared with 42% in Q1 2025, supported by a 29% reduction in costs.
Playbook and X Partnership
During the quarter, Better Collective expanded its partnership with X. Its AI-powered betting product, Playbook™, was named the exclusive global betting product on X under a new agreement that extends the original US launch and introduces Playbook™ into Direct Messaging on X.
Over time, we believe Playbook™ can become a core platform for sports bettors worldwide: one that streamlines the path from intent to action, reduces friction in the user journey, improves discovery, and makes it easier for users to compare outcomes and find the best available offer in the market. — Jesper Søgaard, Co-CEO & Co-Founder, Better Collective
On March 19, the company announced a strategic rollout of prediction market-focused content and products targeting the rapidly growing US user base, which management described as performing ahead of expectations both in terms of user interest and commercial traction.
Governance and Capital Allocation
At the Annual General Meeting on March 24, Thomas Plenborg was elected Chair of the Board, succeeding Jens Bager after more than a decade of service. Plenborg serves as Professor at the Department of Accounting at Copenhagen Business School and as Chair of DSV.
Better Collective completed €6.7m in share buybacks during Q1, matching the same period in 2025. A new program of up to €40m runs from March 5, 2026 to March 3, 2027. Bank credit facilities total €319m. Capital reserves at March 31 stood at €75m, comprising €20m cash and €55m in unused credit lines.
Outlook
Full-year 2026 guidance remains unchanged: organic revenue growth of 7–12%, EBITDA before special items growth of 8–18%, annual share buybacks of €40m, and net debt to EBITDA below 3x. UK and Brazilian tax increases are expected to reduce EBITDA before special items by approximately €8m for the full year.
Management cited the FIFA World Cup 2026 as a meaningful tailwind for Q2 and beyond, with preparation said to have been ongoing for more than a year. For Brazil, Søgaard acknowledged the current muted conditions but restated a positive long-term view, noting that a well-functioning and stable regulatory framework remains beneficial for all market participants. A bill proposing a potential advertising ban in Brazil has added near-term sentiment uncertainty, which Søgaard described as an unlikely outcome but one that dampens confidence. Emerging market regulatory risk has weighed on other major media and gaming groups, with Flutter Entertainment absorbing a similar disruption following India’s real-money gaming ban in 2025.
Source: Better Collective A/S
