BetMGM Chief Executive Officer Adam Greenblatt has underpinned his faith that players brought by unlicensed operators will organically find their way back to the operators as a result of the experience simply being better.
Specifically highlighting the prevalence and increased competitive element of prediction markets, Greenblatt affirmed his belief that the firm is strengthened as a result of retaining far greater margins than any single participant in the prediction market space.
Updating investors, he warned that ‘if you are a professional player, a market maker, or a kid in high school, unfortunately, there isn’t really a better place for you than the prediction markets – but these aren’t our target players’.
He implied that future sustainability for prediction markets is bleak, given the player base they are tapping into.
Greenblatt admitted that the iGaming landscape is in the midst of a natural evolution and continues to intensify; however, he underscored that its momentum can be fuelled by its omnichannel approach.
The BetMGM CEO stated: “We are capitalising on the talents and expertise of MGM Resorts, entertainment prowess in several dimensions. We’ve seen the other element of our strategy that has been extremely successful; our players have enjoyed interacting with our engagement tools. We’re seeing, on average, many days a week of engagement from our whole player base.”
Continued retention has been elevated as the company has continued leaning on rewards and the live experience, looking to differentiate its offering from prediction markets.
Furthermore, the group has also benefited from a myriad of strong releases, including the Wizard of Oz and Wheel of Fortune titles that enable it to stand out in a competitive market.
2027 confidence
BetMGM has expressed confidence in achieving its $500m EBITDA target in 2027, despite reporting that its adjusted EBITDA for the current year may fall at the lower end of its guidance range.
The operator reported year-over-year revenue improvements in both iGaming and online sports betting in its first quarter financial results of FY26, but the declaration that it will likely be hitting closer to the lower end of its $300m-$350m EBITDA guidance range is catching the eye.
On BetMGM’s Q1 earnings call, Chief Executive Officer Adam Greenblatt was asked by investors what gives the operator confidence that it will still be able to meet its $500m EBITDA target by 2027 despite the acceptance of potential lower end guidance figures this year.
Greenblatt said: “The starting point is that we have a really healthy business. We have a business where on the gaming side, we’re pushing on $2bn of revenue, and we’ve got so many exciting things for our players in our pipeline.
“As I said in my opening remarks, the best game on the retail floor, Gold Blitz and the franchise of Gold Blitz, is now BetMGM’s exclusively for the initial period when it’s of most interest to real gamers.
“What we’re seeing is player values are going up, NGR per player is going up. We’re getting more and more out of Nevada, we’re getting more out of omnichannel and we’ve got a lot of exciting things coming. Sure, it’s a one-off; we have the World Cup this year, but it’s a stimulus for growth. Most excitingly for this year, we have Alberta launching, now confirmed for 13 July.
“Alongside that, our sleeping giant of a casino brand, Borgata, is particularly relevant in the Northeast. We’re refreshing that brand and repositioning it for a different audience, a different demographic, to seek to expand our relevance to even more gamers versus the BetMGM core brand and we see no bottom of premium players.
“Put all of that together, combined with the potential for another new iGaming state next year in Virginia, combined with the potential for a more rational sports, sports marketing environment or CPA environment, you can quite easily see a pathway. Are there risks, sure, but do we remain confident that that is achievable? Yes, and that’s the balance.”
