Sentiment Analysis of the earnings transcript to help figure out if there are any bullish or bearish sentiments that could be gathered from it. We're doing ML and AI based analysis on the earnings call to get some more insights.
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| And we believe that if you can -- if we can be a 7% handle market share, in the early days with these things that we know are sort of at first inning or second inning of a game, we feel really good about where those are going to take us over the course of the next 12 months, 18 months, 24 months |
| We saw a really strong app performance and stability |
| So we feel great |
| The future looks very promising given our unique position and long-term strategic advantages |
| On the retail side of the business, we generated more than $2 billion in property level EBITDAR in 2023 from our industry-leading portfolio of regional gaming assets and impressively delivered on our property level margin goals despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment, thanks to our best-in-class operators and leaders across the country |
| So we feel really good about that |
| And we've got really good ratings on the iOS store app |
| The continued strength of our retail business provides a solid foundation as we continue to invest in our high-growth digital business which will create significant long-term shareholder value |
| If there's a great opportunity and we think we can generate value in an investment and that's something we're going to strongly consider sometimes that's easier said than done |
| The number of people that are taking advantage of the Parlay's and finding those to be really attractive is encouraging for us as we move into the next phase |
| When they get to a property, we're seeing great play, great engagement as well as additional spend on the other amenities |
| But we feel really good and we have a lot of alignment with ESPN on just how important it is |
| a first in the industry and no doubt a testament to the strength of our technology teams |
| Bolstered by the number 1 brand in sports media, the launch resulted in much higher than expected registrations generating over 1 million new sign-ups to our industry-leading PENN Play Rewards program and expanding our digital database by over 50% |
| It's really early, obviously but the number 1 focus was all the things I mentioned and we're thrilled to see that retention looks really good after 3 months |
| You can see from the monthly active user slide that we have on Hollywood Casino that cross-sell has been great |
| Our early success bodes well for our planned launches in North Carolina and New York this year which I'll talk about in a moment |
| We think that the market share is going to be growing steadily as we continue to make product improvements and add more deep integrations with ESPN |
| You'll see that strong early retention and consistent user acquisition have led to steady month-over-month increases in cash handle even as our promotional expenses have started to normalize |
| But I view that as a positive because we know that our ability to grow our share of wallet and improve the monetization of our users is going to come from 2 things which is product enhancements |
| According to the latest sensor tower data which is similar to other data sources you may have seen such as Aptopia, we have consistently held the number 3 ranking and share of weekly active users amongst our top peers, providing a foundation for even greater handle and GGR share gains as we grow our share of wallet and monetization per user |
| If you look at Slides 7 and 8 in our presentation, you can see that we're already in a very, very strong position, a very firm number 3 position with regard to weekly active users in online sports betting |
| Obviously, we shared in a number of slides that are customer acquisition has been very, very strong |
| All of this is very promising as it relates to both top-of-funnel demand for ESPN BET and early retention success |
| The important takeaway here is the ESPN BET app is proving to be sticky in the early days as a result of our strong brands and UI, UX which will improve from here with product enhancements and deeper integrations with ESPN in the coming quarters |
| As you'll see on Slides 9 and 10, ESPN BET has helped us reach new demographics of sports fans that are incremental to our digital database, resulting in a 63% greater year-over-year parlay mix and higher volumes for non-NFL games, particularly the NBA |
| While these parlay results are a clear improvement from where we were prelaunch, we still have a long way to go in this area and you'll see significant improvements throughout 2024 |
| So we feel really good about those 2 things |
| And we've had very good early ratings in the iOS App Store |
| In closing, we're continuing to see a stable consumer environment and healthy operating trends in our retail businesses |
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| The majority of that miss was driven by the high volume of customers acquired through ESPN BET which resulted in elevated promo expense that negatively impacted net revenues |
| On a same-store basis, we anticipate an adjusted EBITDA loss of around $330 million |
| And, to a lesser extent, unfavorable hold due to customer-friendly sports results |
| Due to the 2 state launches this year in North Carolina and New York which we announced on Tuesday, we are forecasting a total EBITDA loss in 2024 of approximately $400 million |
| I think one of the things that people are concerned about out there is third-party data providers suggesting that deposit share hasn't moved up and is tracking below your handle share |
| As Jay mentioned earlier, in the first quarter of 2024, we expect the Interactive segment adjusted EBITDA loss to be roughly 1/2 of our fourth quarter interactive EBITDA results and for the first quarter '24 to be the largest EBITDA loss quarter of the year |
| And for Q1 to be the largest EBITDA loss quarter of the year for us in 2024 |
| The first 2 weeks following the launch of ESPN BET in November happened to be 2 of the lowest hold percentage weeks of the entire NFL season |
| The margin guidance of 34% to a little bit over 35% assumes some slippage from what you produced in 2023 |
| We're not anticipating being the highest we're not anticipating being the lowest |
| Looking ahead, we expect that first quarter 2024 interactive EBITDA losses will be roughly half of our fourth quarter '23 interactive EBITDA results |
| On our initial promo offer at launch was right in line with our competitors and we lowered that offer by 50% in advance of the Super Bowl given the more recreational play surrounding the game |
| Again, I'm putting this in the context of some of the data we've been received where some of the state-level hold rates in January have been really, really low relative to market |
| Our guidance factors in extreme January weather, new supply in Nebraska, Illinois and Louisiana, road construction in a couple of markets and moderate upward wage pressure |
| There's really there aren't disagreements or a lack of alignment between us and ESPN on what those integrations will be |
| For the entire year of 2024 on a same-store basis, we anticipate an EBITDA loss commensurate with what we saw in Q4 at around $330 million, demonstrating the top line momentum and efficiencies on the cost side |
| We covered that a couple of times that it takes the pressure off of us to feel like we need to continue at that pace |
| While the economic model in New York is indeed challenging, we look forward to bringing ESPN BET to the largest regulated online sports wagering market in North America |
| Felicia, you called out some competition and obviously, the weather |
| Las Vegas Strip, there's very limited opportunities and nothing really hot at the moment |
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