Market watchers are bracing themselves for the possibility of profits warnings from US-focused sportsbooks after the NFL regular season threw up an exceptionally bad run of results in favour of the favourites, eGaming Review has learned.
One source who refused to be named suggested the recent bad run could lead to a “rocky couple of months” for UK-listed companies with an exposure to the US sportsbook market.
UK-listed companies with such an exposure include BetonSports, Sportingbet and VIP-parent company Leisure & Gaming (L&G) among others.
The run of results in favour of the favourites has prompted much comment on US sports betting message boards, where one recent set of weekend results was termed “Black Sunday”, after 12 out of 16 favourites “covered the spread”.
The bad set of results mirrors the events of November 2004 when a bad run of NFL results led to BetonSports issuing a profit warning which prompted a collapse in its share price.
According to the source, such a bad run was described at the time as a “once in a decade event”, but the fear is that a new template could be set in motion as regards the fate of the favourites in the NFL.
Such a change could possibly affect the long-term margins of US sportsbook operators, for whom betting on the NFL provides by far the largest slice of their income.
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