Better Collective Reports Q1 2026: €86M Revenue, €799M in Deposits Under Jesper Søgaard and Christian Kirk Rasmussen.
Better Collective returned to organic growth in Q1 2026 as accelerating North American revenue-share income, stronger paid media execution, and expanding talent-led media monetisation helped offset continued regulatory pressure in Brazil and softer sports betting margins.
The affiliate and digital sports media group reported revenue of €86m for the quarter, up 5% year-on-year, or 9% in constant currencies, while EBITDA before special items increased 14% to €25m, producing a 29% margin.
Management maintained full-year guidance despite ongoing foreign exchange headwinds linked largely to the US dollar, lower sportsbook win margins, and continued disruption in Brazil following major regulatory reforms.
North America recurring revenue transition accelerates
North America remained the primary growth engine during the quarter under Jesper Søgaard and Christian Kirk Rasmussen as Better Collective continued shifting its US business away from upfront CPA agreements toward recurring revenue-share structures.
Revenue-share income from North America rose 46% year-on-year to €6m as the transition strategy initiated in 2022 continued gaining traction.
The move reflects broader changes across the US online betting sector, where operators are placing increasing emphasis on long-term player value, retention, and deposit quality rather than pure acquisition scale.
That transition is beginning to materially reshape affiliate economics. While CPA-heavy models can produce volatile quarterly revenue swings, recurring revenue-share structures provide longer-duration income streams tied to player lifetime value.
Better Collective’s Value of Deposits (VoD) metric reinforced that trend during Q1. The company reported a 15% increase in VoD to €799m despite broadly flat new depositing customer volumes, indicating improved monetisation efficiency and stronger player quality across referred traffic.
Management said 77% of new depositing customers were now tied to revenue-share agreements, up from 73% in Q4 2025.
Paid Media becomes key operational growth driver
Paid Media delivered the strongest operational performance across the business during the quarter.
Segment revenue increased 12% to €28m, while EBITDA before special items climbed 25% to €7m as Better Collective continued scaling spend into performance marketing channels with higher expected returns.
Management attributed part of the performance improvement to proprietary AI-driven optimisation models designed to improve deposit quality and campaign efficiency.
The company increased Paid Media spend by 10% during the quarter, signalling continued confidence in scalable acquisition economics despite mounting regulatory and taxation pressure across several markets.
The operational leverage within the segment also reflects a broader structural advantage increasingly visible across affiliate marketing businesses: high-performing paid acquisition models can scale aggressively without the infrastructure intensity typically associated with traditional media operations.
Playbook and X partnership deepen platform strategy
Better Collective also expanded its strategic partnership with X during the quarter, with Playbook becoming the platform’s exclusive global AI betting product following an initial US rollout.
The updated agreement now includes expanded product functionality, including integration into X direct messaging.
The Playbook expansion also highlights a wider industry shift as affiliates move beyond pure traffic acquisition into proprietary products, engagement tools, and owned user ecosystems.
Rather than operating solely as referral intermediaries, larger affiliate groups are increasingly attempting to control more of the betting user journey through content, product layers, AI-driven recommendations, and audience engagement tools.
That strategic evolution has become increasingly important as acquisition costs rise and sportsbook operators demand higher-quality, longer-retention users.
Prediction markets and creator-led media gain importance
Prediction markets emerged as another important strategic focus during Q1 as Better Collective rolled out dedicated prediction market content and products targeting US audiences.
The move comes as sportsbooks and prediction market operators compete aggressively for US users, creating new acquisition opportunities for affiliate and media groups.
At the same time, sponsorship revenue increased 21%, driven largely by Playmaker HQ and esports brand HLTV.
Better Collective continues expanding its talent-led media strategy in North America, where creator-driven sports content and podcast inventory are becoming increasingly valuable to both sportsbook advertisers and non-endemic consumer brands seeking highly engaged sports audiences.
The strategy also reflects the broader convergence between sports media, betting acquisition, influencer distribution, and audience monetisation models now reshaping the affiliate sector.
Brazil remains a regulatory headwind
Brazil continued weighing on quarterly performance as the removal of welcome bonuses and broader regulatory adjustments reduced activity levels and pushed some users toward unlicensed operators.
Better Collective estimated the Brazilian market reduced quarterly performance by approximately €1m.
Despite the near-term disruption, management reiterated full-year guidance of 7-12% organic revenue growth and 8-18% EBITDA growth before special items.
Management also expects the FIFA World Cup to drive a major increase in user acquisition and engagement later this year, particularly across North America and other core regulated sports betting markets.
Source: Better Collective
