TLDR: Better Collective (BETCO) is a founder-led, capital-light digital media platform that earns a royalty-like stream on global sports betting activity. At its core, the company directs high quality-/intent traffic to sportsbooks and, inter alia, captures a share of player lifetime value via revenue-sharing agreements. We believe the current share price fails to reflect the sticky, margin-accretive, and long-duration value embedded in these agreements.
Following a -40% share price collapse triggered by temporary regulatory headwinds in Brazil, the stock trades at ~9x EV/EBITDA — despite nearing an inflection-point where the backlog of previously referred players finally turn profitable and generate royalty-like income. Crucially, nothing has changed in the underlying demand drivers; online sports betting continues to gain share globally. The company recently pivoted from acquisition-led growth toward organic execution and rewired capital allocation — including cost reductions and share repurchases. The latter accounts for 30-40% of ADTV and could corner the many short-sellers on any good news.
With normalized earnings power well above the current run-rate and a re-rating catalyst likely within the next 18 months - mainly the men’s FIFA world cup 2026, we see a compelling risk/reward opportunity to own cash generative business led by a competent and aligned management team.
01. Background
Founded by Jesper Søgaard (CEO, 16.9% stake) and Christian Kirk Rasmussen (CO-CEO1, 16.9%) in 2004, Better Collective is perhaps the closest thing Denmark has to a dorm-room startup turned global platform business. What began as a passion project — sharing tips on “beating the bookie” — quickly evolved into something more commercially astute when it became clear that the odds tend to favor the house. The strategy pivoted toward a scalable, high-margin business model: monetizing qualified leads for online sports betting (OSB) operators and effectively earning a royalty on user behavior over time. That pivot laid the foundation for what is now a structurally advantaged businesses in the digital gambling value chain. Today, Better Collective is listed in Stockholm (OM:BETCO) and Copenhagen (CPSE:BETCO), spans ~1,500 employees, and reaches ~450 million monthly visitors via its online sports media assets.
Two decades in, the founders remain perfectly aligned — both in ownership and operating roles — and are still deeply involved in the company’s operations, with a clear drive to continue compounding its potential.
(…) for Chris and me, it has always been about the 10x. So when we hit that first EUR 10,000 or EUR 100,000 revenue per a month, well, then we aim to do the 10x of that.
— Jesper Søgaard (Founder & CEO), CMD 2023
The company is headed by an entrepreneurial management who is genuinely passionate about its mission, and complemented by a highly competent board with a demonstrated track record. Notably, the company recently added Thomas Plenborg — a respected professor (think Damodaran, but in Denmark) turned experienced board member, most known in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of DSV (CPSE:DSV) — expected to bring a layer of professionalism to Better Collective’s communication with the market.
02. Business Model
The company’s core value proposition is straightforward; to deliver high-quality, high-intent leads to OSB operators (e.g., Bet365, Betano, DraftKings, etc.). This is done by capturing user attention at the top of the funnel — via its own-operated sports media sites (and media partnerships) or targeted paid advertising — and directing it to sportsbooks.
Operations are divided into two overarching segments:
(i) Publishing (71.3% of FY24A Group sales) which includes revenue from Better Collective’s proprietary sports media assets (e.g., Action Network, HLTV, VegasInsider) and media partnerships, where the audience is acquired organically — either via direct visits or SEO-optimized search results. As such, gross margins are structurally higher, as user acquisition costs are minimal and long-tail traffic compounds over time.
(ii) Paid Media (28.7%) where Better Collective acts as a performance marketing engine — acquiring traffic via paid ads (Google, Meta, etc.) and driving that traffic to its own-branded landing pages before directing said traffic to OSBs. While this strategy carries upfront customer acquisition costs (CAC), it allows for fast scaling, granular cohort targeting, and higher LTVs when coupled with revenue share agreements.
The traffic generated — whether organic or paid — is monetized through a blend of performance-based and recurring revenue streams:
Revenue Share (48.5% of FY2024A Group sales): Better Collective earns a cut of the net gaming revenue (NGR) generated by referred players over their lifetime. This creates high-margin, long-duration cash flows at no incremental costs*
CPA (24.9%): One-off fees paid by operators for each new player referred who deposits money on their platform. It offers faster cash realization but comes with less future financial upside*
Subscription (4.9%): Direct-to-consumer payments for premium content, analytics, or betting tools — primarily within Better Collective’s U.S. assets (i.e. Action Network) — delivering recurring high-margin revenues
Sponsorships (3.5%): Brand-funded content and promotional placements across Better Collective’s media properties. Essentially monetizes audience scale and engagement rather their betting behavior
CPM (2.4%)2: Traditional display advertising on Better Collective’s media properties. Typically fills unsold ad inventory and monetizes international or non-betting traffic
Other (15.7%): A mixed bucket including rent from subleases, sale of merchandise, and one-off B2B deals.
*Agreements may also be structured as Hybrid (e.g., containing both a CPA component and Revenue Share component).