BetMGM's online sports betting net revenue increased 68% year over year during the first quarter of 2025, thanks to a profitable Super Bowl.
Key Takeaways
- The MGM Resorts and Entain joint-owned gaming operator reported Q1 total net revenue of $657 million, up 34% year-over-year.
- Operator-friendly Super Bowl results helped the online sports betting segment produce an 8.2% hold.
- BetMGM projects positive EBITDA and 2025 net revenue of $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion.
The MGM Resorts and Entain joint-owned operator reported it made $194 million in Q1, signifying growth and a bounce back from customer-friendly outcomes early in Q4 2024, a trend that affected many U.S. sportsbooks’ margins.
With a 27% year-over-year increase in iGaming net revenue of $443 million, BetMGM’s $657 million profit in Q1 was up 34% year-over-year during the three-month quarter ending March 31.
The first quarter’s $22 million EBITDA was up $154 million from 2024’s same period, when BetMGM suffered a $132 million loss. Year-over-year average monthly actives were up 6% in Q1 while BetMGM held a 22% GGR iGaming market share and 8% in online sports betting.
"2025 is off to an encouraging start for BetMGM as we execute our revised strategic plan,” BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt said. “The momentum we built in the second half of 2024 continued into the first quarter as we implement our powerful iGaming strategy, enabling us to grow faster than the market and at scale.”
Turning sports betting around
The mobile sports betting handle was up 29% to $4.09 billion compared to the previous year’s Q1. The gross gaming revenue hold of 8.2% was down from Q1 2024’s 8.7%, but the net revenue hold of 4.8% was up by more than half of a point.
BetMGM attributed the year-over-year growth to a “strengthened product offering,” expansion of NGR margin, and enhanced player engagement. Greenblatt added that the sports betting operator continues to elevate the brand and deliver improved performance.
Despite more NFL success by bettors in January, BetMGM reported in February that a Philadelphia Eagles win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX helped produce one of the best single-game outcomes the company has ever seen.
"We're focusing on building as big a contribution base from that sports business as possible,” Greenblatt said. “The key inflection point is positivity, which we've delivered in the first quarter of this year.”
Looking ahead
BetMGM projected future gains coming out of 2024 based on strategic investments made last year. The company is off to a good start in Q2 after operator-friendly results from the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
The operator projects a positive EBITDA and net revenue guidance of $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion. The 2025 start for online sports betting has BetMGM believing that segment will provide a positive contribution at the end of 2025, and the company says a $500 million EBITDA can be reached “in the coming years.”
“As we approach May, we remain confident in achieving full-year positive EBITDA in 2025, supported by solid underlying activity trends and our successful delivery of positive EBITDA in the first quarter,” Greenblatt said.
