Catena Braces for Intense Q1 Betting in Ohio after Record Start

The company reported its best performance to date registered as a result of a fresh launch. Ohio opened for sports betting business on January 1, 2023, and has been expanding rapidly over the past week.

Early Day Success in Ohio for Catena

Most of this is the result of pent-up demand in the populous state that has a strong sports tradition and prominent local franchises that galvanize sports fans into betting action. Catena Media confirmed that its preliminary data pointed to staggering success in the market.

The numbers were in fact better than the New York launch in January 2022, the company said as part of a press statement. Still, Catena Media cautions that these results should be taken with a caveat, as the current success may not be indicative of future trends.

Rather, the company is comparing the transactions in the first two days which were ahead of other launches, something already corroborated by GeoComply, a geolocation specialist which also reported on the early day success of Ohio as a sports betting state.

Catena Media, though, remains confident that the newly regulated gambling market in Ohio will be part of the company’s future plans and ambitions, especially at a time when the company is undergoing a strategic review to streamline its operations and bolster its footprint in the regulated US market.

North American VP of Catena Media Ryan Harper welcomed the results and interpreted their significance for the company:

This is without doubt our strongest state sports betting launch period to date. We’re delighted to see strong traffic on our websites in relation to the Ohio launch. Player engagement in licensed sports betting has been very solid.

North American VP of Catena Media Ryan Harper

Nevertheless, Catena can be confident about the state’s immediate prospects. The first quarter of the year is usually one of the busiest, with the Super Bowl drawing to a close, and March Madness looming shortly after that.

Catena is present with a number of its affiliate brands in the state, including TheLines.com, Lineups.com, GaingToday.com, LegalSportsReport.com, and not least, the fully state-focused PlayOhio.com.

To fund much of its North American growth, Catena has agreed to sell AskGamblers, a leading complaint resolutions website, and is now looking to unload the rest of its European portfolio.