Catena Media is overhauling its operations and it focuses for the remainder of 2024 onwards. This is in the middle of a fall in revenue and a large-scale executive ream reshuffle. They are putting sweepstakes front and center.
On a second-quarter earnings call, Manuel Stan, the new CEO, announced changes at Catena. The company will adopt a new product-focused operating model. This will replace the old geographical, hyper-local structure.
Strong growth in the social sweepstakes casino vertical accounted for over one-third of casino revenue in the quarter as noted by Stan. Q2 results of Catena release noted that sweeps performance strengthened the company’s overall casino segment’s 3% revenue growth. The casino vertical was up 13% year-on-year in North America. Meanwhile, the smaller sports segment dropped 53% from the €4.5 million reported last year.
On the call, Stan said that sweepstakes are the fastest-growing vertical for us and they expect it to keep growing. He added that focusing on social sweepstakes casino offerings will allow Catena to build its database and brand visibility ahead of hoped future online gaming regulation in states like California and Texas.
Following a down quarter, the focus on sweepstakes reflects a broader recognition that Catena needs to diversify its revenue streams and chart a path forward. Revenue fell 11% in second quarter in North America. New depositing customers from continuing operations fell 11%. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations dropped 24%. All in all, that latter number plummeted to 67% across all markets.
In the middle of a backdrop of significant change, those trends came, not at least a Google shift. With some operators like Rush Street Incentive cutting some of their affiliate spend, more uncertainty awaits.
With new leadership in place and a general counsel set to join soon, Stan emphasized Catena’s optimism about its future. Nevertheless, he suggested that there will need to be a fundamental shift in approach.
