Prior to Tuesday's 2023 fourth-quarter earnings call, Caesars Entertainment telegraphed the most consequential parts of the results in last month's pre-earnings release, which provided a harbinger for a strong period at Caesars Digital, the division that runs the company's online sports betting operations.
At the time, Caesars projected net revenues of around $300 million for the quarter, an amount that equated to an annual increase of about 28% from the previous year. Caesars slightly topped internal estimates with revenues of $304 million from the digital segment, the company announced Tuesday.
More importantly, Caesars Digital reported Adjusted EBITDA of $29 million, compared with negative-$5 million over the same quarter in 2022. Caesars Digital produced new quarterly records in both categories, said Eric Hession, president of Caesars Sports and Online Gaming.
Had Caesars not experienced a slew of unfavorable sports outcomes in late-November, the total would have been closer to $60 million, Hession noted. The patterns negatively impacted practically every major sportsbook in the fourth quarter, as NFL favorites covered at a high clip over the final two weeks of November.