A return to growth in Q1 2026 for affiliate giant Better Collective wasn’t enough to prevent a share price slide last week. The stock slumped 14% over the past five days, despite positive earnings which showed revenue up 5% to €86.3m and EBITDA jumping 14% to €25.1m, too.
The wider affiliate sector has been hit hard on the public markets, with Gambling.com Group’s shedding tens of millions in value after it announced 25% of staff would be cut as the firm ramped up the use of AI. Speaking to EGR, Better Collective co-CEOJesper Søgaard says AI is “completely inherent” at the Danish affiliate, and part of any modern business.
Elsewhere, prediction markets and Brazil remain hot topics for the group, as does its international rollout of the Playbook betslip tool on X, which has been received well by users, according to Søgaard.
EGR: Can you reflect on Q1 performance as the company returned to growth after a difficult 2025?
Jesper Søgaard (JS): In the second half of 2025 we saw the underlying positive development in the business, and now it’s also reflected in the numbers as we expected here for Q1. All in all, we were very pleased with this performance. I think we had some good highlights in the business. Our talent-led business Playmaker HQ is developing really nicely, and we sense that we have good demand. On Playbook, we just announced that we have expanded the partnership with X, which is a testament to us having ambitions internationally and going even deeper with X and the functionality we have.
EGR: On the Playbook expansion, what KPIs have you seen from the US launch that give you confidence for this global push?
JS: We’re basically seeing an adoption from users and engagement levels that were above forecasts. We’re really pleased with the development, and of course now we have the World Cup upcoming. Then we will see a softer period, which is about preparation for the start of the NFL in September, where we are preparing for as big a splash as possible.
EGR: In your CEO letter you said Brazil was “muted”, but you still have long-term confidence there. Is this frustrating given it’s now been more than a year of the regulated market being live?
JS: What I would call a shame is the fact that we are seeing, unfortunately, a lot of betting taking place in the unlicensed market. What we also experience is that the measures taken in the regulated market [mean] you sort of leave players with one option, if they want to bet, and that is the unlicensed market. So, I think, structurally, it’s really a shame for player protection and the tax opportunity for the Brazilian state. I am the most pessimistic, or at least I think it’s unfortunate, that the market is not being successful there. It obviously then affects the private market and all the players in the regulated market. We have a business which is significant and profitable, but there is opportunity that we unfortunately are missing out on.
EGR: Prediction markets continue to be an opportunity for Better Collective. Where are you seeing the larger spend – the online sports betting operators or the pure play prediction markets?
JS: We are working actively with the pure prediction market players in many areas [including] Playmaker HQ, and our [podcast] shows. We also work on the web-based products and delivering customers to prediction markets, so it’s actually on multiple fronts where we’re engaging with them. Overall, we were just pleased to see the kind of activity and, ultimately, new actors that are relevant to us and are increasing overall competition in the market to the benefit of consumers, and obviously also our ecosystem.
EGR: Are there lessons from the post-PASPA era for affiliates in the prediction markets race as we are seeing multiple brands enter the space similar to online sports betting?
JS: I think it’s in the nature of capitalism that many will go for the prize. We will see where this lands in a handful of years but the prize is big, so I think many will go for that prize.
EGR: One of your competitors announced an AI push and layoffs this month. What are your thoughts around AI and the implications for the sector moving ahead?
JS: AI is now completely inherent in all that we do. It has to be like that. So, we are driving continued efficiency by using AI, and that’s both on the consumer-facing front and a lot of the internal processes. AI is part of running a business now.
EGR: Are there any further cost efficiencies you can achieve with AI?
JS: We just need continuously to push for efficiency, using AI. If you look to any industry right now, that is the priority. You need to drive efficiency using AI, and obviously there are some big headlines from the hyper-scalers. I think it’s for everybody right now, and it’s across all industries, where you need to fully adapt to AI, and you need to then drive efficiency and maximise output.
EGR: How are your preparations for the World Cup progressing. Is there a different strategy given there are 48 teams for the first time?
JS: Apart from Denmark missing out, I’m super excited. We have, of course, been preparing for a year for this, both on the content and product side, but equally also on the commercial side. Playbook is highly relevant for this World Cup, so a lot of preparation has gone into it. The amount of games will make this by far the biggest event ever in football, and we will also have some tailwind to our business. Normally, North America is probably not engaging to a similar level like South America and Europe on football, but being the host countries, it will drive a higher engagement.
EGR: Your share buyback programme is continuing. Why is this the best use of capital at the moment as opposed to M&A?
JS: We have a capital allocation framework. The first thing is about making sure debt is in control. The second part is value-creating M&A, and then it’s returning capital to shareholders, primarily in the form of share buybacks. It’s us assessing opportunities on the M&A landscape and benchmarking them towards the attractiveness that we believe there is from a shareholder value creation point of view of also buying back shares. We are very clear about priorities here, and M&A is of course something that could happen again if it meets the requirements of creating more shareholder value than buying back the shares.
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Jesper Søgaard tells EGR it is the “nature of capitalism” for multiple business to try grab a slice of the prediction markets pie, while he lays out his frustration in Brazil as the unregulated market continues to proliferate
The post Better Collective co-CEO on the prediction markets prize and keeping tabs on M&A first appeared on EGR Intel.