Gambling.com Group (NASDAQ:GAMB) reported record fourth-quarter results for 2025, highlighted by strong growth in its sports data services business and a continued strategic shift to reduce reliance on search-driven marketing traffic. Management said the company’s diversification efforts helped offset ongoing volatility in organic search rankings, even as margins compressed due to higher traffic acquisition costs and increased investment.
Fourth-quarter results and full-year performance
Co-founder and CEO Charles Gillespie said the company generated fourth-quarter revenue of $46.2 million, up 31% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 5% to $15.5 million. For the full year, revenue rose 30% to $165 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased 19%. The company reported $36.3 million in adjusted free cash flow for the year.
Adjusted operating expenses (excluding acquisition and restructuring items and certain non-cash items) increased 32% to $26.9 million, driven by added headcount from 2025 acquisitions and higher marketing costs. Mark noted that headcount outside of the acquired businesses was flat year-over-year.
Adjusted net income was $12.2 million, or $0.30 per share, flat compared to the prior-year quarter despite higher interest expense. Adjusted free cash flow in the quarter was $7.5 million, which Mark said reflected adverse working capital timing.
Sports data services gains scale, led by OpticOdds
Management repeatedly emphasized the performance of the sports data services segment, which includes OpticOdds (enterprise data solutions), OddsJam (consumer subscriptions), and RotoWire. Gillespie said sports data services revenue grew to $11.8 million in the fourth quarter and represented 26% of total revenue, the highest percentage yet. Mark added that subscription revenue also accounted for 26% of total revenue in the quarter, and that recurring revenue (including marketing revenue-share arrangements) was 47% of fourth-quarter revenue.
Kevin McCrystle, co-founder and COO, said OpticOdds had around 300 active customers on recurring long-term contracts and about 100 new clients in the pipeline, with 70% of that pipeline described as international. He also said revenue per client increased 50% in 2025 and that the company onboarded 29 new clients in Q4 alone.
Looking to 2026, Gillespie said enterprise data solutions are expected to be the fastest-growing part of the sports data services business, supported by an expanded product set and expansion into new geographies. He said the company is expanding coverage to 25 sports and 5,000 leagues and tournaments, and highlighted two growth levers for the year: deeper coverage for European operators and new products for U.S. customers, including AI-driven pricing and real-time settlement.
In response to analyst questions about profitability, Mark said the company does not break out segment-level EBITDA but described sports data contribution margins as “well over 50%” and expanding as revenue scales faster than costs. He characterized marketing contribution margins as still high but “sub 50%” and declining as diversification continues.
Marketing business: SEO pressure and shift to non-SEO channels
Gillespie said the company’s marketing business continued to face “previously discussed challenges with search rankings,” but the quarter benefited from growth in revenue streams not dependent on organic search. He said fourth quarter was the first period where more than half of revenue came from sources not dependent on SEO, and Mark echoed that the company generated a majority of marketing revenue from non-organic search referrals for the first time.
Mark said new depositing customers (NDCs) were 98,000 in the quarter, down 32% year-over-year, reflecting the impact of volatile search dynamics. Despite that, marketing revenue increased 4% year-over-year, which management attributed to accelerated diversification efforts.
On the call, management discussed several drivers of search disruption. McCrystle said referrals from large language models (LLMs) were up substantially quarter-over-quarter and that the company expects that trend to continue, but said the company’s near-term issues were more centered on Google search volatility. He cited two specific challenges in gambling-related search:
- Offshore spam, particularly in international markets, which he linked to channelization issues stemming from burdensome regulation
- Negative SEO attacks, which he described as competitors using third parties to manufacture signals that degrade a site’s authority
Gillespie added that AI’s impact is also being felt through “second order effects,” arguing that spammers are able to create higher-quality spam using AI tools while Google may be less aggressive in policing results as it focuses on its own AI efforts.
Management also discussed business model mix. McCrystle said the percentage of revenue share in the marketing business increased, and that revenue share for the overall group was around 25% of revenue, above historical levels. He said revenue share tends to work better in sports betting than in online casino, but emphasized the company’s objective is maximizing value per user rather than targeting a specific mix.
2026 outlook: modest revenue growth, EBITDA pressured by investment and headwinds
For 2026, the company guided to revenue of $170 million to $180 million and adjusted EBITDA of $50 million to $58 million. Gillespie said the outlook implies modest top-line growth but a year-over-year decline in adjusted EBITDA, reflecting the different trajectories of its two businesses: a growing sports data services segment and a marketing segment being “actively reinvented” amid a changing digital landscape.
Mark said the guidance reflects continued strong growth in data services, particularly OpticOdds enterprise services, but is negatively affected by:
- Continued poor organic search dynamics
- Regulatory headwinds in the U.K., where a higher-than-expected increase in gaming duty is expected to impact player values and volume
- New regulations in Finland that management said will curtail performance marketing
Mark said the adjusted EBITDA margin implied by the guidance is around 30% for the full year, expected to be lower in the first half and higher in the second half due to ongoing investment in marketing diversification, sports data product enhancements, and development of a new marketing-related product.
New product investment, leverage, and capital allocation
Gillespie said the company expects to launch a new product in the spring but will not provide details for competitive reasons. In Q&A, management said the initiative is expected to contribute only marginal revenue in 2026, with Gillespie characterizing it as more meaningful for 2027 and 2028. Mark estimated the combined OpEx and CapEx impact at roughly $2 million and suggested revenue of roughly $1 million this year as a “round numbers” framing.
On the balance sheet, Mark said the company drew $38 million on its revolving credit facility during the quarter and paid the third consideration of $33.6 million related to Odds Holdings, while repaying $2.8 million on its term loan. As of December 31, cash totaled $15.8 million, with $123.6 million of borrowings outstanding and $32.5 million of undrawn capacity on its Wells Fargo credit facility.
The company also continued share repurchases. Mark said Gambling.com Group repurchased 110,000 shares in the fourth quarter and 672,000 shares in 2025 for $5.6 million, with $14.4 million remaining under its authorization. Gillespie said the near-term priority is deleveraging, but added that buybacks remain attractive at current levels and could become a greater focus if margins recover closer to historical levels.
Management also reiterated interest in prediction markets as an expanding opportunity for both the marketing and data businesses. Gillespie said the company views itself as a net beneficiary because the category expands its total addressable market, and McCrystle said prediction markets are driving demand for data products while also creating consumer product opportunities within OddsJam.
About Gambling.com Group (NASDAQ:GAMB)
Gambling.com Group is a digital performance marketing company specializing in the online gambling industry. Through a diversified portfolio of affiliate websites, the company generates leads and traffic for operators in segments such as sports betting, online casino, poker, bingo and daily fantasy sports. Its platforms offer in-depth reviews, expert guides, comparison tools and editorial content designed to help players make informed choices and drive conversions for partner brands.
The group’s service offerings include search engine optimization, pay-per-click campaigns, display advertising, email marketing and social media management.
