iGaming Weekly Recap (May 12–18, 2025): Sports Betting in Missouri to Launch December 1, Catena Cuts 25% of Workforce
As the title of this week’s Weekly Recap suggests, the past week delivered a mix of good and bad news. We officially learned the launch date for Missouri’s sports betting market, DraftKings and Sportradar boasted solid financial results, while Catena Media grapples with challenges, layoffs, cost-cutting, and perhaps a fight for survival. Check out this week’s Weekly Recap to see what was brewing in the industry over the past week.
During the Q1 2025 earnings call, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins addressed several key points, offering insight into the company’s current state and future plans. Robins noted that despite some challenges, the company is “off to a strong start to the year.” He referenced Q1 results, which were “marred by March,” primarily due to customer-friendly sports event outcomes, particularly in the March Madness tournament. With an unusually high 82% win rate for higher-seeded teams in the NCAA tournament, DraftKings incurred estimated losses. Despite this, Robins expressed confidence that “these are random outcomes” and anticipates normalization, adding, “I’m 100% confident that these are random outcomes.” Without these results, the company likely would have raised its 2025 financial guidance.
A major growth area Robins highlighted was live betting. He stated, “The big part of the story here has been live betting. Live betting is up significantly for us year over year.” He credited acquisitions like SimpleBet, SportsIQ, and Mustard Golf for driving this growth. Robins noted that the past quarter was “the first time I felt like, wow, I’m seeing impact on the live side start to materialize.” He sees significant potential in this area, especially compared to mature markets where live betting accounts for 70-80% of gross gaming revenue. He believes “there’s a ton of opportunity there, but really happy to see that.” He also confirmed that these gains helped DraftKings capture basketball market share, despite competitors’ weaknesses.
The NCAA plans to lift its ban on betting on professional sports for its athletes, coaches, and staff by June 2025. This significant policy shift stems from the widespread legalization of sports betting in the U.S. and challenges in enforcing current rules. NCAA officials recognize that betting on college sports and game manipulation pose greater risks, so they aim to redirect oversight efforts toward more serious violations. However, the ban on betting on college games will remain in place to protect the integrity of academic competitions.
Sportradar, a leading sports technology company, reported record Q1 2025 revenue of $311 million, a 17% increase year-over-year. This significant growth was driven by robust expansion in the U.S. market. The company also saw substantial profit improvement and strong cash flow. Additionally, Sportradar secured key deals and partnerships, including an expanded collaboration with Major League Baseball to enhance its product offerings and global reach.
Catena Media has decided to lay off approximately 25% of its workforce (over 50 employees), eliminate a management layer, and implement additional cost-saving measures, including consolidating its tech stack, phasing out outdated software subscriptions, and switching from Google to Microsoft. Additionally, the company deferred interest payments on hybrid securities starting in July.
These steps were taken due to dismal Q1 2025 financial results, with revenue dropping 39% to €9.8 million, adjusted EBITDA falling 51%, and new depositing customers (NDCs) declining 50%. The issues stemmed primarily from reduced North American revenue (accounting for 89% of total revenue), lower sports betting and online casino revenue, decreased sub-affiliation margins, rising personnel costs, search ranking volatility, and a lack of new U.S. state markets compared to the prior year. The restructuring aims to achieve annual savings of €5-6 million, free up cash for tech investments, ensure the group’s financial stability, and ultimately stabilize the business and restore profitability after a disappointing quarter.
Sports betting in Missouri is set to launch on December 1, 2025. This date is designated as the constitutional deadline. The market launch is scheduled for that day, coinciding with Week 13 of the NFL (National Football League) season.
The licensing window for operators opened on May 15, 2025. Applications for untethered online betting licenses were accepted until July 15, 2025. Tethered and partnership licenses were finalized by September 12, 2025.
Bonus: Sports Betting in Missouri Launches in December… So What?
On December 1, 2025, just over a year after voters approved the proposal, Missouri will join the ranks of states with legal sports betting. The sports betting landscape looked entirely different on November 5 than it does today, and it’ll likely look different again by December 1.
Missouri’s case is fascinating. It’s the last state to legalize sports betting in the “old reality.” The day Missourians said yes to betting was also the day prediction markets sprouted from a tiny seed. Missouri will, for a time, remain the newest player, the last to enter the game. Legislative sessions have ended in defeat for the pro-betting front.
Prediction Markets Crash the Betting Party
This unfolds against the backdrop of a turning point: the rise of prediction markets. Initially, these platforms swore they had nothing to do with sports betting, but over time, everyone’s admitting more openly that Kalshi and Crypto.com let you bet on sports outcomes. This week, Kalshi officially added total over/under wins bets to its offerings, further clarifying what we’re dealing with.
States are losing early court battles, and only a small group of optimists still expects a CFTC response. Prediction markets are here to stay, and U.S. operators seem to have accepted this. They’re waiting in the starting blocks for the legislative fog to clear before diving into the game on new terms. Who’ll move first? Based on past actions, DraftKings seems the likely frontrunner, though PENN Entertainment might see it as a last-ditch lifeline for ESPN Bet, albeit a less realistic one.
State Rules Face a Regulatory Wrecking Ball
Ultimately, in this context, state regulations like Missouri’s could end up in the trash. If sports betting can be offered in all 50 states under the guise of prediction markets, why limit traditional betting to 39 states or fewer, depending on the operator?
Of course, prediction markets have limitations. DraftKings CEO Jason Robins noted that many prefer the product traditional operators offer, and prediction platforms are still constrained in this regard. But if Kalshi went from zero to some kind of over/under bets in just months, why doubt they’ll offer parlays in a few more?
Product-wise, prediction platforms lag behind sports betting operators, but they’re closing the gap fast.
The current debate centers on whether prediction market events have real economic ties. We’ve seen how blurry this line is, and with favorable legal winds, it can be stretched to the limit. State legislators are banking on a Kalshi misstep, which is possible, but the company’s outlook is pretty bright for now.
Looking far ahead, if state sports betting regulations become irrelevant and the CFTC can’t properly regulate prediction markets, this space won’t be left to fend for itself. We’ll reach a point where Washington starts a serious debate about what to do with sports betting that’s slipping out of control.
For now, we await Missouri’s sports betting launch to draw lessons from the first rollout in the golden era of prediction markets.
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