Score Media and Gaming Going Public in the US

Toronto-based Score Media and Gaming is officially taking the next step in its evolution to become a major household name in the US legal sports betting scene with an announcement Monday that the company is ready to go public in the Unites States. The company announced its US initial public offering on the heels of a decision by the company's board to trade in both Canada and in the US.

TheScore is already public in its Native Land, Canada on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The latest announcement will see the company's shares traded on Nasdaq under the symbol “SCR”. Trading in the US market is expected to commence soon, after pricing of the offering is completed.

theScore has been a recognizable name in the new markets opening up in the US the last 12 or so months and the company is now looking to capitalize on the serious momentum the legal sports betting industry has gained since widespread US legalization in 2018.

"We believe a U.S. listing would benefit our business and shareholders as we seek to further execute on the growing opportunity in the rapidly developing North American sports betting market,” John Levy, theScore’s chief executive officer said in a Feb. 11 news release.

Some Details

TheScore plans to launch a public offering of theScore’s Class A Subordinate Voting Shares in the United States and Canada. Already trading in Canada, theScore's expansion will see the company stock publicly traded in the US for the first time.

At first, a total of 5,000,000 Class A Shares will be available for purchase with the assistance of high-level underwriters such as Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Canaccord Genuity and Macquarie Capital as joint book-running managers, according to the news release.

Those underwriters will be granted an over-allotment opportunity, exercisable for 30 days "from the date of the closing of the offering to purchase up to an additional 15% of the total number of Class A Shares to be sold."

Where Will the Proceeds Go?

theScore is expected to generate a fair amount of capitol with their first foray into public offerings in the US. It appears as though that capitol is already mostly spoken for with growth plans for theScore Bet in both the US and Canada markets on the agenda.

theScore has major corporate plans in the works for which the proceeds from their public offering will be used. One such plan is expansion into the yet-to-be-regulated Canadian market for which homegrown theScore hopes to be a major part of. The Canadian market is projected to generate up to $5.4 billion in annual gross revenues upon maturity.

What the Score Has Already Done

theScore has managed to go live in four US jurisdictions so far - in Colorado, Indiana, and New Jersey before adding Iowa to their reach last week. The company has been linked to other states as well, and Canada's openness to a legal sports betting platform is becoming more of a reality every day.

“As the only fully integrated mobile sports media and gaming company in North America, theScore is uniquely positioned to grow our footprint and capitalize on the expansion of legalized sports betting and iGaming across the U.S. and Canada,” said theScore founder and CEO John Levy.

The company has been trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange with incredible success so far, despite being somewhat of a middling name in the sports betting space. Their stock has exploded about 450% since November and the company's first quarter handle jumped 535% to $44.8 million. Hence the optimism that a public offering in the US will be a resounding success.

Where Do They Go From Here?

Public offerings for theScore Class A Share have yet to be accepted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission but is in the works. No sales of theScore shares can take place until the completion of that process. That said, papers have been filed to bring the public offerings to fruition and should be accepted soon.

In the meantime, theScore Bet is still active with their expansion plans. The company had a strong presence in its four current US jurisdictions and is expected to launch in more going forward.

Companies like Flutter Entertainment, Caesars. Penn National and one of the two DRS giants in the US have gone public with marked success – theScore hopes to follow along with that path. With a decent foothold in the market and with an all-encompassing business model consisting of wagering and media wings, Score Media and Gaming Inc. is poised to make a little noise in the US scene.