Guild Esports shares soar as it expands partnership with Sky
investee company () announced that Sky Glass, the new streaming-focused TV from Sky, has been appointed Guild's Official Television Partner.
The deal expands on Guild and Sky's existing multi-million three-year sponsorship deal announced last September that saw Sky appointed as Guild's Official Premier Partner, Official HQ Partner, Official Wi-Fi and Broadband partner, and Official Network Provider.
The expanded partnership will see Guild receive an increased sponsorship fee for years 2 and 3 of the existing deal, which represents an increase in value on Guild's previous "six-figure" deal with Samsung TV. In return, Sky Glass will receive prominent exposure of its Glass devices across the Sky Guild Gaming Centre, Guild's London HQ.
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More sponsorship revenue for Guild as its partnership with Sky develops. The two companies joined forces last September to much success and have increasingly collaborated since then, most recently on Guild's upcoming Street Fighter tournament. Investors were happy to see the relationship grow, driving shares 18.5% higher on Monday.
In addition to the Sky Glass deal, Guild said that Sky had invested a "six-figure" sum into the refurbishment of the entire Sky Guild Gaming Centre (Guild's London HQ), expected to be completed in Q4. This should translate into better training and production facilities, and in turn higher revenues as Guild expands into more gaming genres like sim racing. Guild's London HQ is already seeing use as an event space, recently hosting the "Lobby Live" event.
In its interim results released in May, Guild reported a revenue increase of 241% to £3.7m compared to £1.1m in H1 2022, driven by significant growth in sponsorship income. Gross profit also rose 256% to £2.5m from £0.7m a year ago. The company's loss before tax halved to £2.3m from £4.96 in H1 2022, reflecting increased sponsorship revenue and reduced operating expenses. Net cash stood at £1.1m on 31 March 2023.
Momentum is positive into H2 2023 with a strong contracted orderbook and diversification of revenue streams, such as with the recent launches of new Street Fighter and Counter-Strike teams and Guild's expansion into sim racing. We expect H2 2023 revenues to show further year-on-year growth.
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