Key Points
- Playtech’s revenues grew by 10% to reach €425.1m in H1 2026, while their adjusted EBITDA increased 77% to €162.5m due to the Americas.
- US and Canada revenue jumped 161% year-on-year, heavily powered by Past Motor Racing slots with Hard Rock Bet in Florida, which Playtech itself flagged would normalise in H2.
- Brazil, Playtech’s next declared growth market, remains delayed by election-year politics, with a launch now expected “at the beginning of next year”.
The first-half performance of Playtech was an absolute breakout across the board. Continuing revenue saw a jump of 10% to €425.1m, with adjusted EBITDA increasing 77% to €162.5m, and post-tax adjusted profits coming in 472% ahead at €95m. Free cash flow came in at €101m compared to only €29.5m all year in 2025. For a company which had been in the midst of restructuring for several years, it is numbers to pay close attention to. The interesting statistic, however, is found in the story of the Americas division of Playtech.
The 161% That Isn’t What It Looks Like
US and Canada revenue surged 161% year-on-year to €56.9m, a figure that dominated every headline from the results. The primary disclosed driver was Past Motor Racing (PMR), a sports-betting product that resolves against historical racing data, launched online for the first time in Florida during Q4 2025 in partnership with Hard Rock Bet, as confirmed in Playtech’s 2025 Annual Report. It performed beyond anyone’s stated expectations. Playtech itself acknowledged that broader Tier-1 activity, new state launches and Live growth also contributed, so the Florida PMR story is the dominant rather than the sole explanation, though it is clearly the decisive one.
What has not received enough attention in the wider coverage is why this product worked particularly well in Florida. Hard Rock Digital operates as the exclusive services provider to the Seminole Tribe for sports-betting operations in the state. PMR, by drawing on historical racing data, sits within a product category the Seminole Tribe can offer under Florida’s existing framework. From an editorial standpoint, this appears to be a case of product engineering aligning tightly with a specific regulatory structure; though Playtech has not made the full legal detail public, the fit between product format and operating environment was clearly not accidental. Competitors will have noticed.
CEO Mor Weizer told analysts: “The US delivered an outstanding performance, driven by our partnership with Hard Rock Digital.” He was equally direct about what follows, saying the PMR contribution would “normalise at a more sustainable level” in H2. Voluntarily flagging a growth slowdown in the same release as a guidance upgrade is an unusual move. It is a deliberate attempt to manage the second-half bar, but it is also a candid admission that a 161% regional surge rests predominantly on a single product with one partner in one state.
Latin America Held Up, With Help From the World Cup
Outside of Florida, Latin American revenue increased by 29% in an organic manner, with results from Caliente Interactive in Mexico and Wplay in Colombia beating expectations. 2026 FIFA World Cup was an important factor behind this performance. Caliente registered a doubling in viewership compared to the 2022 World Cup, resulting in the acquisition of numerous new customers.
The Caliente relationship runs considerably deeper than a standard supply deal. Playtech holds a 30.8% equity stake in Caliente Interactive, which generated approximately €37.4m gross in dividends during the half. On top of that, Playtech receives revenue share as the sports-betting provider, and a US$140m additional payment, phased over four years in 16 quarterly instalments of $8m following an initial $12m, continues to be recognised across the eight-year contract term. When Playtech reports Latin America strength, it is reporting on a business it partly owns, from which it collects dividends, revenue share and structured cash receipts simultaneously. That structure is clearly favourable; it also makes the region’s contribution harder to read as a clean supply-business metric.
The UK Is Quietly Losing Ground
While the Americas dominated the results conversation, the UK posted the only regional decline. B2B revenue from the UK fell 8% to €59m, hit by the April 2025 increase in Remote Gaming Duty and two operator-specific changes: one customer continued in-sourcing its self-service betting terminals, another made contractual adjustments that cut Playtech’s share. B2C, led by Sun Bingo and other continuing operations, slipped 5% to €31.7m, with the brand cutting marketing spend in response to the RGD increase. Total B2C fell 22% once discontinued operations are factored in, reflecting the earlier disposal of the majority of Playtech’s consumer brands.
Neither figure alone is alarming, but together they indicate a market where Playtech’s position is narrowing. The Machine Games Duty question raised by analysts was described as “close to immaterial” for the group, given its subcontractor arrangements in that area. That framing is accurate; it also tells you how small the UK consumer operation has become relative to the wider business.
The Hard Rock Stake Is the Quiet Winner
One figure from the results received far less attention than it deserved. Playtech’s equity investment in Hard Rock Digital, made for $85m in 2023 for a small minority stake, was valued at €246.7m at the end of June, up from €178.8m at year-end 2025. That carrying value represents more than three times the original investment, unrealised and sitting on the balance sheet. Playtech is simultaneously benefiting from HRD as a technology customer generating B2B revenue, as the platform for its PMR product, and as an equity holding appreciating in value. That three-way exposure to one partner is a structurally strong position; it equally means any deterioration in the Hard Rock relationship would hit Playtech’s numbers across multiple lines at once.
Brazil Is Waiting for an Election to End
Playtech’s next stated growth opportunity is Brazil, where it has built a live casino studio in São Paulo and is in discussions for a platform partnership with state-owned bank Caixa. The deal has been delayed repeatedly, and Weizer addressed it directly during the earnings call. “Given the sensitivity around that,” he told analysts, “we were kindly asked to collaborate with the government and the prospective customer that we are in discussions with to wait until the elections.”
Brazil’s general election is scheduled for October 2026, and Caixa has already paid the BRL30m ($5.9m) licence fee without launching. Weizer’s stated expectation is to go live “at the beginning of next year.” CFO Chris McGinnis confirmed Brazil was not explicitly factored into Playtech’s medium-term guidance when targets were set in March 2025, meaning the launch represents potential upside rather than a committed baseline.
Expert Analysis
We find the structure of this announcement quietly fascinating. Playtech raised guidance for the third time in 2026 while explicitly telling investors that its single most powerful growth contributor will slow down. That combination works only if management is confident the remaining revenue streams can absorb the PMR normalisation without missing full-year targets, or if the second-half bar has been placed low enough to be cleared comfortably. Either interpretation favours investors in the near term, but neither is as straightforward as the headline figures suggest.
The more interesting question is whether Past Motor Racing can move beyond Florida. Weizer confirmed during the earnings call that more than one US regulator has already approached Playtech about PMR, expressing interest in applying it to their own states. A format built around a very specific regulatory environment in Florida is not automatically portable; that is the honest read. If PMR scales into additional states or jurisdictions, it becomes a durable competitive advantage. If it stays effectively contained to Florida and one operator, the 161% surge becomes a single-period story, and the Hard Rock equity stake becomes the more significant long-term asset. Playtech knows this. The next twelve months will tell investors which version of the US story they actually own.
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