Paysafe has recruited former Sportradar CFO Alex Gersh as its new chief financial officer.

Gersh will join the New York-listed payments specialist on 3 October 2022 and will report into Paysafe CEO Bruce Lowthers.

Gersh is a finance veteran with an impressive track record at online gambling companies.

He arrives at Paysafe from data provider Sportradar, where he led the company’s US IPO on Nasdaq during a two-year stint as CFO.

He previously held the same role at Betfair and then Paddy Power Betfair between 2012 and 2018.

Gersh also boasts extensive experience outside of iGaming. He was the CFO of Flag Telecom in the early noughties before a seven-year spell with pay TV software supplier NDS Group.

In May 2019, he joined car sales disruptor Cazoo as CFO and is also a non-executive board member and audit committee chair at The Restaurant Group.

Paysafe CEO Bruce Lowthers: “Alex is a highly talented finance executive with a proven track record of driving growth for the international companies he has helped to lead.”

Paysafe CEO Lowthers said: “Alex is a highly talented finance executive with a proven track record of driving growth for the international companies he has helped to lead.

“I know he will be a real asset to our team as we continue our path to accelerate growth and drive long term value for all our stakeholders.”

Gersh is set to replace Paysafe CFO Izzy Dawood, who will leave the company later in the year.

Gersh commented on his appointment: “Paysafe has a highly diversified and relevant digital payments offering in the specialised industries it focuses on including gaming and entertainment.

“I have been fortunate to have worked for some of the biggest brands in these sectors and I very much look forward to bringing my knowledge and insights to my new role at Paysafe and being part of this ambitious company’s future growth story,” he added.

Sportradar first announced that Gersh would be leaving his position with the data supplier alongside the release of its Q2 2022 financial results in August.

Sportradar has increased its earnings guidance for full year 2022 to between €695m and €715m, up from its previously communicated range of €665m-€700m, representing a year-on-year growth forecast of between 24% and 27%.

Adjusted EBITDA is expected to remain in line with previously issued guidance of between €123m and €133m, on a growth rate of between 21% and 30%.

The guidance, which triggered a major lift in SRAD stock, comes off the back of the sports data supplier’s Q2 financial results, where Sportradar brought in €177.2m in revenue during the quarter, an increase of 23.4% over the prior year period.

Adjusted EBITDA for Q2, however, is expected to decrease by 12.7% from €31.6m to €27.6m, at a reduced EBITDA margin of 16%, down from 22% in Q2 2021.

After expenses, depreciation and amortisation, the business declared a net income before tax of €20.8m, a reduction of 5.2% over the prior-year period, with net profit of €15.3m, down 32.9%.

Sportradar recorded revenue growth across all of its business segments, with the Rest of World (non-US) betting segment continuing to bring in the lion’s share of revenue. The segment generated €95.5m, or 53.9% of total revenue, after experiencing year-on-year growth of 20.6%.

The Rest of World AV segment generated a further €39.7m, 22.4% of the group total, after growth of 9.4%.

US revenue was the smallest reportable segment for the business, generating €29.1m or 16.4% of total revenue during the quarter. It was also Sportradar’s fastest growing business segment after growing 66.3% year-on-year.

All other segments generated €12.9m for the business, showing growth of 21.2% compared to Q1 2021.

These figures brought total revenue for the first six months of 2022 to €345.1m, an increase of 26.8% over the first half of 2021.

Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl: “We remain as confident as ever in the leverage and scalability of our business, and our ability to deliver results in the face of global challenges and economic conditions.”

“As the world’s leading provider of technology solutions to the sports betting industry, our Q2 revenue exceeded our expectations for the quarter, growing 23% year-over-year,” said Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl. 

“Given our strong cash flow generation and demonstrated good stewards of our capital, we have also chosen to pay down about half of our outstanding debt. We remain as confident as ever in the leverage and scalability of our business, and our ability to deliver results in the face of global challenges and economic conditions.”

In addition to the financial results released today (17 August), Sportradar also revealed that CFO Alex Gersh will be leaving the business to take on a new opportunity in the US.

CEO Koerl said: “I appreciate Alex’s many contributions to Sportradar and invite you to join me in wishing him well as he embarks on his next chapter.”

In the meantime, chief strategy officer Ulrich Harmuth will take over Gersh’s position as interim CFO.

“Ulrich, who has been with the company since 2013, has served as chief strategy officer since 2020 and has been a member of my management team overseeing corporate development activities, including M&A, strategic partnerships and ventures,” Koerl added. 

“I am confident in Ulrich’s leadership to support Sportradar’s growth and the continued execution of our financial priorities,” he concluded.