What does ‘HoldCrunch’ the company do and why is it important?

What we do

HoldCrunch is a uniquely powerful platform for assessing the operational performance of US Sportsbooks. We add price (odds/lines) to the traditional mix of handle, GGR and NGR to offer new levels of accuracy when evaluating Sportsbook performance. We answer these questions and more:

  • How does price impact handle market share?
  • Which Sportsbooks are competing on price while retaining high margins?
  • Which have higher margins because they’re not competing on price?
  • What does underlying profitability look like after stripping out the cost of both promo spend and competing on price?

We answer these questions as sporting events happen which means HoldCrunch is a leading indicator of handle share and margin performance

The platform is as valuable for assessing the prospects of new entrants as it is established players because our data shows the benchmarks new entrants will need to meet to gain handle, GGR and NGR market share

What we offer

We publish two KPIs that are unique to the HoldCrunch platform

1. The HoldCrunch Percentage

  • The HoldCrunch Percentage shows how far a Sportsbook is competing on price and whether those prices are likely to result in handle share gains or losses
  • The closer the HoldCrunch Percentage is to zero the better the prices on offer and the more likely a Sportsbook is to draw handle share towards it
  • There are particular HoldCrunch Percentage gaps between Sportsbooks where handle share moves

2. NGR+

NGR+ is ‘NGR with the cost of competing on price taken into account’. It is calculated by subtracting both the HoldCrunch Percentage and promo spend from GGR. It is ‘core margin after deducting both the cost of competing on price and promo spend’. It is the most accurate measure of Sportsbook profitability there is

We also make other KPIs available to subscribers that focus on the impact of price; GGR+ is ‘GGR with the cost of competing on price taken into account’ which is a more accurate measure of margin in states that do not report promo spend/NGR. Subscribers also receive Straight Bet, Parlay and Structural Hold margin assessments that include the impact of price

Note that if a Sportsbook is already the leader on price, pre-game and in-game, for all the markets and lines where customers put their money, then NGR+ and GGR+ will be the same as NGR and GGR because no margin sacrifice would be necessary to lead on price

How do I use your product?

Put simply, look for HoldCrunch Percentages close to zero and high NGR+. Sportsbooks with HoldCrunch Percentages close to zero and high NGR+ are competing on price while maintaining strong margins. They are exhibiting operational excellence and have a far better outlook for market share gains and profitability than competitors

Why has the impact of price not been quantified before?

Analysis involving price is challenging because it’s important to establish when price matters, not just whose prices are better or worse

  • If Sportsbook A is -109 on average for the lines where customers put their money and Sportsbook B is -109.5 or -110, so what? What does that tell us? At what point does price matter?

Answering that question, ‘at what point does price matter?’ is at the heart of our analysis; the HoldCrunch platform provides in depth insights into three hugely material ‘so whats’ of pricing choices

  • How price affects handle share movements
  • How price affects underlying profitability
  • How price and promo spend compare as tools for acquisition and retention

Our data also adds value to other areas of research

Our analysis shines a light on areas of Sportsbook performance other than price and profitability, such as product or brand: ‘ok, I can see from HoldCrunch data that price is competitive, as are core margins after price is taken into account, therefore something else must be happening to stall growth. Let’s look at the product analysis out there and see if that explains performance gaps’

The HoldCrunch platform is a critical piece of the puzzle for anyone following the US sports betting industry. It provides fundamental analysis of Sportsbook performance in two simple, powerful numbers: The HoldCrunch Percentage and NGR+

Why do you use a percentage number to represent competition on price?

1. We use a percentage number because it is easy to see gaps in price between Sportsbooks, and those gaps determine handle share gains or losses

  • If Book A is 5% HoldCrunch, book B is 6% and Book C is 40% it is clear that Books A and B are offering similar prices but Book C is not competitive
  • This distance between books is what really matters because that is what provides customers with incentives and choice, not any one particular price at any one time

2. A percentage number is also easy to use and accurate when calculating the cost of competing on price and therefore the impact of price on margins. Promo spend is already a percentage deduction against GGR. The HoldCrunch Percentage is no different, it is the cost of equaling the leader(s) on price. Here’s an example:

  • If reported GGR for a Sportsbook is 10% and its HoldCrunch Percentage is 33%, and promo spend is 40% of GGR, then NGR is 6% (10% minus 40%) but NGR+ is 2.7% (10% minus 73%). Simply add the cost of competing on price and promo spend together to get NGR+, the most accurate measure of underlying profitability

Here are some further examples of how to read the HoldCrunch Percentage:

  • If a Sportsbook is 5% HoldCrunch, i.e. a HoldCrunch Percentage close to zero, it will either be the leader or competing with the leader(s) on price pre-game and in-game for all the sports and markets we cover
  • If a Sportsbook is 0% HoldCrunch it is offering the best prices in all situations
  • A 100% HoldCrunch book is offering the worst prices in all situations
  • HoldCrunch Percentages can be viewed in multiple dimensions; within particular sports, pre-game or in-game, by market types. We also provide subscribers with examples of the price and overround data behind the HoldCrunch Percentage numbers