Genius Sports announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Legend, a global digital sports and gaming media network, in a transaction valued at up to $1.2 billion, as the company pushes deeper into fan monetization and performance-based advertising across sports and betting audiences.
Under the terms, Genius Sports expects to pay $900 million at closing, consisting of $800 million in cash and $100 million in stock, plus an earnout of up to $300 million, split evenly over two years after closing. The earnout is tied to profitability and cash flow thresholds and may be paid in cash or stock at Genius’ election, subject to customary conditions. The companies expect the deal to close in the second quarter of 2026.
Genius Sports positioned the acquisition as a move that expands its ability to monetize sports fans at high-intent moments, when consumers are actively researching teams, players, odds, or scores. Legend operates a scaled media network supported by marketing technology that powers its owned-and-operated digital properties and syndicates sports and betting content through major publications, including Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports.
Genius Sports said Legend generated 320 million annual visits from 118 million unique visitors in 2025, with more than two-thirds returning regularly. The company said the audience and associated marketing technology would be integrated into Genius Sports’ media ecosystem and connected through its FANHub platform, which it described as the world’s first sports fan activation platform. Genius Sports said the combined platform will connect a global audience and marketing technology with its roster of more than 2,000 sports, media, and betting partners through a single integrated system.
The buyer said the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to group-adjusted EBITDA margins and free cash flow conversion, while maintaining at least a 20% group revenue CAGR through 2028. On a 2026 annualized pro forma basis after the acquisition, Genius Sports said it expects the combined company to deliver approximately $1.1 billion in group revenue and $320-330 million in group adjusted EBITDA, with approximately 50% free cash flow conversion.
Alongside the deal announcement, Genius Sports also released preliminary unaudited estimates for the year ended Dec. 31, 2025, reporting group revenue of $669 million, up 31% year over year, and group adjusted EBITDA of $136 million, up 59% year over year, for an adjusted EBITDA margin of 20%. The company also reported cash and cash equivalents of $281 million. On a standalone basis, Genius Sports said it expects 2026 group revenue of approximately $810-820 million and group adjusted EBITDA of approximately $180-190 million, implying midpoint growth of 22% and 36%, respectively, and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 23%.
Genius Sports also set a higher 2028 performance benchmark, reflecting the added scale from Legend, forecasting group revenue of $1.6 billion, an approximately 21% CAGR from 2026 to 2028, a group-adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 35%, and free cash flow conversion of at least 60%.
To finance the purchase at closing, Genius Sports expects to fund the transaction with an $850 million term loan B issuance, leaving its revolving credit facility undrawn. The company said pro forma leverage is expected to be below 3.0x, with a plan to reduce leverage by more than half by 2028, driven by what it described as strong and visible growth.
Support: Deutsche Bank Securities and Goldman Sachs are serving as financial advisors to Genius Sports and providing committed financing related to the transaction. Oakvale Capital and The Raine Group are serving as financial advisors to Legend.
KEY QUOTES:
“This deal accelerates our strategic and financial objectives, supercharges fan monetization, and builds a fully integrated sports and gaming media network. For Genius Sports and our global partners, it delivers more data, more audience, more inventory and greater monetization of sports fans. The acquisition of Legend will drive higher margins and stronger free cash flow, positioning Genius Sports to immediately transform the market and grow the size and scale of our business.”
Mark Locke, CEO, Genius Sports
“Joining forces with Genius Sports brings together two world-class teams, unlocks unparalleled growth opportunities for our partners and products, and gives us an even stronger platform to scale. I am immensely proud of what we have built and the decades of hard work that have brought us here today.”
Nick Kisberg, Founder, Legend
