Rivalry Corp.’s 2024 results show a decline in both revenue and operating expenses after a year of what CEO Steven Salz called “hard decisions.”

In its filing on July 2, the Toronto-headquartered esports and sports betting operator posted net revenue for the full year ended Dec. 31, 2024, of $13.6 million, a decrease of nearly $3 million (16.0%) year-over-year.

However, the Canadian company narrowed its net loss from $23.8 million in 2023 to $22.4 million in 2024, an improvement of around 6%. Amid organizational shifts, it also trimmed back its operating expenses by 17%, down nearly $6 million to $32.2 million.

In the latter half of 2024 and early 2025, Rivalry underwent a comprehensive overhaul that spanned its product, player strategy, cost base and operational structure and broadly encompassed an increased focus on crypto-native gaming and catering to high-value players. As it conducted those changes, it implemented several rounds of layoffs and executives took pay cuts.

The company said the results “reflect only the earliest signals of its company-wide restructuring” but stressed that the foundational work, most of which began in the second half of last year, is beginning to show results.

“We made hard decisions last year — rebuilding the product, cutting costs, and refining our approach to players — and those changes are beginning to show signs of positive impact,” said Salz in a release on Wednesday. “The latter half of 2024 set the stage, and we’re encouraged by the progress seen so far in 2025.”

2024 changes reaping reward in 2025

The company picked out some highlights from its 2024 revamp in its latest release, including a move to a leaner operating model which has brought breakeven net revenue down to around $600,000 USD per month from over $2 million USD per month a year ago. The firm also restructured its VIP program and onboarding processes for high-value players, expanded its casino product and implemented a crypto-native infrastructure.

All that, the firm said, led to green shoots of improvement in the early months of 2025.

Rivalry noted that net revenue per active user and wagers per user are at record levels (excluding customary outliers), deposits grew in nearly every month between November 2024 and June 2025 despite minimal marketing spend, and monthly new first-time depositors are up approximately 40% since January 2025 on flat monthly spend.

The company will provide a further update on 2025 progress when it releases its financial results for the three months ended March 31 on or prior to July 14. That reporting was delayed back in the spring, and the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) granted a management cease trade order on May 1. That order will remain in place until the Q1 filings have been completed.

More bells and whistles coming

Rivalry intends to keep the changes coming, teasing further upgrades such as the next iteration of its on-site loyalty program, a rebuilt promotional engine launching this summer to introduce immediate-match deposit offers and new promo types as well as other site and user experience improvements.

Meanwhile, the company said it is continuing to evaluate strategic alternatives aimed at maximizing shareholder value.