Rivalry executives and management can trade the company’s shares again.
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has revoked the management cease trade order that it granted to the online gaming operator in May, after the company successfully published its FY24 and Q125 earnings statements.
Effective July 17, members of the company’s management were able to resume trading company shares.
The SEC granted the management cease trade order at the start of May 2 while the Ontario-licensed gaming operator was in the process of filing several reports for the 2024 fiscal year and for the first quarter of 2025, including its audited financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis. It lifted the order after the company completed the filings for the entire year of 2024, as well as Q1 2025.
Rivalry shares are traded through the TSX Venture Exchange, as well as the OTCQX market and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Rivalry posts friendly numbers after overhaul
Rivalry filed its FY 24 financials on July 2 and followed up with its Q1 2025 results on July 14. In both releases, it noted it is now seeing the benefits of a year of sweeping changes to how it does business amid what CEO Steven Salz called “hard decisions.”
In its FY 2024 filing on July 2, the Toronto-headquartered esports and sports betting operator posted net revenue of $13.6 million, a decrease of nearly $3 million (16.0%) year-over-year. However, it trimmed its net loss by 6% from $23.8 million in 2023 to $22.4 million in 2024 and cut operating expenses by 17% to $32.2 million.
In the latter half of 2024 and early 2025, Rivalry overhauled its product, player strategy and operational structure. It expanded its casino output, revamped its sportsbook, implemented a comprehensive VIP rewards program and increased its 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.
“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. “The latter half of 2024 set the stage, and we’re encouraged by the progress seen so far in 2025.”
In the later Q1 2025 filing for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, Rivalry detailed net revenue of $1.3 million and noted that operating expenses decreased 58% year over year to $4 million. Net loss fell by 43% from $5.2 million to $3 million.
Salz also noted that preliminary results for Q2 2025 suggest that net revenue per player surged 49% compared to the previous quarter and average monthly deposits per player are sitting around triple the historical average. Net revenue per active user and wagers per user are at record levels.
“This quarter marks the full emergence of Rivalry 2.0 – leaner, sharper, and structurally stronger,” added Salz. “We’ve rebuilt the foundation of the business around high-efficiency acquisition, high-value users, and a proprietary product – and we’re already seeing the impact. Rivalry today is not just a leaner version of itself – it’s a fundamentally different company built for scalability.”
Rivalry still considering next steps
In its latest release, Rivalry said that it is still actively exploring strategic alternatives aimed at maximizing shareholder value. As part of this process, it is evaluating “non-dilutive capital options” as part of broader strategic initiatives to accelerate growth.
Some confirmed upcoming developments including the deployment of a new promo engine and casino-led engagement mechanics, geographic reactivations and enhanced customer relationship management focused on high-value player segmentation and deeper lifecycle engagement, and further operating cost reductions in Q3 2025, aimed at lowering the breakeven point and increasing flexibility.
“Rivalry today is a high-performance engine – structurally rebuilt, road-tested, and positioned to scale,” said Salz. “We’re focused on unlocking the next chapter of growth, and the strategic review process is designed to support that path.”
