Press Releases
Yahoo Sports and NBA Bring Future of Sports Entertainment to Life through Virtual Reality, Fantasy and Betting Relationship

Yahoo Sports and the National Basketball Association (NBA) are joining forces to enhance the at-home fan experience with a multiyear relationship that will make Yahoo Sports an Official Marketing Partner of the league and RYOT a live virtual reality (VR) production partner during the NBA Restart in Orlando. The relationship will also allow Yahoo Sports to engage fans through fantasy and sports betting in unprecedented ways, including the right to create sports betting content and expanding Yahoo Sports’ existing distribution of NBA League Pass, the league’s premium live game subscription product, to include gaming integrations.
To bring an immersive, arena-like experience to fans, RYOT, an innovation studio, will produce live NBA games in VR and transport the physical games taking place at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex to fans at home via their Oculus devices. This next-gen content is the latest example of how VR can transform sports and entertainment by blurring the lines between virtual and physical.
More than a dozen live NBA League Pass games will be distributed in VR via Oculus Venues on Oculus Quest and Oculus Go headsets beginning Friday, July 31 through Friday, Aug. 14. For a full schedule of games available in VR, visit nba.com/vr.
“RYOT’s powerful VR capabilities will deliver a truly immersive live experience at home, creating a seamless experience between the physical and digital world,” said Guru Gowrappan, CEO of Verizon Media. “NBA League Pass in VR is exactly the kind of innovative solution we love to create with our partners. Working with the NBA to redefine the fan’s experience of the game has amazing implications for the future of sports and entertainment.”
“As the NBA Restart tips off this week, our expanded relationship with Yahoo Sports will offer a variety of unique ways for fans to engage with the NBA,” said Bill Koenig, NBA President, Global Content & Media Distribution. “With everything from fantasy games, sports betting integrations, gaming-focused content and NBA games in VR, there will be no shortage of opportunities to get closer to the game.”
Yahoo Sports will continue to operate the exclusive season long fantasy game of the NBA, create NBA-branded daily fantasy and sports betting integrations and will collaborate at marquee events including the NBA Draft presented by State Farm and NBA All-Star weekend. Yahoo Sports will also be the presenting partner of NBA Pick’Em: Playoffs Bracket Challenge which will be integrated into NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and other NBA Digital assets, which are jointly managed by the NBA and Turner Sports.
Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Fantasy and Yahoo Sportsbook will deliver expanded NBA content throughout its platforms. This will include distribution of live, out-of-market games in NBA League Pass and opportunities to engage fans in fantasy and betting through digital overlays. The relationship will also include two shows focused on fantasy and betting to coincide with the NBA Conference Finals and NBA Finals. Game footage from the NBA, WNBA and NBA G League will also be used to create content, such as game previews and recaps, to help inform fans participating in season long fantasy, daily fantasy and sports betting.
About the NBA
The NBA is a global sports and media business built around four professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, the NBA G League and the NBA 2K League. The NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 47 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 100,000 stores in 100 countries on six continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2019-20 season featured 108 international players from 38 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass. The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with 1.8 billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.
About Verizon Media
Verizon Media, a division of Verizon Communications, Inc., houses a trusted media ecosystem of premium brands like Yahoo, TechCrunch and HuffPost to help people stay informed and entertained, communicate and transact, while creating new ways for advertisers and media partners to connect. From XR experiences to advertising and content technology, Verizon Media is an incubator of innovation and is revolutionizing the next generation of content creation in a 5G world.
About Yahoo Sports
Yahoo Sports is the mobile home for sports fans, offering the most robust access to live, local and primetime NFL games, an award-winning fantasy platform, comprehensive news, original series, scores, standings and more. With real-time, personalized content and immersive mobile experiences, Yahoo Sports is innovating for the next generation of sports fans. Download the Yahoo Sports app on iOS and Google Play and download the Yahoo Fantasy app on iOS and Google Play to sign-up and play with Yahoo Fantasy Sports. Yahoo Sports is part of Verizon Media.
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Rivalry Reports Full-Year 2024 Results as Strategic Turnaround Takes Hold, Operating Loss Narrows, and Efficiency Improves

Operating expenses reduced 17%, net loss narrows, and foundational rebuild positions Rivalry for a leaner, more efficient, and financially disciplined 2025
Rivalry Corp. (the “Company” or “Rivalry”) (TSXV: RVLY), an internationally regulated sports betting and media company, announces its financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
While Rivalry’s 2024 financials reflect only the earliest signals of its company-wide restructuring, the foundational work – most of which began in the second half of 2024 – is now beginning to show results in 2025. The Company narrowed its net loss, reduced operating expenses by 17%, and entered the new year leaner, more focused, and closer to breakeven.
“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 Steven Salz, Co-Founder and CEO of Rivalry. “The latter half of 2024 set the stage, and we’re encouraged by the progress seen so far in 2025.”
FY2024 Highlights
- Net revenue of $13.6 million, compared to $16.2 million in 2023.
- Operating expenses decreased 17% to $32.2 million, down from $38.8 million.
- Net loss of $22.4 million, compared to $23.8 million.
- Deferred revenue of $4.1 million related to pre-sales of Rivalry’s on-platform crypto token.
- Year-end cash of $2.7 million, with materially lower run-rate operating expenses entering 20251.
Organizational Rebuild & Operating Leverage
Rivalry spent the latter part of 2024 and into Q1 2025 executing a comprehensive overhaul across its cost base, product, player strategy, and operational structure. With most changes now implemented, early signs of progress are emerging. Highlights include:
- Lean operating model, with breakeven net revenue now approximately $600,000 USD/month, down from over $2 million USD/month a year ago. Further reductions to operating costs are planned in Q3 2025 to lower the breakeven point even more.
- Restructured VIP program and onboarding, improving retention and monetization from high-value players.
- Expanded casino product, improving baseline stability through missions, races, and progression-based systems.
- Platform upgrades enhancing site speed, responsiveness, and conversion.
- Crypto-native infrastructure overhaul, including a rebuilt cashier, improved user experience (“UX”), and token-ready architecture to support long-term on-chain growth.
These efforts have driven early improvements across the Company’s core key performance indicators in 2025:
- Net revenue per active user and wagers per user at record levels (excluding customary outliers).
- Deposit growth in nearly every month from November 2024 through June 2025, despite minimal marketing spend.
- Monthly new first-time depositors (FTDs) up approximately 40% since January 2025 on flat monthly spend. Average payback on cohorts acquired during this period was approximately 1.5 months, highlighting improved customer acquisition efficiency.
2025 Momentum and Execution
In the first half of 2025, Rivalry continued executing against its strategic turnaround, with a focus on increasing player value, tightening operational efficiency, and accelerating near-term revenue drivers. Key initiatives included:
- Loyalty Program v2: Building on the success of the end-2024 launch, the next iteration of Rivalry’s on-site loyalty program is in development, designed to deepen progression, improve engagement, and anchor major campaigns throughout Q3 2025.
- New Promo Engine: Launching this summer, the rebuilt system introduces immediate-match deposit offers and new promo types, integrated directly into onboarding and reactivation flows to lift first time deposits and retention.
- Customer Relationship Management (“CRM”) and Always-On Optimization: Active performance reviews of core flows, geo-targeted reactivation campaigns, and structural upgrades to improve output across the customer lifecycle.
- VIP & High-Value-Player Activity: Fully structured outreach live across geos, with segmentation, high-touch CRM, and LTV-based targeting to reactivate high-value-players.
- Cashier & Site Speed: Continued improvements to platform speed, including faster load times, and reduced friction in cashier UX.
- Ongoing UX Improvements: Consistent updates across the site aimed at visual polish, design coherence, and front-end responsiveness to deliver a cleaner, more reliable user experience.
These initiatives have laid a foundation entering the second half of 2025. The focus now is on maintaining momentum, tightening execution, and scaling revenue through improved player economics and operational leverage.
Strategic Review
The Company’s previously announced evaluation of strategic alternatives remains ongoing. Rivalry continues to explore a range of potential outcomes aimed at maximizing shareholder value. There is no assurance regarding the timing or results of this review.
Outlook
While the 2024 annual results capture only the early innings of Rivalry’s strategic transformation, the changes made throughout the year have meaningfully repositioned the Company. With a leaner cost structure, stronger product, and increasing revenue efficiency, Rivalry is entering the second half of 2025 with sharper operational discipline and renewed focus.
Additional updates will be provided alongside the release of the Company’s financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2025, which are expected to be released on or prior to July 14, 2025.
Unsecured Loan
The Company also announces that it has secured a US$475,000 principal amount senior unsecured loan from its existing senior lender, maturing on September 30, 2025, with an interest rate of 10% per annum (the “Loan”). The Loan reinforces the Company’s senior lender’s support for the Company’s ongoing strategic review process and provides the Company with additional flexibility to continue pursuing its strategic initiatives to maximize long-term stakeholder value.
Update Regarding Management Cease Trade Order
The Company is providing this update on the status of a management cease trade order granted on May 1, 2025 (the “MCTO“) by its principal regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission (the “OSC“), under National Policy 12-203 – Management Cease Trade Orders (“NP 12-203“). On May 2, 2025, the Company announced that there would be a delay in the filing of its annual financial statements, management’s discussion and analysis and related CEO and CFO certificates for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 (collectively, the “Annual Filings”), as required under applicable Canadian securities laws (the “Default Announcement“). On June 18, 2025 the Company further announced that it expects to file its unaudited financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and related certifications (collectively, the “Q1 Filings“) on or prior to July 14, 2025. Although the Annual Filings have now been filed, the OSC has advised the Company that the MCTO will remain in place until the Q1 Filings have been completed.
The Company advises that: (i) there have been no material changes to the information contained in the Default Announcement; (ii) it intends to continue to comply with the alternative information guidelines of NP 12-203; and (iii) except as previously disclosed, there are no subsequent specified defaults (actual or anticipated) within the meaning of NP 12-203.
The MCTO will remain in effect until the Company is no longer in default with respect to its filing requirements and the OSC lifts the cease trade order.
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Zenith partners with Paraguay’s Jugamax to expand ONEAPI Game Aggregation across LatAm

New partnership to see Asia’s leading aggregator expand with operator across Paraguay, Chile and Mexico
Zenith, Asia’s premier iGaming platform provider, has today announced a new partnership with Jugamax, one of Paraguay’s leading operator brands.
Through this new partnership, Zenith will deliver an expanded gaming experience to Jugamax’s players across LatAm via ONEAPI, its award-winning game aggregation platform.
Zenith’s latest deal is expected to be the first of many in LatAm with 2025, with Asia’s leading aggregator already delivering its services to 500 global operators and over 50 million players.
This collaboration will provide Jugamax with seamless access to more than 10,000 top-quality game titles from 150 studios across the operator’s key markets including Chile, Mexico and Paraguay.
Through Zenith’s single, easy-to-integrate solution, Jugamax can now tap into a world-class library of slots, live casino and instant games, each designed to drive both engagement and retention – empowering Jugamax to scale rapidly as it continues its expansion across LatAm.
Jugamax’s integration with ONEAPI will also enable the operator to benefit from faster onboarding, dedicated technical support and access to exclusive rates for leading studios.
This partnership reflects Zenith’s ongoing commitment to providing operators with scalable, efficient and high-performing solutions tailored to the unique intricacies of markets across the LatAm region.
Commenting on the new partnership, Karina Moral, Senior Business Development Manager at Zenith, said: “Partnering with Jugamax marks an exciting step in Zenith’s expansion across LatAm. Their local expertise combined with our powerful aggregation platform will create new opportunities for growth, innovation, and player engagement in Paraguay, Chile and México.
“We already have a global reputation as an award-winning Asia aggregator and we have big plans to expand across LatAm in 2025 and beyond, with a tailored suite of product designed for the exact needs of local players.”b
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Yaspa receives $12m investment led by Discerning Capital to fuel US expansion

Open Banking fintech incorporates US entity based in Atlanta
Yaspa, a hyper-growth London fintech, has received investment in a funding round led by Discerning Capital to fuel its expansion in the United States.
Yaspa is an award-winning fintech providing instant payment and identity services, using open banking technology and AI to help regulated businesses elevate customer intelligence – and cashflow – via its proprietary real-time payments solution, Intelligent Payments.
Along with participation from Metavallon and TechStars Ventures, Discerning Capital is investing $12m (£9m) as it believes Yaspa’s payments process will disrupt the gambling payments ecosystem while adding native player protections.
Yaspa is headquartered in London and it processes payments across a growing number of markets including Europe. It has also recently incorporated a US entity, based in Atlanta, Georgia.
The United States’ open banking market is projected to witness a CAGR of 22.5% during the forecast period 2024-2031, growing from USD 7.08 billion in 2023 to USD 35.79 billion in 2031, according to a 2024 Markets and Data industry report.
Discerning Capital invests in companies that operate at the intersection of online gambling, sports, media, and technology. It focuses on businesses that have proven their model works and need scale capital to further their success. While Yaspa is in hyper-growth mode in its existing markets, Discerning Capital believes that account-to-account (A2A) payments has global appeal for regulated gambling operators, given it is cheaper, reduces chargebacks and allows for seamless integration of player protections.
Yaspa is led by CEO James Neville, who co-founded the company in 2017 after having previously served as a CTO at Worldpay.
He said: “This significant investment marks a major milestone for Yaspa. It enables us to take our proven technology into a new market at pace – hiring a local team, building strategic partnerships and adapting our platform to meet the specific needs of operators.
“We’re looking forward to supporting businesses that want to lead on compliance, player safety and user experience as the market matures.”
David Williams, Partner at Discerning Capital, who will be joining the Yaspa board following the transaction said: “We are excited to be partnering with Yaspa to help them expand deeper into regulated gambling.
“The high-risk nature of gambling payments makes it an area in need of innovation and we believe Yaspa addresses two of the biggest issues: chargebacks and player protections. We believe that any operator who evaluates Yaspa’s A2A product versus their existing payments provider will end up adding Yaspa.”
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