By Nate Wolf

As prediction markets threaten to cannibalize traditional sportsbooks, one betting operator is doing just fine.

Shares of MGM Resorts International jumped 12% Wednesday after BetMGM, the company's sports betting and iGaming joint venture with Entain, reported rapid growth in the fourth quarter. Entain stock rose 10% in London.

BetMGM's net revenue totaled $780 million in quarter, up 39% from a year earlier, with online sports revenue growing 93%. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization were $71 million, compared to a $106 million loss the year before.

The venture distributed $270 million in cash between the two parent companies in 2025 after delivering no cash returns in the same period in 2024. It expects to achieve $500 million in annual adjusted Ebitda in 2027.

MGM also appeared to inadvertently publish fourth-quarter results from the company's core business, which were slated for public release on Feb. 18. The data show MGM outperformed analysts' expectations for revenue and adjusted earnings.

Barron's has reached out to MGM to confirm the accuracy of those results.

BetMGM's print comes amid growing competition from prediction markets, such as Kalshi and Polymarket. The pair offer so-called event contracts that allow users to trade on the outcome of things like an NFL game. Sports are by far the most popular trading category on Kalshi, according to data provider Dune, with $30 billion in volume in the last year.

Sportsbooks like DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment's FanDuel have unveiled their own prediction markets in response, but BetMGM has fought back. The company has contended that sports-related prediction markets -- which are subject to Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulation and not state betting laws -- constitute illegal sports betting.

"BetMGM is not going to actively put ourselves on the wrong side of our regulators," BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt told investors last October. "Our regulators have been very clear that we are not able to participate in sports prediction markets until the legal situation is clarified."

Polymarket and Kalshi didn't immediately respond to Barron's requests for comment.

Kalshi has argued its sports offerings are financial swaps subject solely to the CFTC's jurisdiction, while Polymarket describes itself as "a prediction market platform, not a gambling site." Polymarket has a data partnership with Dow Jones, the publisher of Barron's.

BetMGM appears to be doing just fine at attracting customers even with the added competition. Monthly active users jumped to 979,000 last year from 946,000 in 2024.

Fellow online sportsbooks also rose on Wednesday. DraftKings stock was up 4.4% and Flutter jumped 3.2%. Casino peers Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts also traded higher.

Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2026 12:11 ET (17:11 GMT)

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