Casino Investment ROI Calculator

Work out what buying an online casino, sportsbook, white label or affiliate site returns on the price you pay. Enter the price, how it is paid, the earnings after you take over and your exit assumptions. The calculator shows payback, year-one return, IRR and money multiple, with a downside and upside case. Everything runs in your browser, and nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

How the calculator works

The calculator builds a month-by-month cash flow for the deal. At completion you pay the upfront part of the price plus one-off deal costs. Each month after that you receive the asset's profit after your tax, and pay any deferred instalments to the seller. At the end of the hold period you sell the asset at the exit multiple.

• Entry multiple = purchase price ÷ annual net profit. This is what you are paying for each euro of yearly profit.
• Payback = the month in which cumulative after-tax profit, minus deferred payments, covers the upfront payment and deal costs. It ignores the exit.
• Year-one return = after-tax profit in the first 12 months ÷ (purchase price + deal costs).
• Exit value = exit multiple × the last 12 months' net profit before your tax.
• Money multiple = (all after-tax profit + exit value) ÷ (purchase price + deal costs).
• IRR = the annual return that makes all the cash flows, including timing, net to zero. It is the best single measure for comparing deals with different structures and hold periods.

Two adjustments reflect how acquisitions actually go. The handover loss reduces revenue for the first three months, to allow for account transfers, player churn and ranking changes. Revenue growth compounds monthly, and the calculator shows the annual equivalent so a small-looking monthly figure is not mistaken for a modest one.

Where gaming taxes go

Gaming taxes depend on the markets the business serves, not on a region, and they are usually charged on gaming revenue rather than profit. Put them in monthly running costs, with platform fees, payment costs and marketing. The "tax on your profit" input is only your own corporate tax rate on what is left.

Worked example (calculator defaults)

The base case returns 31.2% in year one. In the downside case, revenue growth is one point a month lower and the exit is 0.5× lower; the upside case is the reverse. These are illustrative inputs, not market averages. Replace them with the figures from the deal you are considering.

What drives the return

The price you pay

The entry multiple sets the ceiling on profit-only returns. At 2.5× annual profit, the asset earns back 40% of its price a year before tax. At 4×, it earns back 25%. Paying more only works if growth or the exit makes up the difference.

The exit

In the example, payback takes 38 months: longer than the three-year hold. Set the exit to zero and the same deal returns −2.9% a year over three years. Much of the return on a short hold comes from selling the asset at the end, which depends on its earnings holding up and on buyer demand at the time. Test the exit at or below the entry multiple before relying on it.

Deferred payments

Paying part of the price later raises the IRR, because less of your money is tied up at the start. In the example, paying everything at completion lowers the IRR from 38.8% to 35.5%. Deferred payments and earnouts also shift some risk back to the seller if earnings fall after the handover. The trade-off is that sellers usually ask for a higher headline price in return.

The handover

Revenue often dips while affiliate accounts transfer, players migrate or rankings settle. A deal that only works without that dip has little margin for error. Escrow terms, transition support and staged payments tied to account transfers all reduce this risk.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate the ROI of buying an online casino or affiliate site?

Divide the first year's after-tax profit by the total cost of the purchase, including deal costs, to get the year-one return. For the full picture, model the monthly cash flows over your hold period: upfront payment, deal costs, profit, deferred payments and the exit. Then calculate the IRR and money multiple from them.

How is the payback period calculated?

Payback is the number of months until cumulative after-tax profit, minus any deferred payments to the seller, covers the upfront payment and deal costs. It ignores the exit, so it shows how long the asset takes to pay for itself from earnings alone.

What is the difference between IRR and money multiple?

The money multiple shows how much you get back in total for each euro invested. IRR shows the annual rate of return, taking into account when the cash arrives. Two deals with the same money multiple can have very different IRRs if one pays back faster.

How do deferred payments affect the return?

They raise the IRR, because less of your money is committed at completion, and they let you pay part of the price from the asset's own profit. Deferred payments and earnouts also give the buyer some protection if earnings drop after the handover.

Where do gaming taxes go in the calculation?

In monthly running costs. Gaming taxes depend on the markets served and are usually charged on gaming revenue, not profit. The separate tax input is your own corporate tax rate on the profit that remains.

Is this investment advice?

No. The calculator is illustrative and relies entirely on the figures you enter. Before buying, verify the earnings through due diligence and take tax and legal advice on the deal structure.

Find a deal to run the numbers on

Browse current casino, sportsbook, white label and affiliate listings, or subscribe to get new listings 48 hours before they go public. When you find one, our due diligence checks the earnings behind your assumptions against platform reports, programme statements and bank records.

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