The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Sportradar have inked a new eight-year deal in which the data firm has exclusive rights to distribute league data to sportsbooks in and out of the U.S. The agreement begins with the 2023-24 season and is worth more than $1 billion in cash and equity, according to Sportico.
The NBA will also receive 3 percent of Sportradar over the eight years. The deal expands a relationship already in place since 2016.
Sportradar’s backers include Mark Cuban, Michael Jordan, and Ted Leonsis. The partnership covers not only the NBA, but WNBA and G League. It includes streaming rights overseas and distribution of player tracking data, information important to betting markets and media coverage of games.
Sportradar’s agreement will allow it to create NBA products that are faster and more reliable than feeds built only off live video.
Internationally, NBA betting eclipses NFL betting, in part due to fan bases in Asia and Europe. The league has more than 2.2 billion fans around the world, according to Sportradar.
“Basketball is the largest U.S. sport in the world by popularity,” Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl said in a statement. “As a market leader, we are best positioned with the technological expertise and industry relationships to help the NBA entertain fans globally.”
Sportradar will also assign a team to come up with innovative ways to transform the fan experience. This will include using data to create a deeper appreciation of the game, coming up with new data points to enhance fan engagement, and come up with new ways to bet.
“The remaining time left on the existing deal, and this new multi-year agreement, gives us a significant runway to partner with the NBA and develop exciting solutions across our teams, betting and sports entertainment verticals.”
“Sportradar has been a terrific partner as the league has navigated its exploration into the global sports betting landscape,” said Scott Kaufman-Ross, senior vice president, head of gaming & new business ventures, NBA said the deal will create new fan experiences.
The two partners will devote resources to offer protection for the integrity of games, which includes the use of Sportradar’s Universal Fraud Detection System to monitor global betting activity and trends worldwide.
In other Sportradar news, the company published its initial results as a Nasdaq company. Earning a listing last September with a target value of $8 billion, third quarter revenues were €137 million (US$154 million)—up 30 percent from the same quarter in 2020, according to SBCNews.
The Swiss firm claims growth “across all geographies and business segments,” with its U.S. market leading the commercial growth.
“U.S. revenue in the third quarter increased by 119 percent compared to the third quarter of 2020. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, the U.S. revenue exceeded €48.5 million.”
Koerl said: “Our strong results demonstrate the value we provide to our partners and customers around the world. We are the largest provider of sports intelligence in the world and the only profitable global sports technology platform of scale.
“Critically, we believe we are also the most innovative in developing technology solutions that enable our league customers, media and betting partners to use our ever-increasing data to attract and engage sports fans.”
Updating its 2021 forecasts, the company projects that full-year revenues will be maintained at €553-to-555 million, representing 36 percent growth
“We plan to continue to make significant investments, particularly in the U.S. The U.S. represents the primary area of focus to execute on our strategic growth plans, as the U.S. region is currently only 7 percent of our group revenues, representing a significant potential business opportunity as more states legalize betting and the market expands to an estimated $23 billion in the next 10 years,” Koerl said.
