Sportradar and data analytics firm Second Spectrum were reported last week to be close to a six-year, 0 million contract with the National Basketball Association.
The league’s agreement with Sportradar, a sports data company whose clients include bookmakers worldwide, would cover rights that include selling official league data to betting houses and data analytics to teams and the development of a streaming product.
Assuming the agreement goes through it will make Sportradar the official data partner for three of the four major U.S. sports leagues, including the National Hockey League and the National Football League, which is also an investor. Stats Inc. has Major League Baseball’s data contract.
Sports data is an increasingly lucrative market in the internet age with betting operators and gamblers both demanding fast, accurate data as a result of the growth of live in-play wagering.
Despite the illegality of sports betting in most of the U.S., for the NBA such agreements are hugely valuable internationally, particularly in China, where some 300 million people play basketball.
Sports betting is illegal in 46 U.S. states as a result of a 1992 federal law which NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, among other sports and casino industry leaders, wants to see repealed in favor of a fully legal, federally regulated industry.
The American Gaming Association, the federal lobbying for the land-based casino industry and a vocal supporter of legalization, estimates that $4.2 billion was bet on Super Bowl 50 this year, $9.2 billion on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and that $1 billion will be wagered on the Summer Olympics—most of it illegal.
“Sports betting has become a pastime in the United States and beyond,” said Sara Rayme, the AGA’s senior vice president of public affairs. “With outdated barriers—such as opposition to a (major sports) franchise in Las Vegas—falling rapidly, it’s clear that a new approach to sports betting will bring greater transparency and integrity to the games we all love to watch.”
In the meantime, Sportradar is focusing its U.S. expansion on media and technology companies, including Facebook, Google and Twitter. In June, the company signed a deal to provide global sports data to The Associated Press. The company also supplies data to daily fantasy sports companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings.
