Of the four major professional leagues, only the NHL does not issue injury reports. Some teams don’t even indicate the starting goaltenders until warmups, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The failure to communicate seems to go against the league’s aspiration to expand its presence in the sports betting marketplace. The league has several partners, including William Hill, MGM Resorts, FanDuel, Bally’s, Betway, PointsBet and DraftKings.
Still, don’t for a change in the lack of disclosure.
“To this point in time, that’s not being contemplated,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. “People ask whether our sports betting partners have requested it, have expressed any concerns with regard to our current policies. None of that has been done.”
There’s no pressure to do otherwise, said handicapper Dana Lane. “It may hinder who they bet on, but I don’t think the actual desire to bet the game is hindered in any way by who starts in net.”
But bettors still wager on the NHL and for crafty fans such info is there if they dig. They can read what the beat reporters say, for example.
“(Bettors are) on Twitter and Facebook and looking at all these different sites,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “The betting public is so much more educated now than ever before.”
In other NHL news, the league signed a 10 year-deal for data and streaming with Sportradar, which includes the right to purchase up to 1.8 percent equity in the firm, according to Sportico.
As part of the deal, Sportradar will help the league monitor betting patterns to search for potential suspicious activity.
As for the Sportradar IPO, the company debuted On Nasdaq on September 14. After an opening at $27 per share, share price slipped to $25.05 by market close, valuing the business at $7.4 billion.
Carsten Koerl, who will remain CEO with 81.8 percent of the voting rights, kept 31.8 percent of the stock, a stake worth $2.4 billion, according to Forbes. Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly all own minority stakes in Sportradar.
The company raised $513 million through the IPO, according to CFO Alex Gersh, and an additional $169 million from a concurrent placement with Eldridge Industries, a holding company owned by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Todd Boehly, according to Sports Handle.
“We see a great opportunity to make some acquisitions,” Gersh told Front Office Sports. He added that Sportradar would focus on AI and other technology companies that can improve the value of what it offers to clients, namely in sports betting and fan experiences.
The firm has over 900 sports betting clients, including DraftKings, FanDuel and Flutter, and 150-plus sports league partners, among them the NBA, MLB and the NHL.
