Sports data intelligence provider Sportradar has signed a multi-year global partnership with China’s CBA League, beginning with basketball games in the current 2020-21 season; and has agreed to a partnership with the Swedish Football Association.
The China deal will see CBA League’s regular-season games, postseason games, and All-Star game distributed to broadcasters, streaming and OTT platforms in territories outside of greater China.
Fans will now have the ability to access short-form video content, in addition to full game coverage throughout the season.
“Chinese Basketball has been a traditional powerhouse in the international arena, and we are excited to be a part of expanding the reach of the top-tier CBA to markets across the globe,” said Steve Byrd, head of global strategic partnerships for Sportradar. “Our data-driven approach and experience are what sets us apart in delivering the goal that leagues such as the CBA want, and we are excited to be partnering with them to deliver that.”
Sportradar has had a successful partnership with the K League to expand its broadcast footprint worldwide, with the first season of involvement seeing a massive expansion in reach through online and traditional broadcast platforms. Currently, Sportradar is distributing the media rights for the National Basketball League (Australia) globally.
A spokesperson from CBA League said, “We are delighted to partner with Sportradar and believe this partnership will provide enriched possibilities and further awareness for CBA League, given their extensive experience and recent track record. By building up opportunities globally in this long-term partnership, we look forward to developing the continued growth of the CBA League and reaching out to new audiences around the world.”
CBA League has seen massive growth domestically with the emergence of local players and the influx of top talent worldwide. With Sportradar’s expertise and experience in handling global rights, the company will work closely in developing a comprehensive commercial strategy to enhance its worldwide distribution for its media rights.
Under the agreement with the Swedish Football Association (SvFF), Sportradar will monitor and safeguard the integrity of domestic football competitions.
Under the agreement, Sportradar will monitor more than 2,000 games from the Swedish Ettan, Division 2, U21 Allsvenskan, U19 Allsvenskan and club friendlies involving Swedish teams during the 2021 season.
Sportradar will use its Fraud Detection System (FDS) to monitor matches, while the SvFF will also be able to access Sportradar’s Intelligence and Investigation Services.
The SvFF previously enlisted Sportradar to support an investigation regarding an integrity issue involving a former Allsvenskan player.
“We are taking all the necessary steps to safeguard our game, and by bringing Sportradar Integrity Services on board to monitor our competitions, we now have valuable global oversight of betting markets through their integrity specialists,” SvFF integrity officer Johan Claesson said.
“By also adding their Intelligence and Investigation services to our integrity program, we are confident that we will gain an extra layer of visibility and insight into potential integrity risks, as we have already witnessed through collaboration on a current investigation.”
