The English Premier League has chosen to give the exclusive rights to collect and distribute its data to betting operators across the world to the sports data and technology company Genius Sports Group.
From the beginning of the next season, Genius Sports Group is set to come into the place of Perform Group, after in April the latter agreed to be sold to Vista Equity Partners. None of the financial terms of the multi-year deal between Genius and the Premier League was made public at this time.
As it became clear at the time of the announcement, Genius Sports Group will be engaged with collecting live data from over 4,000 live football matches and distribution of this data to a great number of licensed gambling operators through its sports betting division Betgenius. Football matches from the English Premier League, the English Football League, as well as from the Scottish Professional Football League are subject to the terms of the deal.
Congratulations to the team at Genius Sports on this exciting development for the company. https://t.co/XBe5F831YA
— Apax Partners LLP (@apax_partners) May 9, 2019
Adrian Ford, the General Manager of Football DataCo, the company which currently holds the rights of all competitions included in the agreement, explained that both English and Scottish football leagues are very important to any sportsbook. Apart from that, providing reliable data is crucial for sports betting services. What is also important, is the fact that the same data may be used by various media companies to improve engagement and programming so that content is made more qualitative.
The Deal Is Transformational For Genius, CEO Says
Previously, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has revealed that football accounts for approximately 46% of the overall sports betting revenue generated online. Despite the fact that no actual breakdown has been provided for the separate leagues, the English Premier League is currently considered the one which is the most popular among global users around the world.
On the other hand, it is sports betting that has also been helpful to expand the presence of the league on the territory of Asia.
The exclusive rights to collect and distribute data to betting operators on a global scale is expected to be beneficial for Genius Sports Group, which was taken over by the private equity firm Apax Partners LLP in 2018. Mark Locke, the Chief Executive Officer of Genius, has described the deal with the English Premier League as transformational for the company. As explained by Mr Locke, under the terms of the contract, Genius Sports is provided with exclusive access to the most valuable sports betting content worldwide.
The deal with one of the largest football leagues on a global scale is considered the most significant achievement of the sports data and technology company since it was established in 2015, following the merger of Betgenius and SportingPulse. Currently, apart from the newly-signed agreement with the EPL, Genius Sports also has been given non-exclusive rights to distribute NBA betting data via its Sportradar brand in the US. It also has a 10-year deal with the NCAA.
- Author
Olivia Cole
