- Genius Sports has announced the extension of a data and technology deal with bet365.
- The long term deal will ‘provide bet365 with highest quality official data across thousands of events a year.’
- bet365 is now live in New Jersey and Colorado, along with the new sports betting epicenter of Ontario.
In the ‘bizarro world’ of US sports betting, it seems like everyone is making money except the sportsbooks. Unlike the rest of the ecosystem, sportsbook operators have to fight their way through a phalanx of cronyist politicians, the legacy casino industry, the tribal gaming industry and bone-headed yet meddlesome regulators. The ancillary businesses that have sprung up around sports betting–marketing, data, media, etc.–are able to now leverage the popularity of sports betting that has always been there but can now ‘officially’ be discussed.
Data is likely the most lucrative component of the sports betting industry to this point. Sports leagues sell data rights to third party companies who then resell it to sportsbooks, media, etc. Since the entire industry runs on data, they’ve got plenty of customers. In some markets, sportsbooks are required to use ‘official league data’ and this is a good situation for the data aggregators. A sportsbook can operate without ‘official betting partner’ status with a league. It just means they won’t have official logos all over their marketing materials, which might be nice to have but has never limited sportsbooks in the past. They can’t operate without a variety of data sources, even if they’re not mandated by regulators.
Genius Sports is one of the big players in sports betting data aggregation. They’ve just announced an extension to their deal with bet365 for data and technology services. Here’s the official announcement from the Genius Sports press release:
Genius Sports Limited (NYSE:GENI) (“Genius Sports” or “the Company”), the official data, technology and commercial partner that powers the ecosystem connecting sports, betting and media, has clinched a long-term extension of its official data partnership with bet365.
Genius Sports will provide bet365 with its exclusive portfolio of official data rights including the Premier League, NFL, CFL, AHL, NASCAR and more. In addition, as the official data partner to the Mid-American Conference, Genius Sports will provide bet365 with the first and only official data feed for betting on NCAA sports.
Not sure what this means on a practical level, but the deal also includes exploratory collaboration for ‘next gen’ betting products powered by Genius Sports’ AI driven tracking technology:
In another first, Genius Sports and bet365 will explore the implementation of Genius’ unique suite of ground-breaking betting products powered by its Second Spectrum tracking and augmentation technology.
Mark Locke, CEO of Genius Sports, is obviously pleased to extend the bet365 deal:
“Expanding our partnership with bet365, the largest sports betting brand in the world, demonstrates our commitment to delivering the most innovative and compelling products for our customers. Across thousands of events a year, including top-tier competitions such as the Premier League and NFL, we will provide bet365 with the highest quality content and first-of-its-kind betting experience to power immersive and real-time betting markets for millions of customers worldwide.”
There’s no geographic stipulations to the deal, leaving us to assume that it is in force worldwide. bet365 is just now building a presence in North America–they’re live in Colorado, New Jersey and Ontario–but are a big brand internationally.
