New data collector
The English Premier League has announced a new partnership with Genius Sports for the exclusive collection and distribution of Premiership data to sports betting operators across the world. Neither party has issued any details of the financial terms of the deal.
The League has the highest profile in domestic football globally. It contains some of the most popular teams and players in the sport. This includes Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United.
The League’s previous partner for this role was the Perform Group. The rights holder of the Premier League, English League and Scottish League data is Football DataCo.
Genius Sports has a sports betting department called Betgenius, which will collect the live data directly from the stadiums. It will cover more than 4,000 different soccer matches.
Games from all levels of the English leagues and the Scottish Professional Football League are part of this deal. This data distribution to worldwide betting companies will not take a single second to process.
Access to accurate and quick data is vital for the popular live sports betting space. Betting operators always want to be ahead of the curve and not be taken advantage of, which would happen if they are receiving slow or inaccurate data.
Media companies also use this type of data when it comes to their offerings, which is another avenue for potential revenues for the League.
Popularity of football betting
Football is the most popular sport in the world in terms of participation and viewership. It also significantly tops the list of sports that people bet on. English football, in particular, is massively important to sportsbooks. This is due to the high-profile nature of the matches and the amount of money that is bet on these games every week.
Statistics from the UK Gambling Commission show that more than 46% of the total online sports betting revenue there comes from football. While there are no details about which leagues have what portion of this sum, the English Premier League is the leading light.
In recent years, the League has been looking to expand into the Asian market, where there is a lot of interest in sports betting. Therefore, the deal with Genius Sports will help it fulfill the needs of this burgeoning market.
It is also a massive deal for Genius Sports that will help take the company to the next level. CEO Mark Locke called it a “transformational” deal. He said: “This deal gives Genius Sports exclusive access to the most valuable sports-betting content in the world and reinforces our commitment to delivering the most competitive products and services for our customers.”
Burgeoning US sports betting market
Genius Sports is also in a good position to take advantage of the rapidly growing demand for sports betting data in the US.
Since the federal ban on sports betting ended in May 2018, 10 states have made sports betting legal. Many more are set to follow suit. The various major sports leagues have been putting deals in place for the exclusive collection and distribution of their data.
Genius Sports is already partnering with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to collect and distribute live game data. It is also working with the PGA Tour and European Tour on their integrity systems. And it has a relationship with the NCAA and the Bundesliga.
Another recent announcement by was a partnership agreement with NASCAR. Genius Sports will be working with the racing organization to create a new live betting platform, which will be rolled out to sportsbooks in the near future.
With the US market having so much potential, coupled with its deal with the English Premier League, Genius Sports has a very bright future ahead.