A pivotal move is underway that promises to shape the landscape of sports data distribution in the UK. Genius Sports, a leading provider of sports data and technology, is on the brink of securing a crucial extension to its current deal with Premier League data rights holder, DataCo. This agreement would grant Genius Sports the rights to disseminate low latency data far into the future, up to 2029.
The impending contract, which encompasses a breadth of British football, stands to cement Genius Sports’ position as a primary source of data for over 4,000 UK football fixtures each season. This suite of fixtures spans not just the high-profile Premier League, but also the English Football League (EFL) tiers: the Championship, League One, and League Two. Additionally, the deal reaches the Scottish Professional Football League’s (SPFL) portfolio of contests, including those of the Scottish Premiership.
At the core of this extension is Genius Sports’ current partnership with DataCo, in which it has maintained exclusive rights to supply cutting-edge, rapidly delivered data from these leagues since 2019. The original deal is set to culminate at the termination of the 2024-25 season; however, the renewed agreement, subject to the contractual bindings and the assent of the pertinent leagues and their member clubs, would perpetuate this arrangement until 2029.
Genius Sports’ financial accomplishments complement the timing of this negotiation period. The company has declared a 21% uplift in revenue for its 2023 financial year, accumulating $413.0 million in earnings and outperforming its former forecast of $391 million. This fiscal growth is partly attributable to substantial enhancements in two of Genius’ operational segments, notably a 31.1% increase in its Betting Technology, Content & Services division, contributing $274.2 million of the reported revenue.
Moreover, Genius Sports’ adjusted EBITDA – a financial performance measure – has seen an extraordinary leap, with a 238.3% surge year-on-year to $53.3 million, once again surpassing the initial $41 million guidance. Yet, despite these financial surges, it’s imperative to note that the year concluded with Genius Sports reporting a loss of $85.5 million. This was a significant reduction from the $181.6 million loss from the previous term, a point that Genius Sports attributes to “improved underlying performance.”
The collaborative and strategic prowess of Genius Sports has been further evidenced through numerous data partnerships forged throughout the year 2023. In March, for instance, its data tracking subsidiary Second Spectrum renewed its agreement with the NBA. May then witnessed the launch of the CFL LiveStats data collection system, a joint initiative with the Canadian Football League.
June saw Genius expand its integrity deal with the German Football Association (FA), and in November, it partnered with FanDuel to unveil their NFL BetVision streaming solution. These partnerships exemplify the company’s thrust into the global sports data market, underscoring their significance across a variety of sports and regions.
Furthermore, in a show of innovation, Genius unveiled Edge in January, an automated pricing tool that seeks to revolutionize the odds calculations processes by considering real-time liability to recalibrate odds at a fixture and market-type level for optimized profitability. This includes complex bet-builder products. Thomas Holland, the product director at Genius, emphasized Edge’s potential to deliver operators a superior pricing mechanism, vis-à-vis traditional systems that he suggests tend to “limit players and minimize losses.”
The proposed extension between Genius Sports and DataCo is more than a mere contract renewal; it is a testament to Genius Sports’ formidable influence within the sports data milieu. As the dealings progress exclusively during this negotiation phase, stakeholders and observers alike will be monitoring closely, aware that this accord carries significant implications for the sports data landscape in the UK and, potentially, sports leagues and data consumers worldwide.
