NBA to receive equity in Sportradar with exclusive data deal
Sports data supplier Sportradar has announced its landmark partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) which will see it become the exclusive data provider to the NBA, Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and NBA G League.
In exchange, the NBA will receive warrants to purchase 3% of the outstanding shares in Sportradar for $0.01 each.
The multi-year year deal continues a partnership that started in 2016, and will begin at the start of the 2023-24 NBA season.
Sportradar will also be both the authorised global distributor of official NBA and WNBA betting data, and the distributor of live game video that is available to international sports betting operators for fans to experience in real time.
“We are delighted that the NBA has chosen Sportradar as the official partner who can support the global popularity and explosive growth of the game,” said Carsten Koerl, Sportradar's CEO. “Basketball is the largest US sport in the world by popularity and, as a market leader, we are best positioned with the technological expertise and industry relationships to help the NBA entertain fans globally.”
“We believe that this agreement will contribute to Sportradar’s profitable business and continued growth. The remaining time left on the existing deal, and this new multi-year agreement, gives us significant runway to partner with the NBA and develop exciting solutions across our teams, betting and sports entertainment verticals.”
The NBA becomes the latest sporting organisation Sportradar has partnered with, having secured deals with UEFA and the International Handball Federation this month.
Scott Kaufman-Ross, senior vice president, head of gaming and new business ventures at the NBA, said: “Sportradar has been a terrific partner as the league has navigated its exploration into the global sports betting landscape.
“As the market matures, we are thrilled to extend our partnership with Sportradar to utilise data and insights to create new fan experiences and innovate around the NBA globally.”
The deal is also represents another step in Sportradar's growth in the US, where a strong performance helped boost the company's financial results for the third quarter of 2021. The supplier recorded revenue figures of €136.8m ($158.7m/£115.1m) for the third quarter of 2021, representing a 29.9% increase on the same period last year.