The National Basketball Association (NBA) has struck its first official US betting data deals with Genius Sports and Sportradar.
On Wednesday, the NBA announced it had struck deals with Genius Sports and Sportradar to distribute NBA data to US-licensed sports betting operators. This marks the first betting data partnerships that the NBA has struck since the US Supreme Court struck down the federal betting prohibition this spring.
The new relationships, which are non-exclusive, cover both NBA and WNBA data. Sportradar has an existing relationship with the NBA dating back over two years that covers the distribution of league data to “gaming operators outside of the US where gaming is legal.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver hailed the league’s new data partners as “proven leaders in data distribution” who will provide “robust and reliable data to ensure the best possible gaming experience” for the NBA’s US fans.
Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl similarly hailed the expanded “multi-faceted partnership” as “not only a tremendous opportunity for us, but ultimately for the fans of the NBA.”
Like the other major North American sports leagues, the NBA has been frantically positioning itself to reap the rewards of the new legal US betting environment. In August, the league inked an official gaming partnership with casino operator MGM Resorts, which signed its own data deal with Sportradar earlier this month (along with MGM’s joint venture online betting/gaming partner GVC Holdings).
The NBA had originally hoped to carve out a chunk of the sports betting cash flow by convincing US state and federal politicians to include an ‘integrity fee’ as part of any new betting legislation. However, with multiple state legislatures having thumbed their noses at this concept, the leagues are now pinning their hopes on data deals while still holding out hope for a smaller 0.25% ‘royalty’ on sports betting revenue.
