Genius Sports may have just scored a touchdown. The sports data company, which is said to be considering the launch of an initial public offering (IPO), has signed a “definitive agreement” to purchase Sportzcast, Inc., a firm that distributes scoreboard data systems across the U.S. The arrangement, if completed, will allow Genius Sports to take over all of Sportzcasts’ assets and intellectual property (IP), including the widely-used Scorebot scoring system.
Genius Sports has decided to keep quiet on the amount it is paying for the acquisition, but the financial rewards are going to be substantial. Scorebot is a data collection system that is used extensively throughout all of North America and which is tied directly to event scoreboards in order to provide official real-time game data. Having access to a uniform supply of data across multiple sports events makes the introduction of any gambling options substantially easier for operators.
Says Sportzcast President Michael Connell, “Genius is the ideal partner to accelerate our innovation and supercharge Sportzcast’s global growth through its strong distribution network. We are thrilled to join the Genius team and offer exciting new capabilities for our customers and partners.”
Scorebot can be customized for use in around 194 different scoreboard systems found at various sports venues. It is said to already be installed at more than 6,000 venues around the world, and is installed at 400 colleges and universities in the U.S., as well as in use by more than 50 live sports event streaming services.
Adds Genius Sports CEO and co-founder Mark Locke, “Acquiring Sportzcast expands Genius’ official data offering and relevance in the U.S. and worldwide, making us even more compelling to sports leagues and federation partners. This acquisition is yet another milestone in GSG’s rapid, continued growth. We are excited to continue executing on our strategy by leveraging Sportzcast’s incredible technology to scale our streaming and media businesses and bolster our core data products.”
Genius Sports is already linked to several professional sports leagues, which is going to help Scorebot find more use across the sports industry. It recently extended an existing deal with the NBA that began over two years ago and, last year, signed a deal with the data rights-holder of English soccer, Football DataCo. That entity controls data distribution for the Premier League, the English Football League and the Scottish Professional Football League.
