Sportradar has lost its contract with the NFL as the league’s sole data provider, but it has pivoted to use it data muscle to partner with individual NFL teams to help with their marketing efforts.
On Thursday, Sportradar announced deals with the New York Jets and the Baltimore Ravens to support the teams’ efforts “in maximizing sponsor performance and unlocking new opportunities for their partners in the rapidly growing legal sports betting category.”
Sportradar, a Swiss company, noted that this is the first deal of its type where a U.S. professional sports team is enlisting the help of a technology company to figure out ways to better market its entertainment product, including how to better leverage that product within the new environment of sports wagering.
Earlier this spring, Genius Sports replaced Sportradar as the exclusive provider of NFL stats and sports betting data. That’s a role that will take on greater importance in the near future as the popularity of in-play/in-game wagering increases along with the amount of money that’s riding on the instantaneous transmission of information that’s used to settle bets. The NFL-Genius Sports partnership was announced as a multi-year deal.
In its new role with NFL teams, Sportradar will be using what it calls “ad:s” — held out as a “full service, data-driven marketing solution, to help each team enhance and refine their sponsorship and affiliate marketing strategies for legal sports betting partners.” What that appears to mean is that Sportradar will rely on data to create content that will be used in advertising campaigns to personalize the fan experience and heighten the engagement the fans feel for the team and its associated products.
In the end, the results should be to “create efficiencies in sponsorship activations and increase the effectiveness of customer acquisition initiatives,” according to a Sportradar news release.
“Sportradar is thrilled to be working with the Jets and the Ravens on this strategic initiative in the ever-evolving U.S. market,” Mike Smith, head of U.S. advertising for Sportradar, said in the release. “Legalized sports betting presents new and unique opportunities for teams, as well as betting operators, and the Jets and Ravens are taking a step in raising the value of their brands for their respective betting sponsors.
”Our end-to-end platform provides each team a number of levers they can pull to ensure they’re delivering a personalized experience based on their distinct fanbases while maximizing their marketing investment.”
Data, Data and More Data
Technology and its handmaiden data have become the tools almost all modern businesses count on to drive decision-making. In the world of sports, wagering has quickly become a dominant player in terms of keeping fans interested in the games and driving revenue for various stakeholders, including the teams themselves, the gambling operators, media companies, various associated businesses, and certainly the regulating jurisdictions that permit the gambling to happen at all.
Changes being wrought by sports gambling are happening at a breathtaking pace and the challenges for stakeholders is further complicated by a fragmented marketplace where consumers/fans/bettors receive input and are influenced by exposure to all types of online sports betting platforms in a myriad of ways, some of which may not be obvious.
That’s where Sportradar says it can help.
Engaging With NFL Fans
Noting it has “deep expertise in these areas and strong relationships across the sports betting and sports entertainment ecosystem,” Sportradar says it is “uniquely positioned to help businesses maximize the wide range of opportunities brought about by legalized sports betting.”
Chiming in on the new deals were Ravens and Jets executives.
From the Jets: “This innovative relationship with Sportradar will allow the New York Jets to optimize the overall performance of our legal sports betting partners, both inside and outside of our ecosystem,” said Jeff Fernandez, the team’s vice president of business development and ventures. “The ability to engage, acquire, convert and retain customers in this super competitive and rapidly growing space is of the highest priority for operators. Sportradar’s proprietary technology and expertise in reaching sports bettors via predictive analytics will be extraordinarily valuable to Official LSB Sponsors of the Jets.”
From the Ravens: “As we continue increasing our visibility in the world of sports betting and digital gaming, the Baltimore Ravens are honored to be among the first NFL teams to partner with an industry leader in Sportradar,” Chief Sales Officer Kevin Rochlitz said. “Through its unmatched sports data intelligence, Sportradar provides an efficient and robust outlet for our partners to better engage with and cater to fans in this rapidly evolving industry.”
Back in March, Sportradar reportedly reached a deal with a SPAC — Horizon Acquisition Corp. II — that would allow it become publicly traded. Negotiations are continuing, according to reports. The special purpose acquisition company is headed by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly. Horizon Acquisition Corp. II is traded on the NYSE.
