The game of baseball has gotten a whole lot more interesting for fans around the world. Earlier this year, Sportradar Group AG SRAD, a leading global sports technology company that creates immersive experiences for sports fans and bettors, extended and expanded its decade-long partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB).
The new 8-year agreement gives Sportradar the exclusive right to distribute MLB's official real-time data across its global client network, which spans 800 sportsbook clients and 900 media companies, creating a runway to continue to innovate and scale new fan engagement opportunities around the world.
The depth and breadth of MLB's content combined with Sportradar's industry-leading, AI-driven technologies will bring fans closer to the action through new ways to watch the sport and new betting experiences.
What Sportradar's Partnership With MLB Means For Fans
The agreement gives Sportradar the exclusive right to distribute MLB's Statcast data, and audiovisual and media content. The company expects this will result in new betting markets that can be created live and delivered in-game. Beginning with this season that has begun, Sportradar has introduced MLB fans to new in-game betting products, including micro markets and player props.
Micro markets allow sportsbook operators to offer fans betting opportunities up to every 60 seconds, allowing them to make live wagers on specific events that might happen next in a given game.
Player props are essentially proposition betting, a wager on a specific player detail that might occur during a game that isn't directly related to its ultimate outcome, like the number of strikeouts a pitcher might record or total bases a player might achieve in a game.
In addition to these betting opportunities, Sportradar will also collaborate with MLB to create a more immersive, hyper-personalized fan experience. This will come from MLB's dynamic content, including real-time statistics, personalized highlights and MLB Virtual combined with Sportradar's next-generation AI-driven products powered by player tracking data.
The resulting virtual reality experience could allow fans to experience the game as if they were actually at the ballpark but engage with it in more dynamic, interactive ways than if they were sitting in the stands. The combination unlocks the full potential of MLB's data and other content and marries it with Sportradar's industry-leading technologies, says the company.
What MLB Gets From The Deal
Major League Baseball will benefit from Sportradar's reach and product offering across the sports ecosystem. The company distributes data and innovative products to sports books globally. Sportradar's industry-leading network of sportsbook and media clients around the world could significantly impact the distribution of MLB content and help it reach a global audience as well as deepen its fan base in emerging markets such as Latin America, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
Another aspect of the expanded partnership sees Sportradar providing MLB with its Synergy Sports Coaching & Scouting solution. This includes the world's largest game video library, featuring comprehensive sports performance data and analysis for current and future MLB players. and will be available to MLB and all 30 of its member clubs.
To ensure the integrity of baseball, Sportradar will also continue to provide its Universal Fraud Detection System to the league. The system monitors global betting activity and offers MLB both investigative and educational support.
Kenny Gersh, MLB's Executive Vice President, Media & Business Development, said, "MLB is delighted to continue innovating with Sportradar to create engaging products and services for MLB fans globally." He went on to say that "Sportradar has been a great partner to MLB, particularly helping [it] navigate the legalization and continued evolution of the global sports betting landscape."
As part of the agreement, MLB has acquired an equity stake in Sportradar, further solidifying the partnership between the two organizations and supporting future mutual growth opportunities.
Other U.S. Sports Properties Rely On Sportradar
Gersh's sentiment may be shared by other sports leagues in the United States, as well as around the world. Sportradar holds the rights for three of the top four sports properties in the United States. It has deep relationships with the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and each of its affiliates (WNBA, NBA G-League) as well as NASCAR.
Globally, Sportradar has partnerships with the ATP tennis tour, as well as UEFA, FIFA, the Bundesliga and Conmebol soccer federations
The company believes that this helps cement its status as the top global partner for major sports leagues, and reports that its top sports rights are all locked in for an average of 6 years.
The Bottom Line: MLB Deal Seen As Good For Growth
Sportradar believes the MLB deal gives it a long runway to innovate, grow its product offering and drive the future of its business.
Sportradar also sees the expansion of its MLB partnership as a long-term inflection point for growth. Carsten Koerl, Sportradar's Chief Executive Officer, said that the deal "is immediately accretive to our business [and] will drive value for our shareholders as we continue to expand margins and generate strong cash flow."
Koerl added that the deal represents a new and exciting chapter in its journey with MLB, saying that it's about collaboration, leveraging cutting-edge technology and content and working together to create innovative products that enhance fan engagement and bring fans closer to the game.
Sportradar believes that the deal will unlock new opportunities to reach more sports fans around the globe and help shape the future of sports entertainment.
Get more information about Sportradar and its role in the sports industry at the company's website.
Featured photo by Daniel on Unsplash.
This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.
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