Unraveling the dispute over sports data between Sportradar and Genius Sports.
Two major sports data service providers, Sportradar from Switzerland and Genius Sports from the UK, are locked in a legal battle over the issuance of sub-licenses in the UK. Media reports claim that Sportradar has warned its primary British rival to share its exclusive rights to the Premier League, the English Football League, and the Scottish Premier League through sub-licenses or face legal action. This is the key information you need to know about the situation.
Media Reports: ALLEGATIONS COULD BE LEGITIMATE
Switzerland-based sports data company Sportradar is accusing London-headquartered Genius Sports of violating British and European competition laws. Genius Sports is alleged to be stifling competition by not allowing Sportradar to access its British sports data via sub-licenses. This also implies that Sportradar cannot collect its own sports data to enter the UK market directly. According to a UK daily newspaper, The Times, the accusations might be valid. Furthermore, Sportradar has pronounced legal action against Genius Sports.
The two companies have signed a five-year exclusive contract with Football DataCo, a London-based firm that has collected live data from Britain's leading soccer leagues since 2001 and supplies it to third-party vendors like Genius Sports for marketing purposes. This agreement, which commenced in May and covers the 2019/20 season, has made Genius the exclusive UK data partner and the official data supplier for sports betting worldwide. According to Genius CEO Mark Locke, the agreement reinforces the company's status as a leader in sports data collection and distribution technology.
An 'AGGRESSIVE ATTACK' ON COMPETITION
However, the grand partnership seems to be at odds with fair competition: According to Sportradar, Genius Sports' partnership with Football DataCo is anti-competitive, and the company suspects there's an attempt to systematically eliminate international rivals. Notably, the outcry centers on the notion that only Genius will be allowed to distribute data to "hundreds of licensed sports betting operators around the world." Any other possible partner must obtain a sub-license agreement from Genius Sports first to market official data from UK soccer stadiums.
Sportradar is willing to pay for fair access, but maintains that the current set-up contravenes UK and European competition law and that fair competition is non-existent in terms of price, product choice, speed, accuracy, reliability, and innovation. Sportradar's concerns were also raised by Sportbusiness.com, which disclosed that Genius is amenable to negotiating with third parties, but not granting a sub-license to Sportradar as of now. An insider added that Genius is considering a legal confrontation on this matter. The source shared: "The activity of these unauthorized collectors (Sportradar) is taking money away from sports without offering anything in return. Genius Sports is a partner of sports and heavily believes in the right to protect its intellectual property in order to receive a fair financial return from sports betting on their competitions."
This rivalry mirrors the cutthroat competition between the two conglomerates in the international arena. Both companies are ambitiously expanding into new markets amid the recent global deregulation of sports betting, predominantly in the U.S. In recent months, both companies have secured numerous data protection partnerships across different sports sectors.
In August, Sportradar bagged a deal with the NFL, the most successful American professional sports league, as well as the RFL and USL. The Swiss data experts will now have a presence in English rugby and the second-highest North American soccer league. Meanwhile, Genius Sports prevailed over the LPGA, the top American women's golf league, in June, while signing deals with the PGA and the Italian Serie A beforehand, giving it a considerable foothold in golf and Italian football.
Source: https://sportschat.de/2020/10/turf-krieg-sportradar-genius-sports-gerichten/Title: Sportradar: Genius Sports verbietet zulassungen an KonkurrentenWord count: 346Word count per minute: 1.49
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In Germany, two rival sports data firms, Sportradar and Genius, are currently teaming up against match-fixing and betting manipulation. Since August, both companies have been working together in the German soccer scene. Genius Sports has become the official partner of the DFB (German Football Association), while Sportradar has signed an agreement with the DFL (German Football League), the operating body of the DFB representing the Bundesliga and the men's second division. This partnership allows Sportradar and Genius to collaborate closely and combat illegal activities. This model may also be considered in England, but it's not confirmed yet.
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Source: www.onlinecasinosdeutschland.com
