The collection of high quality, live sports data has become indispensable for sportsbooks as
in-game
betting has continued to grow rapidly across the world. In mature markets such as the United Kingdom, major sportsbooks report that
in-game
betting currently represents the majority of Gross Gaming Revenue (“GGR”), which represents the difference between the amount of money players wager and the amount that they win, making it a critical offering for all major sportsbooks.
In-game
betting typically increases in popularity as markets mature, and it is expected that the United States will follow suit.
Genius’s live data services, alongside other
value-add
solutions, are deeply integrated into nearly all regulated sportsbook operators, comprising over 500 sportsbook brands worldwide. None of these sportsbooks currently take Genius’s entire product offering and so these integrations provide a clear runway for future growth. Genius provides customized solutions depending on its customers’ requirements, ranging from supplying live data feeds,
in-game
oddsmaking and risk management, to managing a sportsbook’s entire
back-end
operation. Genius customers include global sportsbook brands such as bet365, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Entain (formerly GVC), as well as leading B2B gaming technology platform providers such as Scientific Games, IGT, Kambi and DraftKings B2B (formerly SBTech).
In order to supply sportsbooks with a sufficient volume of sports data, Genius has built a broad portfolio that covers over 285,000 events, and over 190,000 events under official data and/or streaming rights agreements (of which approximately 120,000 are exclusive). This includes official data and trading for leagues such as the English Premier League (“EPL”), National Football Association (“NFL”), and National Basketball Association (“NBA”), as well as several events that are popular with bettors. Due to the need for sportsbooks to provide their customers with deep betting markets and content at all times of the day, Genius believes that its critical mass of events is vital to the operation of these companies.
Genius has established long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with sports leagues and federations and has acquired the rights to collect and monetize their data. Genius utilizes a network of more than 7,000 highly trained statisticians across over 150 countries who work on the ground, pitch-side and court-side, to capture data in real-time using Genius software.
In exchange for these sports data rights, for the majority of Genius’s league partners, the Company provides vital technology infrastructure solutions, including competition management software, scoreboard technology, athlete registration, data collection and distribution,
fan-facing
websites, officiating, fan engagement tools, performance data tracking solutions, and coaching analysis tools. The integration of sports leagues and robust human infrastructure gives Genius a highly diversified rights portfolio and deep competitive position.
Genius’s technology and services extend beyond the symbiotic sports data-sports betting relationship. The Company provides data-driven performance marketing technology and services to a range of advertisers, primarily sportsbooks and iGaming brands, which effectively optimize player acquisition, retention and engagement costs. Genius’s multiple data sets, including real-time statistics, betting odds, behavioral data and engagement data, enhance its digital marketing solutions and further deepen its relationships with its customer base.
The Company was
co-founded
by the current Chief Executive Officer, Mark Locke, as a software company which specialized in aggregating sports betting data. It then evolved into providing outsourced oddsmaking solutions to sportsbooks. The Company then expanded into a software provider to sports and media technology companies and, in 2015, Genius Sports Group was formed.
With a growing portfolio of betting customers that were driving increasingly large volumes of
in-game
bets, the Company and its leadership team realized the importance of live sports data and began to develop the technology