A global deal
888 Holdings has announced a new sportsbook content partnership with data supplier Betgenius. The agreement will see Betgenius, a subsidiary of Genius Sports, provide its in-play and pre-match content for the operator’s sportsbook brand, 888sport.
data from more than 300 sports competitions
Through the deal, 888 will receive data and pricing services for a number of sports, including soccer, tennis, basketball, and volleyball. The content, which will include data from more than 300 sports competitions, will be utilized by 888sport in all of the operator’s active territories. 888sport will also see the integration of Betgenius’ automated same-game accumulator product, BetBuilder.
Guy Cohen, SVP head of B2C at 888, said: “We are delighted to partner with Betgenius and believe its flexible technology solution will enhance 888sport through high-quality and wide-ranging in-play and pre-match data content.”
Betgenius announced the new agreement on its Twitter page.
888’s sports betting investment
888’s partnership with Betgenius is part of its mission to grow its sports betting market. In March 2019, the operator purchased Irish-based sports betting company BetBright for ￡15m ($19.8m) – a deal Itai Pazner, 888 CEO, described as an “exciting milestone” for the company. It saw 888 take control of BetBright’s technology and product development.
profit could be down by “high single-digit millions of dollars” if sporting activities did not restart
In March of this year, however, 888 issued a profit warning as the COVID-19 pandemic canceled sporting events across the globe. It also projected that its 2020 profit could be down by “high single-digit millions of dollars” if sporting activities did not restart before September. Despite this, the operator said it had experienced a 20% increase in online casino and poker activity.
Betgenius’ battle for soccer data rights
Since 2019, Betgenius has been embroiled in a legal battle in the UK over sports data rights. This came after the company finalised a major betting data partnership with Football DataCo that saw it become the exclusive data supplier for the English Premier League, the English Football League, and the Scottish Professional Football League at the beginning of the 2019/20 soccer season.
Sportradar, another UK-based data provider, argued that the exclusive agreement between Betgenius and the Football DataCo (FDC) breaches UK and EU Competition Law. Earlier this year, Sportradar released a statement addressing its decision to take legal action against the two companies. It said it had “not taken the decision lightly” but had been “unable to find a fair solution.”