2015 saw a number of headline grabbing Official Data Partnerships involving some of the biggest names in world sport. In the first of a two part series, Jody MacDonald a Senior Associate and sports data and technology expert at the UK’s leading sports law firm Couchmans LLP explains some of the key features of these partnerships and why official sports data is an important sports tech trend to follow in 2016.
The Sports Data Market
Sports data is a collective term used to describe a wide range of information relating to sports events including anything from the time and date of a match to the fact that a goal or point has been scored or even the distance covered by a specific player on the field.
The global market for sports data is experiencing rapid growth due to an increase in demand from: fans, news media, broadcasters, sponsors, professional coaches and athletes. There is a also a distinct (and lucrative) market for the supply of sports data to betting companies who need fast, accurate and reliable data in order to manage their markets, set odds and settle bets – particularly in the context of live in-play betting. The use of sports data for betting and the issue of how sports bodies might engage with the legal betting industry are explored in the second article in this series.
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Until recently,mainly the demand for sports data was met by companies who collect data by watching live public broadcasts of events, copying official online data sources (where available) or sending unofficial data “scouts” to events to collect and transmit data from within venues without the permission of the event organiser.
These unofficial operators generate significant profits for themselves but make little or no contribution to the sports on which they rely. A growing number of sports bodies are now fighting back by taking control of the collection and supply of their own official data and unlocking new revenue streams and a host of other benefits in the process.
Official Data
For their entry into the sports data market most sports bodies partner with one or more organisations (often referred to as “data resellers”) who have the specialist skills and resources to provide data and related services which meet the needs of customers in the betting and/or media markets. Competition between data resellers has never been more intense and industry heavyweights including Perform, Genius Sports Group, STATS, Sportradar and IMG regularly lock horns over official data partner rights being offered by sports bodies.
Some sports already collect a significant amount of official data themselves in conjunction with the operation of their events. This is the case, for example, in tennis where the umpire scores the match and records other data directly from the chair, or motorsport where sectional and lap times are recorded to a central timing system via transponders on the cars and around the track. Here the focus of an official data partnership will be on how the data partner can help to formalise or improve the collection infrastructure and package the official data into a saleable product.
Where existing official data collection is less developed, the data partner will be granted exclusive rights of access to collect official data. This typically involves the use of a seat in the press box for every event with an unobstructed view and access to a dedicated broadband internet connection.
An individual engaged by the data partner will then record data using a tablet or other mobile device running bespoke software designed to allow specific incidents during an event to be logged in an intuitive way while the collector keeps his/her eyes on the action. In-venue data collectors are supported by staff at the data partner’s operation centre who monitor live video feeds of the same events for validation and cross-checking purposes. More sophisticated data partnerships can involve the data partner being allowed to install additional cameras in venues, using microchips or wearable tech to collect detailed performance and tracking data from the field of play.
Once collected, official data is supplied to customers either in a raw data feed or as packaged data products and services such as live score centres, live text commentary, data visualisations or player performance indexes.
Official vs Unofficial
The official data offered by the data partner will still have to compete to some extent with unofficial data referred to above that may have existed for many years. For an official data partnership to be commercially successful customers need to be convinced that the official data is faster and more accurate, detailed and reliable than the equivalent unofficial services.
The data partner will be responsible for ensuring that its technical and operational infrastructure is up to scratch and that it has priced the official data competitively. But the sports body can also assist in a number of ways including: taking steps to disrupt unofficial in-venue collection; introducing a small delay to any live data being made publicly available for free (e.g. via an official league or club website or app) to ensure that anyone copying this can only produce an inferior service; and allowing the data partner (and its customers) to use official logos and other content to help to differentiate official from unofficial data.
Benefits for Sports Bodies
Official data partnerships offer a host of benefits for sports bodies.
In terms of direct financial benefits, data partners will usually pay the sports body a fixed rights fee and/or a share of revenue generated from sales of official data. The most lucrative market for sports data is supply to the betting industry and this is explained in more detail in part 2 of this series. Some high-profile sports bodies can generate significant revenue from supplying their official data to media and other non-betting customers. In other cases official data products and services might be made available to fans for free on a sponsor-funded basis.
In addition to rights fees and revenue share, the data partner may also provide free or significantly discounted raw data feeds and packaged data products and services to the sports body and its member teams which can be used across their digital and social platforms to engage with fans and grow the reach and profile of the competitions. Similar products and services might also be offered to the sports body’s broadcasters and sponsors enhancing the value of these rights packages and even creating new sponsorship categories such as “Official Data & Statistics Partner”. An increasingly important element of official data partnerships is the professional coaching tools that the data partner may provide for use by players and teams to aid performance, injury management and talent spotting.
Official data partnerships are a relatively new phenomenon but with the benefits on offer it is not surprising that many sports bodies will be looking at them very closely in 2016.