Arkadium is partnering with Sportradar to create the first real-time, AI-powered visualizations of sports data. These interactive products are designed to appeal to both everyday fans and sports bettors.
Arkadium has existing partnerships with a number of major media publishers, and its InHabit product automatically generates relevant graphical elements based on the content of stories. The company will now have access to Sportradar’s real-time sports data feed. The Swiss data company is the official data partner of the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, NASCAR, FIFA, and UEFA, and has a host of betting partnerships.
With this new deal, Sportradar will facilitate ads for sportsbooks running alongside InHabit graphics. Those visualizations will also create native sponsorship opportunities for bookmakers seeking to target new customers, retain old ones, or encourage more quick bets.
“Our partnership represents the future of sports marketing,” said Kenny Rosenblatt, Arkadium’s president and co-founder, in a statement, “one where fans are deeply engaging with the players and teams they love, while providing publishers and advertisers the time, attention and relevant audiences that they’re looking for.”
InHabit generates its visualizations, called factives, related to games and matches in the NBA, the NFL, MLB, NCAA football and basketball, the English Premier League, and the UEFA Champions League. Among its partners are the Associated Press, USA Today, Tribune Media, CNN, The Washington Post, MSN, the NBA, and SLAM. Arkadium estimates that it reaches 70 million U.S. sports fans each month.
“Sportradar is obsessed with enhancing the fan experience and we are continually striving to create engaging and unique products that offer the best solutions for publishers and broadcasters to monetize,” added Jonathan Earle, Sportradar social media customer director. “The way in which sports fans are consuming content has dramatically changed and fans are looking for more interactive, visual stories to help keep them informed of the latest sports news. Partnering with Arkadium will help us to lead the next generation of sports engagement.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Arkadium has appealed to publishers because use of its InHabit tool has shown an increase in reader duration and engagement on their websites. The addition of Sportradar data will enable more sophisticated, real-time visualizations. And a notable word in the announcement was “bettors,” as Arkadium seeks to create factives that could inform a more serious sports observer looking for insight as he or she places a wager.