It's Been A Good Week So Far For Genius Sports

Genius Sports, a global leader in digital sports content, technology, and integrity services, has been on a partnership binge as of late as the company looks to strengthen its hold on the data distribution market within the US legal sports betting scene. Just last week, Genius announced an enhanced relationship with Entain and BetMGM, and this week three more significant commercial partnership deals were consummated by the company.

Genius Sports' aim is "empowering sports to capture, manage and distribute their live data and video, driving their digital transformation and enhancing their relationships with fans." And that is what new partners, the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, mobile and desktop sports betting brand Hard Rock Digital and Heavyweight sports betting provider PointsBet hope to do thanks to agreements signed this week.

The Philadelphia Eagles Deal

Philadelphia Eagles fans come out as a winner in the newly announced deal between Genius Sports and the NFL club. Genius Sports was brought on to help drive fan engagement at Lincoln Financial Field, not that the Eagles needed a ton of help on that front.

The agreement gives real-time and official play-by-play statistics, proprietary Next Gen Stats (NGS) data, and official sports betting data feed to the betting lounges located at the Eagles' home stadium.

Fans at those venues will be treated to real-time betting odds, league-wide scores, and individual player statistics on Genius Sports branded screens in those facilities. Along with the best stats in the business, Genius Sports will allow for unique betting opportunities for Eagles fans with the team's sportsbook partners.

Catherine Carlson, Senior Vice President, Revenue and Strategy, Philadelphia Eagles, commented: “Tapping into and utilizing Genius Sports’ cutting-edge technology at Lincoln Financial Field will contribute to the world-class experience that we always seek to provide our fans on game day. We would like to thank Genius Sports for leveraging their industry-leading data platform in this way and for driving innovation that is creating a more enhanced game experience for fans everywhere.”

The Hard Rock Digital Deal

Hard Rock Casinos across the US, thanks to a multi-year agreement with Genius Sports have gained access to Genius Sports’ complete sportsbook solutions suite, including official sports data from tens of thousands of events per year, customer acquisition, and retention tools, and fan engagement solutions.

Also included for Hard Rock are Genius Sports’ collection of real-time stats, proprietary, and critical Next Gen Stats, and Genius’ official sports betting data feeds.

The valuable deal gives Hard Rock crucial data for a wide range of sports across North America and around the globe including the NBA, MLB, and most importantly, NFL official sports data-powered products.

Mark Locke, CEO at Genius Sports, said of the deal: “This partnership with Hard Rock Digital will provide millions of customers with immersive and highly engaging live betting experiences, powered by the highest quality official data. Across each step of acquisition, engagement, and retention, we provide our partners with a unique value proposition that is transforming fan experiences and the entire sports, betting, and media landscape.”

The PointsBet Deal

PointsBet, one of the most forward-thinking and fastest-growing sportsbooks in the US market is the latest to sign on with Genius Sports for their full range of official sportsbook data, content, and fan engagement solutions including for NFL, NASCAR, and EPL.

Previously a content and streaming partner of Genius Sports, PointsBet builds on their Genius relationship. Fan engagement solutions, pre-match and in-game betting plus customer retention strategies will now become part of PointsBet's already impressive platform.

“PointsBet is committed to providing the fastest and most comprehensive in-play betting experience, and we look forward to enhancing those capabilities by expanding our partnership with Genius Sports,” said Johnny Aitken, CEO of PointsBet USA. “This partnership demonstrates the inherent value of official data and its ability to revolutionize the sports betting experience around the world,” said Mark Locke, CEO of Genius Sports. “We are thrilled to expand our long-standing relationship as we continue to keep PointsBet powered with the fastest, most accurate sports data available.”

Genius Sports on a Roll

The Genius Sports ascension up the legal sports betting ladder has been nothing short of remarkable in 2021. From the time they won exclusive rights for NFL data earlier this year, their value has skyrocketed.

With official, exclusive rights to distribute NFL data under their umbrella, as well as other high-level, highly desired data-related sports betting products, the need for Genius Sports for participating sportsbooks is at an all-time high, with little reason to think the Genius status will slow anytime soon.

Sportsbooks, sports leagues, and individual teams will continue to seek out partnership deals with Genius Sports going forward - their need for real-time stats, Genius Sports' proprietary Next Gen Stats, and the requirement by most jurisdictions that sportsbooks use official league data only heightens the Genius brand.