- Sportradar to use Ad:s platform to help the NHL source betting partners overseas
- Puck and player tracking data included in contract which starts from 2021/22 season
The National Hockey League (NHL) and Sportradar have finalised a ten-year extension to their partnership, giving the Swiss-based company the exclusive global distribution contract for the North American ice hockey league’s data.
Sportradar now takes on the designation of the NHL’s official betting data rights, official betting streaming rights and official media data rights partner, as well as an official integrity partner.
In addition, Sportradar will also distribute live streams to gambling operators in all legal markets and utilise its Ad:s platform to help the NHL source betting partners overseas. In addition to the data and streaming rights, the new deal also adds more marketing elements for Sportradar.
As an integrity services provider, Sportradar will deploy its Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS) to proactively help safeguard the NHL by monitoring global betting activity and trends.
Initially reported in August 2020, Sportradar and the NHL have reportedly been finalising the deal during the ongoing season, with the partnership set to kick in for the 2021/22 campaign.
According to Sportico, bidding of the contract last year passed US$250 million, although final terms and whether the deal included any equity in Sportradar for the NHL have not been confirmed.
“The NHL has been a terrific partner for Sportradar for nearly seven years,” said Carsten Koerl, Sportradar’s chief executive. “This agreement truly highlights the global, multi-vertical, wide-ranging capabilities of Sportradar’s technology solutions and reflects how we use data to create engaging, personalised experiences for our partners and customers.”
The contract also includes data from the NHL’s new puck and player tracking system, with sensors providing the ability to track almost all aspects of the game in real time.
“We’re admittedly just at the starting point of this journey on tracking and using the data to tell stories,” Stephen McArdle, the NHL’s senior executive vice president for digital media and strategic planning, told Sportico.
“Having another partner who is fully invested in learning along with us the right ways to share that data, to present that data, and in the sports betting context the right ways to use that data, that’s very important to us.”
The NHL and Sportradar agreed their first partnership in 2015, initially on data before adding integrity services in 2016.
The announcement comes as the NHL’s Stanley Cup finals get underway to decide the 2021 champion. NBC, the league’s outgoing domestic broadcast partner, has confirmed it will air the first two games of the 2021 series on the premium tier of its Peacock streaming platform.
The NHL and Sportradar have finalised a ten-year extension to their data partnership
