How the industry came together in the toughest of times

I will never forget that day in late March. The day live sport ground to a halt overnight. My phone did not stop ringing then and it has not stopped since.

The industry, like so many of us, was thrown into the unknown. More importantly, people were losing their lives to this awful illness and we had to take urgent action.

Companies around the world had to adapt quickly, making sure their employees were safe and well and that they had everything they needed to do their jobs. We all then had to find a new way of working. This was no easy feat for us with thousands of staff spread across the world, but the way everyone pulled together was incredible and gave me an enormous feeling of pride. I am sure it has been the same for many other CEOs in our industry due to the unprecedented nature of what we have faced.

Lightning response

When sporting content all but disappeared, we contacted all our customers and partners and made ourselves available 24/7 for any support they needed. What we didn’t know at that stage was that their hour of need was to turn into months of uncertainty with both retail and online sportsbooks seeing what should have been healthy revenues simply evaporate.

We needed to do something so we responded at speed, by offering a vastly expanded range of alternative betting content, much of it free of charge. To deliver that content we had to both innovate further and accelerate the process of taking products that were in development to market in just a matter of days. This was unchartered territory, but we were able to pivot rapidly and offer customers valuable revenue-generating content that engaged bettors in new ways.

Much of this technology will also likely shape and transform both our and the industry’s approach to data-driven products in the future.

I have long been a believer in the future value of AI, for example, but its use across sports betting has been expedited due to the conditions we have faced this year. Its impact is already being felt but it is technologies such as this that will transform both our sector, and our world, faster than we had anticipated. From instantly modelling new sports, sporting formats and future events weeks ahead of schedule to the rapid creation of new digital betting products, AI and machine learning will rapidly transform the way sports data is being designed, digitised and delivered.

Sense of responsibility

One of my key personal learnings from this unique year has been the realisation of our collective responsibility within the sports, betting and gaming ecosystem, and how central we all are to ensuring both its short and long-term success and sustainability. We truly are part of the engine room of the industry and I have never felt this as strongly as I have during the last 12 months.

The sector met the crisis head on with many other leaders coming together when we needed to the most and I take my hat off to them. We all had to innovate to provide fans with content at a time when there was little or no sport, but we also collectively recognised the increased risks posed to vulnerable players during this crisis and instantly upgraded processes, embracing more responsible approaches to safer gambling.

Bringing sport back

Then came yet another challenge – the resumption of live sport. It may have returned without fans, but its continuation has given us all moments during which we can forget the realities of the world, and without its resumption and ongoing coverage, many would have struggled even more.

We played a central role in its return. Tennis made the first steps with new exhibitions and tournaments; next came football with the K-League in South Korea and the Bundesliga in Germany; followed swiftly by F1, where we joined forces with the most global sport to bring never-before-seen betting data to fanatical fans and new audiences.

Despite these and many other considerable challenges, this year has brought out the best in people with both the industry and wider global communities coming together to achieve a common goal – to get through 2020 and to look forward to what will now be the biggest year of sport we have likely ever seen.

Closer to home, we would simply not have driven through this storm had it not been for thousands of talented and dedicated individuals. They showcased their true talent this year in their achievements, their speed of thought and quality of work, their ability to pivot and to turn their hands to products and services our partners needed most.

Next year will remain challenging and sports will continue to be played in unfamiliar surroundings. However, fans are gradually being permitted to return to stadiums and I am confident this will increase, while the sheer volume and quality of sporting entertainment scheduled for 2021 is something to savour.

2021 and beyond will look very different to how we thought it would, but through our continued resilience and focus on development and innovation both Sportradar and the industry are now more prepared than ever for the unexpected, and I’m confident we will all emerge stronger and more successful as a result.