Sportradar files legal action against Betgenius as data dispute escalates
Unrelenting row over enforcement of exclusive data rights poised to be settled by Competition Appeal Tribunal
A bitter dispute between two of the industry’s leading data suppliers will finally be settled in court after Sportradar today served legal proceedings against Betgenius and Football DataCo.
Sportradar claims it has not been able to build its own database or collect its own official data this season after Betgenius secured an exclusive data agreement with Football DataCo in May 2019.
Betgenius has been working with Football DataCo and football clubs to enforce the exclusive element of its data deal this season by evicting non-official data collectors from stadiums.
But rival supplier Sportradar insists the enforcement strategy is quashing any chance of a “fair and healthy” competitive environment in the arena of data collection for more than 4,000 football fixtures across the Premier League and English Football League.
Sportradar first threatened legal action in September and the dispute will now be heard by London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) judicial body, although a court date has not yet been set.
“This is a significant decision and one we would have preferred not to have taken, quite frankly,” David Lampitt, Sportradar’s MD of sports partnerships, exclusively told EGR Intel.
“Since the summer, we have tried to find alternative resolutions to the dispute between parties that do not involve an escalation to legal proceedings, but those efforts have not been successful.
“We have got to the point where having exhausted those options, we don’t have another route other than to ask for an independent and specialist tribunal to adjudicate on the issue for us.”
Sportradar said in a statement on its official website that it “is and always has been willing to pay for access” to gain accreditation to a fair system of collection and distribution.
EGR Intel understands Betgenius had been open to the prospect of a sub-licensing deal, similar to the one it held with former rights holders Perform, however terms with Sportradar could not be agreed.
Price is just one sticking point of a potential reconciliation as Betgenius terms dictate that resellers are not permitted to scout over the top of official data.
“We have principally sought for accreditation to be able to collect data,” said Lampitt. “We want to collect our own data to power our own database, and the key issue of this dispute is that we have been forcibly prevented from doing that,” he added.
Switzerland-headquartered Sportradar argues there are no credible alternatives to in-stadia collection as streaming coverage is limited and could infringe on database rights elsewhere.
The Betfair Exchange had to leave 32 UK football matches “unmanaged” at the start of the 2019-20 football season as the operator did not have access to the relevant data.
EGR understands a majority of tier-one operators – including Betfair – are now signed up with Betgenius, after Betfred became the first major bookmaker to agree to the scheme in July.
Sportradar has exclusive rights deals of its own with several leagues, including a newly signed agreement with the NFL.
EGR is awaiting comment from Betgenius and Football DataCo.
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