Genius Sports wins Danish injunction against rival data firm
Sofia-based subsidiary wins case over alleged duplication of business model and employee 'talent drain'
Genius Sports has won an injunction in the Danish courts against rival sports data firm First Play A/S over the alleged duplication of its business model and alleged poaching of employees from its Sofia office.
The injunction, which was issued by the Court of Copenhagen in December, prevents First Play A/S from “directly or indirectly to carry on activities that involve collection, processing and distribution of sports data” for a period of 18 months.
Stephen Gardner, Genius Sports chief services & delivery officer, claimed the ruling was a vindication for “ethical business practices” and “demonstrates how running your business in a fair and transparent manner is rewarded”.
Genius Sports confirmed it is undertaking similar court proceedings directly in Bulgaria against FirstPlay and relevant individuals.
The case centres around former employees of InPlay Sports Data, a company acquired by Genius Sports in 2018, who later transferred to Genius’ main live data processing centre in Sofia, Bulgaria.
However, soon after the completion of the sale of the business, the employees left Genius and in the period prior to the setting up the new firm, the court alleged additional Genius Sports employees were contacted with a view to recruiting individuals for a new entity.
The employees said they had not intended to establish a new business at the time, abandoning any intention to do so in July 2019.
In addition, the court also alleged emails were sent on two separate occasions seeking to obtain “knowledge of trade secrets/business-related sensitive data” relating to employee salaries and the firm’s sports data portfolio and pricing.
As such, the court ruled that FirstPlay’s actions constituted a “talent drain” on Genius Sports, which is contrary to the Danish Marketing Practices Act.
The court also ordered similar injunctions be issued against both men, together with the payment of DKK150,000 in costs to Genius Sports.
FirstPlay has said the injunctions were “absolutely unfair and don’t reflect reality”, asserting only 6 employees were recruited from Genius Sports and moved of their own free will.
“FirstPlay Ltd is welcoming any candidate’s application and hires people based on their experience, skills and personality, not on whether former employer is X or Y,” the company added.
The company has confirmed it will launch an appeal against the injunctions.
FirstPlay provided the following statement to EGR: “The excitement around FirstPlay has been exemplified in lots of applicants with industry experience applying through job boards to join our new adventure in Sofia.
“Unfortunately the publicity around FirstPlay has been met with strong resistance by Genius Sports who claim that FirstPlay have acted unlawfully and unfairly when attracting a very small number of their previous employees to a new challenge.
“All industries are reliant on good levels of competition in order to evolve and grow which is something FirstPlay have provided within the sports data market.
“FirstPlay is a company that offers new employees a sports data start-up environment with added excitement and dynamism.
“Our team have the opportunity to showcase a lot of creativity on a daily basis which many people in the field find as a very attractive proposition.”
Picture credit: Istock/Ramberg