Exclusive: Betfair and SkyBet sign up to IMG tennis data deals
Power 50 operators also agree to sign agreement with Tennis Integrity Unit as part of deal.
A number of leading gaming operators have signed up to receive data from IMG Media , a division of sports rights and media group IMG Worldwide, for events on the ATP and WTA tennis tours.
eGR Operator of the Year SkyBet is among the companies to sign up for the data, alongside Betfair, Interwetten, Webis brand betinternet, and a number of others.
IMG opened a tender for the data in October last year with a limited number of packages available at Gold, Silver, Bronze and entry levels. It is unclear which operators have paid for which packages, however all of the named operators have taken either Gold, Silver or Bronze packages.
The Gold-level packages entitle operators to live ‘from-the-umpire’s-chair’ data for 15,000 matches over the course of the year and cost $495,000, while the entry-level packages – worth $240,000 – cover 4,000 core matches.
Freddie Longe, vice president of IMG Media, told eGaming Review: “We’re delighted with the abundance of new partnerships that we’ve forged in such a short period of time and we expect to add several more in the next few weeks.
“The significant uptake in the service, particularly in the ‘Gold’ package, clearly illustrates that the ATP and WTA have created the market leading tennis data product for this sector,” he added.
The tender was opened following IMG’s acquisition of a majority stake in data company Enetpulse last year. Enetpulse had previously provided tennis data to operators including bet365, William Hill and Paddy Power.
All operators signing up to receive the tennis data have also committed to signing memoranda of understanding with the Tennis Integrity Unit, to demonstrate efforts to work against corruption in the sport.
Longe noted: “The progressive operators recognise that in exchange for the mutual pursuit of the prevention of corruption, they can now benefit from the sports federations high quality media products that will serve to enrich their platforms further and put them ahead of their competition.”