Exclusive: Betgenius in IMG tennis data partnership
Open tender process to provide ATP and WTA tennis data and turnkey solution to betting operators.
Sports data and software provider Betgenius has inked an exclusive deal with IMG Media for the distribution of pricing and trading services alongside the multinational media rights and management corporation’s data on tennis’ elite tournaments, following IMG’s acquisition of a majority stake in sports data business Enetpulse.
A tender has been issued for contracts on four different tiers, with the top level covering in excess of 15,000 matches per annum across the ATP and WTA tours and the ATP Challenger Tour from 2013 to 2016.
There are 12 licences available at the “gold” level (over 15,000 matches), 15 “silver” (offering 11,000 matches), 18 “bronze” (8,000 matches) and an unlimited number on the “entry level” covering 4,000 “core” matches. The cost of packages, according to a document seen by eGaming Review, ranges from US$240,000 to $495,000 per year.
The tender will be distributed to more than 100 egaming operators, who have been given until the end of this month to express an interest. It is thought that many of the companies that bid for the various licences on offer will be small to medium sized operators that do not the sufficient resources to trade the amount of matches across the tennis calendar, which is where the Betgenius services come in.
Betgenius chief executive Mark Locke told eGR the deal will see the company become IMG’s exclusive B2B partner. “Alongside IMG’s data we can offer other complementary services such as front-end management, pricing services, outsourced trading and so on.
This represents a broadening of the five-year deal agreed between Enetpulse and the sport’s two governing bodies in January this year, with deals for the “straight from the umpire’s chair” data being signed with operators including bet365, William Hill and Paddy Power.
Locke added: “Most operators don’t have the necessary trading and development resources to integrate this volume of matches into their offering. Our ambition is that by adding our services to the equation that we can help IMG reach a wider client base who would not have otherwise been in a position to take advantage of the data – we are essentially providing them with a turnkey tennis solution.”
While some operators will continue to take a direct data feed from IMG, Betgenius will be well placed to service those that cannot. eGR anticipates a significant degree of competition for the tiered contracts.
IMG’s tennis data rights and its partnership with Betgenius runs until the end of 2016.