DraftKings became the first US sportsbook to sign up for the Genius Sports official NFL data feed.
The two companies announced a new partnership Thursday that sees DraftKings take on a broad range of Genius data and content services.
That includes:
- Official NFL data
- Official league data from other leagues such as the English Premier League, Liga MX and NASCAR
- The automated BetBuilder product from Genius/Sportscast
- Live streaming for more than 170,000 events a year
What is official NFL data?
The NFL official league data product covers the “full player lifecycle,” per Genius.
That means using assets like NFL.com and NFL logos on ads to acquire customers and then retain them.
As for the data itself, it will be around six seconds quicker than unofficial versions. It also includes proprietary NFL data like Next Gen Stats, taken from tracking chips in player shoulder pads.
What DraftKings said
DraftKings chief business officer Ezra Kucharz said the agreement was “mutually beneficial:”
“We are excited to expand on the capabilities of our products and provide new and exciting features for our customers like single-game parlays, while having confidence in the integrity of the data we utilize to fuel our offerings.”
A key domino falls
The deal marks an important inflection point for Genius which has seen its stock drop around 40% from its highs in recent weeks.
The company won the rights to distribute official NFL data back in April. But it paid handsomely for the opportunity thanks to a competitive bidding process.
Genius subsequently faced criticism from operators for the cost it tried to impose.
However, now that the first domino has fallen, other large US sportsbooks will almost certainly follow DraftKings.
$GENI was up 9% in early trading to $17.30.
‘Historic’ deal for Genius
DraftKings was always a strong candidate to take the official feed. The operator is one of three NFL “tri-exclusive official sports betting partners,” along with FanDuel and Caesars.
Genius CEO Mark Locke said the deal was a “historic” achievement for his company:
“This partnership reinforces our commitment to official sports data and demonstrates its intrinsic value in helping our sportsbook partners stand out from the competition.”
“Our data, trading, streaming and marketing services deliver a complete set of sportsbook solutions that are backed by the largest leagues in world sports, including the NFL.”
NFL chief growth and strategy officer Christopher Halpin said the league was committed to creating a “highly engaging, secure and sustainable sports betting environment for fans to enjoy.”
