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Sportradar sends a message about protecting its tennis data

Sportradar has sent a message that it is prepared to protect its data rights and willing to go to some lengths to make sure that the work the firm puts into its data business is not undervalued. To that end, it has now announced it has agreed a settlement with BetConstruct and two unnamed bookmakers regarding its database rights.

Sportradar believes that the specialist collection, management and distribution of sports data is core to its business. 

In a statement, it said: “The Sportradar group of companies have together invested a great deal of time, energy and resource into the creation and management of proprietary databases of sports data, often in partnership with national and international rights holders such as the International Tennis Federation (the ITF), the international governing body of tennis.”

Sportradar revealed that it has recently settled legal proceedings issued in the High Court in London on 29 September 2017 against BetConstruct and two bookmakers in relation to their use of live tennis data from ITF events and tournaments, which was not licensed by Sportradar or the ITF.

The parties have now reached a confidential agreement to resolve all claims involving historic use of ITF live data, with BetConstruct paying Sportradar an undisclosed monetary sum and agreeing to take a licence from Sportradar in relation to data from the ITF database going forward with the right to grant sub-licences to the two bookmakers to use the data.

The company said: “By issuing proceedings, Sportradar has underlined its firm belief in the central importance and value of databases, and the database right, to this industry, and as a global data and content business it will take all necessary and available steps, in any jurisdiction, to protect its database rights against unauthorised use.

“The agreement reached also demonstrates that all parties to the proceedings are firmly committed to the integrity of the sports betting ecosystem, and that BetConstruct and the two bookmakers support Sportradar’s desire to enable fans to enjoy sports betting in a safe and quality assured environment.”

The agreement comes as the sport of tennis is taking a closer look at the use of its data as part of its review into its integrity problems. One of the solutions suggested in a recent report is the limiting of live data on matches for the betting industry although such an approach seems likely to receive opposition from a range of stakeholders.

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