The NFL "has invested in European data company Sportradar, which will displace longtime incumbent Stats LLC in September as the league’s exclusive statistics distributor," according to a front-page piece by Kaplan & Fisher of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Sources said that Sportradar will pay about $5M per year over four years "for the league business, in addition to the NFL taking its undisclosed equity stake in the company." Sportradar subsidiary SportsData in February signed a deal with NASCAR, but aligning with the NFL represents Sportradar's "boldest signal yet that it intends to be a serious player in the U.S. market." The NFL "will assume a much more hands-on role with its data distribution than it’s had in the past, a sharp departure from how league data partnerships typically operate." Key to the deal and to the league’s decision to walk away from Stats "is what the league calls 'next-generation stats.'" Sportradar acquired Minneapolis-based SportsData 18 months ago "as its first step into the American market." That unit now "has been rebranded as Sportradar US." The company "has done its expansion strategy without using a U.S.-based sports advisory or consulting firm." Stats "will continue to work with individual NFL teams, particularly with regard to its scouting and player evaluation products, and will still maintain its own independent feed of football data that it sells to various media and fantasy football clients" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/20 issue).
