ROB PHYTHIAN is the co-founder, President & CEO of SportsData. In his position, he is responsible for the business leadership of the company, including corporate operations, business development and strategic partnerships. In Dec. '13, SportsData was acquired by Sportradar AG, which is headquartered in Switzerland and has offices in 13 countries around the world. Prior to SportsData, Phythian was the president of OPEN Sports, a company that develops unique fantasy sports applications. In '08 OPEN Sports became Fox Sports’ exclusive provider of games for FOXSports.com. Phythian talked to SBD Global about the challenges of the business, market differences, security concerns and the future of sports data collection.
On the biggest challenges...
Rob Phythian: Globally, Sportradar collects data for over 200,000 matches per year in more than 30 different sports and this is certainly not an easy task. Besides the actual data collection, the company relies on a sophisticated infrastructure in place to process, distribute and archive all the information which has been collected around the world. Getting the latest match information for every game is a further challenge. When a match in a third or fourth tier league is delayed or canceled, we need to be aware of these changes as it can have an influence on Sportradar’s client offering. Finally, for the number of games we cover, the coordination of in-venue scouts can also be quite challenging as we need to make sure that all matches have a data journalist assigned, in order to guarantee full and accurate coverage.
On differences between the various markets...
Phythian: We try to use standardized tools for our data collection to ensure that we can always deliver the highest quality of data. However, local markets always require local knowledge especially concerning game schedules or particular rules. Therefore, Sportradar uses its partnerships with federations and leagues and an extensive scouting network to get the most up-to-date information from the various markets.
On what clients are looking for...
Phythian: That really depends on the client or our client groups, respectively. For Sportradar’s bookmaker customers in the betting industry, they primarily look for extremely fast and accurate top-line data. That part of the business is all about getting the information as fast as possible with a guarantee that it is correct. In the U.S., at SportsData, we are focused on serving media clients, which include clients from sports broadcasters to fantasy sports to second screens. Media clients require deeper and richer data sets, such as detailed box scores and play-by-play data. They expect information and insights on each team and every play to create the best experience for their customers. Long term, we can see a potential convergence in the requirements of the two markets.
On what makes the company successful...
Phythian: For SportsData’s media customers in the U.S., our value proposition is that they don’t have to worry about any of their data across their digital properties. By us providing them with a comprehensive, reliable, and easy-to-integrate series of data feeds, our customers can focus their efforts on their core business, which may be producing editorial content, or running a fantasy game. For Sportradar clients in the betting market, every transaction has a financial impact. Therefore it is imperative to guarantee accuracy, speed and reliability to maintain our business in the long run. Should an incorrect result be provided, it could mean that the clients lose a significant amount of money. To guarantee the highest possible accuracy, several quality measures and monitoring systems are in place.
On security issues...
Phythian: In terms of security, we need to distinguish between the security of our data and systems and then the security of sports more generally. Both play a very important role in our business. On the one hand, we have to ensure that we provide our clients with secure and accurate data with no downtime. As already mentioned before, incorrect data could have a financial impact on our clients as well as a reputation impact. This is why we have multiple levels of oversight and quality control in place to safeguard our services.
Separately, and uniquely amongst our competitors, we use data to preserve the security and integrity of sport. Our core business and expertise puts us in the unique position to provide sports federations with Sportradar’s Fraud Detection System. This system is trusted by the key stakeholders in global soccer, cricket, rugby and snooker to identify betting fraud and manipulated matches.
On the future of sports data...
Phythian: There are some fascinating new developments in the area of chip technology. Nearly every facet of the game can now be tracked. Chip technology will allow companies like Sportradar to provide deeper data to teams, players and fans. It’s important to acknowledge two elements here. First, a close relationship needs to exist between the data companies, the leagues and the players, to make certain that the data being collected is appropriate to be made public. We need to ask the question, “Does this further the growth and enjoyment of the sport?” Secondly, merely collecting raw data isn’t enough. Companies like Sportradar will need to continue to lead the development of new and useful products and solutions.
Hangin' With runs each Friday in SBD Global.
