Sports data company Sportradar has signed a multiyear agreement to supply content to The Associated Press, representing another big contract victory for the fast-growing operation.
Sportradar’s Minneapolis-based U.S. hub will supply sports data such as scores, statistics and leaderboards to the AP’s 1,400 daily newspaper members and thousands of broadcast and digital customers. The agreement is designed as a prelude to a likely expansion into higher-end data such as motion-tracking-based content and other next-generation statistics.
Sportradar replaces Stats LLC as the AP’s primary outside supplier of agate content, a position Stats held for more than two decades. The AP was a co-owner of Stats before San Francisco-based venture capital firm Vista Equity Partners acquired Stats two years ago. The alignment between Sportradar and the AP was roughly a year in development.
“This is a true blue-chip enterprise client,” said Tom Masterman, Sportradar chief revenue officer of U.S. operations. “They are a gold standard in our industry, so this is clearly a big boost for us. We’re excited for not only what this is now, but what we hope this partnership will become.”
Financial terms were not disclosed. Sportradar and the AP also are working on a companion deal in which the data company will become a licensed reseller of AP content. Stats previously held those rights exclusively.
“We see a ton of flexibility with Sportradar, and particularly impressive to us was a real willingness on their part to work on a variety of different projects and embrace new ideas,” said Barry Bedlan, AP deputy director of sports products.
Sportradar’s acquisition of the AP business follows a run of new partnerships over the past 18 months, including deals with the NFL, NASCAR and the NHL, and a $44.2 million funding deal last fall that involved Monumental Sports & Entertainment Chairman Ted Leonsis’s Revolution Growth, Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
