Sportradar today is announcing the launch of emBET, which the company hails as an industry-first product that integrates live betting content into OTT streaming in real-time. Sportradar intends to provide a wide spectrum of real-time data -- everything from point spreads to over-under insights to player props -- to keep fans engaged with content during live streaming broadcasts for a longer period of time. The introduction of emBET, which highlights the increasing convergence of the sports media and betting ecosystems, also aims to reduce fans' need for a second-screen experience because of the amount and variety of data and insights the platform will offer. "You're just not looking at the occasional (point) spread, money line or over-under that might appear," Brian Josephs, Sportradar VP/U.S. Sales & Media, told SBJ. "We have all those in a live setting, along with player props. We're talking live odds, live insights and the interactivity and bringing them together. We think marrying that betting content with the interactivity is a game-changer because sports is not a passive viewing experience. We are taking a lot of that engagement that takes place off platform and bringing it into that viewing experience."
AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: Sportradar created emBET in partnership with audience engagement platform LiveLike. Josephs said that emBET consists of Sportradar's content and personalization engine combined with the LiveLike interactivity to help bring that to life. It is expected to benefit rights holders with longer viewer engagement. What's more, Josephs said emBET will also be an effective way to activate sports betting partnerships and help drive that audience back to sportsbook partners. In addition, emBET was designed to be customizable as well as extremely configurable, allowing emBET to seamlessly plug into existing video players.
COLLABORATION IS KEY: Josephs anticipates rights holders, leagues and Sportradar to align to determine which data should be used at what time to best drive bets and engagement. He said that it's still undetermined which live streams of sports will first see the integration of emBET. Sportradar is an official partner of the NBA, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, FIFA and UEFA. "We see emBET as a culmination of a lot of things we have been working on the last several years based on how the sports fan has evolved," Josephs said. "Being able to bring that together, being able to make it widespread across the market and bring that betting content and interactivity into a stream, we're excited. We see it as foundational because streaming is going to be the primary experience, and bringing this to life will get this ball rolling."
