Sportradar has won an exclusive sports betting data rights contract with the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), which represents the national football associations of South America.
The announcement of the major data rights agreement comes in the same week that Genius Sports inked an extension with the NFL of a multi-year, exclusive data partnership. Genius Sports, the archrival of Sportradar, also landed an expanded, exclusive deal last month with three English soccer leagues, including the English Premier League. The recent data partnerships underscore the intensely competitive market for sports betting data worldwide.
Under Sportradar’s agreement with CONMEBOL, the company received betting rights for all soccer matches organized by the confederation, including Libertadores Under-20, CONMEBOL Libertadores Futsal (men’s and women’s matches), as well as CONMEBOL Libertadores Beach Soccer.
Match integrity implications
As part of the deal, Sportradar won exclusive global audio and video betting rights for CONMEBOL, according to the data provider. It marks the first time that the confederation will offer AV betting rights for club competitions in the region. The confederation is home to 2022 FIFA World Cup champion Argentina as well as Brazil, the global leader with five World Cup titles. Uruguay, another team from the region, owns two World Cup championships.
Since 2019, Sportradar has provided CONMEBOL with compliance, risk and governance services through its Intelligence & Investigations Unit. The division, according to Sportradar, has a global team of due diligence experts, intelligence specialists, and investigators. Among its duties, the unit provides eligibility checks on the senior appointments of the confederation and its member associations.
A statement from Major League Soccer. pic.twitter.com/7oZKKRqitV
— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) May 11, 2023
In May, a match-fixing scandal rocked the Brazilian soccer landscape when state prosecutors charged 16 individuals, including seven professional soccer players, in a comprehensive scheme.
While Genius provides official data and odds for the Brazilian Football Confederation and the Copa do Brasil, it does not appear that either company has exclusivity on data rights for the nation’s top soccer leagues.
Three years from now, the World Cup will return to North America when the U.S., Canada, and Mexico serve as tri-hosts for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. On the women’s side, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup begins July 20 in Auckland, New Zealand.
