iGaming Daily

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Data is everything. In the world we living in, few things are more important than information, and having the right data streams is key, especially in this sports betting segment. This has sparked a race between data providers that are constantly looking to improve their reach and elevate their offering. In this scenario, Genius Sports has just announced a deal to acquire Digital Sports and gaming media network Legend. This allows them to connect Legend's global audience and marketing technology with its full range of over 2000 combined sports, media and betting partners via one integrated platform. Welcome to iGaming Daily in another episode brought to you by OptiMove, the creator of positionless marketing and number one player engagement solution for iGaming and sports betting operators. Learn how OptiMove Positionless Marketing is changing how iGaming teams operate. Discover how operators are using OptiMove's Positionless Marketing platform to launch personalized CRM campaigns, dynamically change casino lobbies and bed slips, and create engaging, gamified experiences. Learn more at OptiMove.com. To see how this approach comes to life, OptiMove Connect returns to London on March 11th and 12th, 2026. It is the only user conference where marketers from around the world share real-world results of positionless marketing driving, efficiency and ROI. Register at connect.optimove.com. I'm Fernando Nott, Media Manager for SVC and your host for today's episode, where I'm joined by editor-at-large Ted Memier. Once again, Ted, you are pretty much a stable cast member of IGD by now. It's like, uh I don't even have to be in this anymore. know, I know. Story writers can't get rid of me. That's, I'm fixed guys. Please send your complaints to Andrew McCarran. You sound excited actually. I'm also with us is editor for iGaming expert, Joe Streeter. Joe, how are you today? I'm great. Thanks Fernando. And if Ted is a staple member of the show, a staple cast member of the show, I'll be a bombshell that drops in every now and then unexpectedly. Alright, Bombshells Twitter, but let's stay away from nicknames for now and dive straight into the news because there's a big story uh in the gaming world, of course, the Genius Sports agreement to acquire Legends. So why don't we start by breaking this story down Ted? Okay, I'll take it away. So I think this was like yesterday's Bombshell as you said, and it sees Genius Sports change its profile. and move into media and affiliates by acquiring the media network of Legend. So Legend owns the high ranking sites of covers, which is a big US wagering site and casino.org, which is a heritage kind of casino portal. However, the real deal maker here is Legend's sports syndication and content platform in which it carries an audience of 300 million. Legend is a leader at providing kind of syndicated sports, but in content for the likes of Yahoo Sports Illustrated and NBC, and it's very much in a league of its own on this kind of kind of media discipline. And one of the kind of perspectives that they're adding is that unlike affiliate marketing or kind of other I gaming media channels like syndication drives kind of a much fresher kind of player base that is engaging with first time unique content. A lot of this deal will weigh up in how kind of Genius applies its IPs and sports status into this syndication. But look, at 1.2 billion, this is a heck of a deal and it carries a lot of risks for both parties. It's a deal that's going to be closely monitored by analysts and by observers of iGaming. What do you think this decision by Genius, this risky call, like you just said, tell us about what where the sports tech market is heading and does it signal that scaling sports data alone is no longer enough for them to to edge the competition? Yeah, so I think the levels of risk are kind of based on whether this is a sports media play or whether it's an affiliation play, right? And I think we know that sports media is changing. It's going through this this rapid change. I think that's going to be accelerated by this summer's World Cup. But yeah, as a sports media play, obviously any type of acquisition of this size of this value is always going to be a risk. I think this speaks to just the evolution of sports media and it really bringing these two kind of entities together, bringing their assets together. It's huge. As an affiliation play, obviously a much bigger gamble because we know about the volatility of that sector. We know how quickly things can change when it comes to affiliates and Google rankings and things like that. Yeah. Such an interesting move. Um, I, and I think it really taps into the way the evolution of how sports are being, uh, consumed. of course, is framing this as a media plus data play. So Ted, how significant is that combination compared to the more traditional data of data licensing models in sports? Look, when Genius has not hit that it's kind of diversifying or it's looking, it's been looking for kind of an M &A play for a while. And it's also, I think in terms of kind of the sport tech scene, it's very much an arms race with its main rivals of perform who are owned by Dazone and sports radar. And at the moment that you are seeing these companies kind of buy out any kind of fresh technology and kind of amplify their rights, their media rights and media assets. uh Legends does bring a weapon to genius with its kind of, especially with its indication. And for me, that's the kind of icebreaker of the deal. ah Yes, we see kind of genius moving to the finish place. But for me, what this deal has to prove is how genius kind of integrates and merges its data and intelligence assets with legends. ah This is where kind of I think the deal is going to be scrutinized. And um again, it just goes back to how much they're paying for this asset. Uh, especially for a company that is yet to kind of grow or grow kind of income about the one billion, oh the one billion level. Uh, it's again, I've just got to highlight kind of the risks that this deal carries. Yeah, I agree. I agree with Ted. Um, there's obviously risks involved here, but, I think one thing that legends does bring is they bring that captive audience. They bring that sports, that, that sports audience, uh, that is captive, that is live, that is a new type of audience that is kind of. not just looking to be passive, but is looking to interact with the game and interact with the way they view sports. And Genius really has the ability to enrich that through its data. I know you asked before if data alone is not enough anymore. And I don't think data alone was ever enough, but data is still a key part. And uh Genius being able to bring that data to the table um is huge. uh If I could just, you know, last night and I'm talking, you know, lower leagues here, I was at, Akrington versus Salford, a very lower league game. was on Sky Sports. Um, Akrington go a goal up early and people around me are kind of checking their phones to check Akrington's defensive record. That is a new way of consuming football, especially at that level. Um, and I think it speaks to the importance of such a wide range of data being available. 320 million annual. Visits into the group. That's what legend brings into Genius with this deal. So Joe, how valuable, we were just talking about audience, so how valuable is owned audience at scale right now against that pure data rights or technology? Yeah, I think it's massively valuable. And I think it's, as I kind of said before, it's even more valuable uh when you can also bring something to the table and Genius can do that. This audience that is coming in, they have kind of acquired They're engaged with a new way to kind of um evolve the way they watch sport. And we really do have the perfect litmus test. I know we'll be kind of forward thinking on this pod, trying to work out the risk and if this deal is going to work, we do have that perfect litmus test in the summer when we have the world cup and we have kind of an appetite for data and an appetite for understanding of things and storylines and uh a second screen when you're watching sport. you're dealing with nations that you don't really know about and you're dealing with footballers and the unknown a little bit when it comes to footballers and stars of sport and narrative. yeah, right. think um it's about more than just data. It's, but yeah. So having that captive audiences is huge. naturally um there's a rise in the rights costs for exclusive data deals. um What I wonder with this decision by Genius to acquire Legends is that is media ownership becoming the safer long-term bet over exclusive data deals, I think it's a fair question, but to me this is a two-way sword. And let's remember that betting and gaming services are Genius Sports or remain Genius Sports' biggest units. I think this kind of points back to this arms race that we're seeing in sports betting tech. Genius like sports, trade and perform want to be active across all services of sports betting's value chain. And now it's very much about who controls what. And these changes are going to come at a cost, right? I think that we are going to see that kind of relayed onto the sports books and onto kind of key partners. I just wanted to say that, look, the actions that we're seeing by kind of these suppliers, it's points to nothing is organic anymore. The way these companies are going to grow is primarily through kind of cutthroat M &A and that is going to lead to kind of consequences. uh I think that this deal tells you a lot more about what's happening to the value chains and the partnerships and the relationships between everyone involved in this industry. And of course that arms race in the sport tech uh segment is really fascinating. But so we will continue covering it in the second half of this episode. But right now we're going to do a very quick outbreak and we will be right back. And we're back with more iGaming Daily to continue discussing Genius Sports Deal to acquire legends and what it means for the sports tech market, the sports tech uh industry and uh the dynamic with the competition. between Genius Sports and of course other companies in the segment. So Joe, how does this move change Genius Sports dynamic with the competition? I mean, it's huge, right? I'll be honest, as I'm still recovering from this story yesterday, I'm still recovering from just before the break, Ted's point of there being kind of no room for organic growth, being this kind of being indicative of how the industry is moving and yeah. approaching M &A. Quite the statement, Ted. Very interesting. I'd like to be proven differently. Yeah, very interesting. um yeah, I don't know if I agree, but yeah, I'm kind of still reflecting on that. You know, I guess we wait and see for the second half of the year and moving on. um But this deal would certainly point to that future of uh M &A. Um, and of a real struggle for organic growth. So, no, mean, I think that in terms of change and what is transformative, I think this is more disruptive for kind of the affiliate sector and what it's undertaking at the moment. Right. And I think that you're seeing kind of. We're waiting. We've been waiting for kind of who are going to be kind of the new players in the affiliate scene. And it's clear now that it's going to be genius and sports radar competing against the likes of like better collective. and other big media networks, right? However, that ecosystem's changed. And I think now that you look at an environment where there are certainly kind of bigger fish there that are kind of M &A active. uh Again, how do they kind of, how will genius and sports take on these costs of media and what are the consequences it's yet to play out? Yeah, don't count stats for form out though. Since they have struck a deal with FIFA So there's a lot of major deals like that. There's South Perform with FIFA. There's sports radar with IMG Arena. Now Genius Sports doing this deal with Legend to acquire Legend. seeing all these big moves happening, do you think we're gonna see more of this in the future? Thinking, okay, so uh companies are looking at each other and saying, these guys did this, they acquired the legend or, or genius says, sees the stats performed striking a deal with FIFA and they say, hey, we want to deal like that as well. Do you think this is going to continue to set that the tone for, for these companies? Absolutely. I think, you know, as kind of Ted mentioned, we've, we've, this is the trend. This is what we're going to see. This is the fastest route to scaling. Um, we've seen it with, uh, kind of media platforms as well. Um, yeah, this is the route to scaling, isn't it? Um, and as, as, you know, we talk about, we, we list off some of those firms there as well. We've got some big rights holders in there. So, um, it really is a jungle. Um, but yeah, absolutely. My prediction is that we will see more of this. We will see it just prior to kind of big tournaments and big, sporting events, but yeah, undoubtedly this is the, um, the fast avenue to scaling and to growing. ah of course. There's another question that comes up when seeing all this m mix of worlds, the data world, the data provision, or data providers mixing in with uh media networks like Legends. Are there any regulatory or reputational risks in blending these different areas like sports media, betting affiliates, data? So closely, all under one roof. Hey, this could be an area where these deals see kind of real exposure. And in terms of like, you know, we're seeing kind of sensitivities or media rights, especially in the UK that got raised up in parliament the other day about FIFA and its World Cup stream with reform and how that will be put to market. other section here is again, we're going back to like who owns what. how those products are going to to market and that sensitivity on costs, right? Not every sports wants to be kind of aligned with a sports betting product. And we, know, it's a huge part of how these companies make their money. ah Again, much more kind of sensitivity from the sports in terms of their media, their IP, how it's managed. how, know, who's allowed to use their content and their data rights and for what reasons, right? It's going to become a more kind of complicated world. And especially if you add this component of affiliates and they've been kind of promoting not only gaming services, but other kinds of commercial services onto the customer. um It's going to be very interesting to see how genius or sports radars handles kind of these political elements. They haven't really spoken about this part of deal, so it's good that you raised it up. Yeah, I hardly do anything that's not good, to be honest. But Joe, you want to add anything? Yeah, mean, Ted kind of speaks about the regulatory, potential regulatory blowback there as well. yeah, I think this has been accelerated by wider media, sports media rights deals that are crazy at the moment and they're in a bit of a limbo, but... Um, the reputational risks, um, that come with this too, uh, are also there. Um, you know, every year without failure, uh, you know, January 31st, was deadline day in the UK transfer deadline day. is, um, Sky Sports News, Rife with rumors, um, on, on, on X you see people lamenting that they also have a sports betting platform, but the, two aren't really linked anymore. Sky bet and Sky Sports don't. any links in terms of ownership or anything like that don't think. um But you know there's still this uh reputational link there just through brand and people lament that you know there'll be a rumor on Skysports news and Skybet will be offering markets on this player to go to a certain place. So yeah there are definitely reputational challenges should we say. Ted of course you mentioned Genius Sports. being one of the top contenders in the sports tech segment. Do you this deal makes it uh a platform that others will have to plug into or do you think there might be any other players? Probably it's going to be hard to find a bigger fish, but uh any companies that might target genius in order to acquire it. think you really need a kind of crystal ball in terms of the acquisition. Look, even in technology themselves. There are bigger companies and bigger companies that are going to thrive on date. Look, could Google in the future make a sports play? And if it wants, because, know, that's always a data first company. And then we're now at the birth of AI where, you know, data is such a kind of resource and start and an element that companies want to plug in. Um, where genius and sports radar and perform very clever is that they are. data first, right? And they realize that that's where the future is heading towards. And that is such a kind of incalculable asset that they have. Um, it's going to be an interesting field. If you agree, it seems, uh, but we'll have to hashtag wait and see to, um, see of course what happens with genius sports and how it is deal impacts the company's performance and how it looks in the sports tech world, but to wrap things up, how do you think? this acquisition influences how operators plan major betting moments like the World Cup or other bigger events. Joe, you had m previously mentioned the World Cup in this episode. Yeah, I think that, you know, the World Cup is going to be different to, you know, most other tournaments. I think the second screen consumption of during of the World Cup is going to be so significant. You know, whatever platform that is, whether that's, you know, via an app. whether that's via a streamer, whether that's via a betting platform or just betting sponsored content. I think a lot of people are going to be having the World Cup on their main screen and then they're going to have uh secondary content on another screen. um you know, whoever can kind of tap into that second screen is going to be the winner that that that provides an opportunity for like the acquisition we've just seen. It provides an opportunity for for companies like that. to kind of, that, know, all those companies we've mentioned as well to kind of thrive and really, you know, penetrate an audience whilst they are watching the world cup, is whilst they are watching live football, not pregame or post game, but during the game. And that is quite something that is quite, um, quite a chance to really tap into an engaged audience. for me, I think when I entered kind of an era of exclusivity, um, um, I think these sports providers, They realize that the field is changing. And I think that in terms of sports books, they realize that this is now the era of they have and have nots. And I think they're going to start kind of putting a premium, much higher premium on the exclusive IPs and data that they have from leagues. The costs are going to go up, right? But the partnerships are going to harden. It's to our audiences, I think. The only thing that I can guarantee is that there's going to be drama down the road. 1.2 billion deal for Genius Ports and a Genius team to cover it on iGamingDaily. So Ted, Joe, thank you very much. Thank you very much Anaya MacDonald for producing this episode. I'm Fernando Nott and to our listeners out there, we'll see you in the next one. Goodbye.