SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Genius Sports has formed a deal with the Icelandic Club Association (ÍTF) and the Icelandic Football Association (KSI) as an official data, technology, and commercial partner.
In a bid to accelerate the growth of the sport, the joint deal allocates the firm the exclusive rights to manage the ÍTF´s and the KSI’s official data and live video betting streams, as sportsbooks will be able to access new content, played during off-peak windows from April to October outside of the traditional global football calendar.
“This partnership with the ÍTF and KSI is an excellent example of the Genius Sports partnership model and the value we provide,” commented Jonny Katanchian, Head of Commercial Partnerships, EMEA Genius Sports.
“Icelandic football will benefit from our global reach, unique free-to-play and official data capabilities to help expand their sport. Sportsbooks will also be provided with the fastest, highest quality data and video content across thousands of events per year during off-peak windows.”
The firm has stated that the ÍTF can utilise customised Fantasy games including weekly and salary cap modes, alongside ‘pick ‘em, trivia’ and predictor tools to quiz fans and help them decide their content preferences.
The collaboration spans across all major domestic competitions and around 1400 matches a year, and the firm will provide free-to-play solutions, with weekly and season-long content and digital experiences for fans.
Stefán Gunnarsson, Director of Commercial & Marketing at KSI, stated: “We are immensely pleased to have concluded the contracts with Genius Sports, one of the leading players within the field of betting and official data exploitation. We really look forward to the partnership for the upcoming cycle.”
Furthermore, Genius Sports’ Integrity Services, including 24/7 bet monitoring technology and educational workshops to players, coaches, and other participants, will also be available to uphold protection from the threats of match-fixing and betting-related corruption.
Birgir Jóhannsson, CEO of ÍTF, concluded: “We have made an untiring effort during last year to market these rights and now it is bearing fruit.
“These agreements, and those that will follow, will make sure that Icelandic football reaches its next step, for everyone’s benefit, including the clubs, the players and the domestic football community as a whole. There are enormous opportunities ahead.”
In October last year, both organisations also struck a deal with the European Leagues to broadcast its live matches and highlights on ELEVEN and OneFootball. The new partnership now with Genius Sports will look to boost growth of the sport, including the launch of a new Media Hub to collate all live data and video content from each match.
