Stats Perform’s multi-award winning Opta and RunningBall data, OptaAI tools and Bet LiveStreams platform are mainstays of front- and back-end operations at sportsbooks and platforms globally.
SBC News spoke to long-time SVP of Betting, John Harlow, about the sports data and AI giant’s latest offerings, its plans for next year’s World Cup, and the growing demand from its customers for context and not just content.
SBC News: What’s new at Stats Perform and Opta?
John Harlow: We’ve had a busy few months! The 2025 Opta Forum in New York, SBC Americas, iGB and major events to cover with our products and content like the NBA Finals, Concacaf Gold Cup, Club World Cup and Women’s Euros… it feels like our teams have never been more active!
We’ve signed multiple new partnerships for Opta Betting, RunningBall, Bet LiveStreams, our Content Player Pro and the Opta Content Agency. We’ve also got multiple clients integrating our upgraded, next generation Dynamic Betting Stats API for men’s and women’s football ahead of the new European season.
This is the Opta API specifically built to power contextual scoreboards and stats trackers that are displayed right alongside specific bet options and markets, and in the betslip, at scale. It’s now got even more Opta data and is even more intuitive and easy to implement.
The vibe we’re getting from clients is it is probably the most powerful API they could integrate between now and the World Cup. I think it’s because it’s tailor-made to grow player stats betting and bet builders, and everyone is locked-in on making those products even more popular and more entertaining.
It’s also because operators are in fierce attention wars, and want to give their bettors a richer, stickier experience, so they don’t have to research or track bets elsewhere.
SBC News: What else can operators do with Stats Perform for next year’s World Cup?
JH: We released a full content and data plan for the 2026 FIFA World Cup last month – more 
than a year ahead of the tournament, because we know the best ideas and game changing product experiences take craft and time.
At the end of this month we’re hosting a webinar showing the value to operators of ‘Lighting Up’ their World Cup offering by integrating betting content comprehensively and consistently across all the touchpoints in the customer journey.
This includes in their product UI / UX, in the markets they offer, and in the context provided alongside markets. It also extends to the content they publish editorially, to videos on social, in promos, in ads and paid placements. And it means content in multiple formats – from stats trackers to rolling 24/7 sports news video.
The line between betting and media has been getting ever blurrier for sportsbooks and bettors, and the World Cup will see that line become completely invisible.
SBC News: What have Stats Perform’s partners been up to?
JH: We’ve been busy because our partners have been busy, particularly on their front-end experiences and the way they provide context and information to players. Some of the highlights include:
Bet365 have begun a series of updates incorporating new pre-match Opta data across a variety of dedicated player markets pages, for multiple sports.- Bilyoner released a brand-new way for their players to receive useful notifications about matches, fueled by real-time Opta expected goals (xG).
- Betano are promoting same-game multis by combining Opta’s predicted line-ups into an intuitive bet-builder experience.
- Toto in the Netherlands are one of a number of operators to have upgraded their real-time football match centre to our all-in-one Content Player Pro, significantly increasing the real-time data and context their players have for every match.
- We’ve onboarded major new pricing and trading partners to our accredited Opta for Betting roster ahead of the new seasons, meaning more operators globally will be able to launch the service in their regions.
- SBC News: What results are operators seeing from integrating Stats Perform services?
JH: We recently published a powerful case study featuring the impact of integrating our contextual, betting-focused insights for a wide range of markets like corners, goals and both teams to score.They’re short, they’re easily understood, available in lots of languages, for hundreds of competitions and different sports. They utilise the Opta name for trust and credibility. They provide the context that helps a bettor quickly make sense of an available betting market, or a pre-produced same game multi – and quickly make a betting decision.
The platform provider Newton blended this localised, editorial-style content right next to relevant betting markets.
The case study shows how they saw double-digit bet growth for markets featuring the Opta insights, compared with those without.
We’ll unpack these results in more detail in our product update at the end of July. If you work in trading, product or marketing at sportsbook or platform – I promise it’ll be worth your time.
You can sign-up here: https://www.statsperform.com/resource/product-update-context-content-to-light-up-every-world-cup-market/
SBC News: Any early content ideas for the FIFA World Cup?JH: You’ll have to join us on the 30th July for our full list! Here’s three I like…
- 24/7 rolling, branded World Cup news video channel inside your betting app.
- On-brand visual content to drive engagement for all market types, including player stats markets like Shots on Target, Fouls and combination bets.
- Stats sheets to help bettors make decisions for pre-tournament outrights like Golden Boot and Team to Make it out of the group.
If you have any early ideas – I’d love to connect you with our content creators. Otherwise – hope to see you on the 30th!
Sign up for Opta’s product update at 3pm July 30th here: https://www.statsperform.com/resource/product-update-context-content-to-light-up-every-world-cup-market/
