SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
IMG Arena has secured the exclusive worldwide betting data and streaming rights for the British Basketball League (BBL).
A sports data and technology hub, IMG Arena will distribute live streaming for betting and deliver FastPath data from over 214 games per season for its network of over 460 global sportsbook operators.
Mark Wrigley, Senior Director, Rights at IMG Arena, commented on the agreement: “Basketball is a sport that we are incredibly passionate about and committed to helping grow its global reach.
“The BBL and its competitions are an exciting addition to our portfolio, increasing our offering of premier-level basketball from key territories around the world.”
IMG Arena has outlined that as a key partner it will help BBL deliver on its growth strategy, following the basketball organisation’s recent £7m investment from 777 partners.
Andy Webb, Chief Operating Officer at BBL, added: “BBL has a stated mission to grow basketball and its following in the UK and beyond. Working with IMG ARENA helps us to do this by maximising returns from an important commercial asset while also widening BBL’s audience and fan engagement.”
The addition of the BBL expands IMG Arena’s portfolio of top tier basketball, which already includes EuroLeague, NBL Canada, Italy’s LBA and Spain’s ACB.
Outside of basketball, IMG Arena also recently formed a notable deal with Major League Soccer (MLS) as it became its official data distribution partner.
The pair now look to utilise modern technology to ‘create a new standard’ for football data and drive further fan engagement in both the league and MLS NEXT Pro.
