SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Sportradar has announced a six-year partnership with the United Soccer League (USL).
Through the deal with the USL – the largest professional association football league in the US – the Swiss sportstech and data provider looks to expand its portfolio of North American partners, whilst focusing on delivery of data and audio-visual products.
Sportradar has been named official betting and technology partner of the league, and will collect, licence and distribute the league’s betting and media data whilst live streaming its competitions for a global network of 900 bookmakers and 350 media outlets.
Eric Conrad, EVP, Strategic Partnerships, US & LatAm at Sportradar, stated: “We are pleased to enter this partnership with North America’s largest professional soccer organisation.
“Sportradar’s comprehensive products and solutions will enable USL to capitalise on opportunities across betting, media, and fan engagement, driving value for all stakeholders,”
“This partnership strengthens our global portfolio of soccer rights, as we can leverage the data to develop highly innovative products and move up the value chain with our clients.”
The USL is North America’s largest soccer competition, and is classified as the second tier of US association football by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), effectively making it the second division after Major League Soccer (MLS).
The league operates the USL Championship, USL Super League, USL League One, USL League Two, the womens’ SUL W League, and the youth Super Y League.
Sportradar’s agreement with the USL will cover 600 matches per year across the USL Championship, USL League One and the USL Super League – the latter league is not yet active, with its launch planned for August 2024.
A final caveat of the deal will include Sportradar Integrity Services (SIS), which has been partnered with the USL since 2019. SIS will utilise its Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS), Intelligence and Investigation (I&I), Integrity Audit, and Education and Prevention initiatives, including anti-match fixing workshops, for safeguarding of USL fixtures.
“The USL aims to be the most widely available league for fans both domestically and abroad,” added USL Chief Commercial Officer, Court Jeske.
“This partnership demonstrates a step forward in the betting and technology space for USL’s Men’s and Women’s professional leagues, and we are proud to grow with Sportradar – a leader in the business – as we have since 2018.”
The partnership is Sportradar’s third contract with a sports organisation for 2024, but is its first of the year with an American organisation. The deal further builds up the company’s profile in the US, where it trades on the New York Nasdaq.
Also this week, Sportradar’s Integrity Services unit released its latest anti-corruption report on suspicious betting activity spanning throughout 2023.
For that year alone, the match-fixing prevention specialist managed to monitor around 850,000 events and matches across 70 sports with the help of AI. A total of 1,329 matches were lit up as suspicious, constituting 11 sports across 105 countries.
