A court decision against bet365 in Brazil has shone a light on bookmakers’ use of sports data, and how it can relate to dispute resolution between these companies and their customers.
This week, a São Paulo court ruled that bet365 would have to pay out seven bets placed on two Italian Serie A matches in November 2025, Fiorentina vs. Lecce and Parma vs. Bologna, by one of its Brazilian customers.
The bettor had backed Tete Morente, Adrian Benedyczak, and Nicolò Cambiaghi to make assists during the games. Citing Opta data, bet365 classed the punter’s bets as losses and so did not pay them out.
However, official Serie A match reports listed all three players as making assists during the games.
The case has revealed something of a disconnect between the widespread use of Opta data by betting companies and the reporting and classification of assists and goals by football leagues, while also shining a spotlight on the need for clarity around terms and conditions.
Why did the judge rule against bet365?
The Brazilian bettor in question took their case to the courts, arguing that, as the assists were listed in Serie A match reports, their bets should have been paid out. The case was heard by Daniela Nudeliman Guiguet Leal of the Second Civil Court of the District of Barueri.
Leal’s decision centred around language, and whether bet365 – specifically the local company that operates it in Brazil, HS do Brasil Ltda – had clarified its bet settlement criteria to the customer in question.
The judge determined that it was not enough to attribute a lost bet to the classification of a match outcome, like an assist, by Opta. Instead, bet365 needed to specifically explain in what circumstances an assist is considered an assist, such as if a deflection prevented one.
Leal concluded that the lack of criteria clarity represented a service failure and ordered that the five bets placed by the unnamed bettor be paid out. Bet365 has until 7 October to appeal the decision to a higher court.
Bruno Rodrigues, a Brazilian iGaming lawyer who specialises in representing bettors, told SBC Noticias Brasil: “When there is a dispute about a statistical fact, it is not enough to inform the bettor that Opta recorded certain data. The operator needs to explain what criteria were actually applied to that bet.
“If the justification is that there was a deviation, for example, it must explain why that deviation was considered sufficient to dismiss the assistance. If it is understood that the play was a cross, it must indicate what specific characteristic caused it to be classified that way.”
What does this mean for betting data?
Opta betting data is widely used. Stats Perform, the company behind Opta, is partnered with a wide range of betting firms and sporting organisations.
The company’s website cites case studies of bookmakers leveraging Opta data including Futter Entertainment’s Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Betfair, Entain’s Ladbrokes, evoke’s William Hill, FDJ United’s Unibet, as well as BoyleSports and bet365 itself.
Stats Perform’s sporting partners include FIFA, as it penned a deal in January this year ahead of the 2026 World Cup, and it covers over 500,000 matches annually.
Outside betting, Opta data is also routinely cited in the sports media, including by BBC Sport in the UK.
However, Stats Perform is not the only sportstech firm in the sports betting sector, and its data product is not the only one on offer.
It shares the space with Sportradar and Genius Sports, among others, with the latter becoming Serie A’s betting data partner in August 2025 after Stats Perform’s deal with the Italian top-flight expired that summer.
To avoid similar disputes to that seen in Brazil, a simple solution for operators could be to make sure the relevant official betting data is used for each league – Stats Perform for FIFA tournaments, Genius Sports for Serie A, Sportradar for the NBA, for example, though this could prove costly.
Another element to consider, one highlighted in the Brazilian case, is clarity. If operators are hinging betslip settlement on Opta data, making sure this is clearly stipulated in the T&Cs during account creation and bet placement is probably a good call.
As Rodrigues put it to SBC Noticias Brasil, “both the betting sites and Opta itself should provide an effective channel for disputes, where bettors can understand exactly what criteria were used to calculate a particular statistic”.
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