SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
A new era for global sports data, integrity and content rights has begun after leading US incumbent STATS completed its acquisition of rival Perform Group.
Absorbing the Perform assets of OPTA, RunningBall and Watch&Bet, STATS confirms the formation of new business entity ‘Stats Perform’ seeking to become the outright global leader in sports data provisions.
Last April, finance magnate Robert F Smith’s hedge fund Vista Equity moved to acquire Perform for an undisclosed fee, as the European sports data firm separated from its OTT unit DAZN Group.
At the time Vista Equity outlined that it would form a ‘new global powerhouse’ for a disrupted sports marketplace, servicing its diverse range of stakeholders.
The new entity is led by STATS leader Carl Mergele as Stats Perform Group Chief Executive. Updating US media, Meregele outlined the enlarged enterprise’s intent on not only dominating sports data provisions but further delivering new innovations and fan engagements for global sports audiences.
Outlining Stats Perform’s mandate, Mergele revealed that the data firm had more than 20 AI patents ready for collaboration between the two firms, who will service sports media and broadcasters, technology companies, global brands, sportsbooks, teams, leagues and fantasy sports operators amongst its expanded clientele.
“Stats Perform is set to engage billions of sports fans this year and I expect that to grow as we bring new innovative technologies to market, expanding our global presence,” said Mergele.
“To truly revolutionise sport, we have harnessed the power of immense amounts of sports data with unparalleled AI technology. This unprecedented sports data and technology creates boundless possibilities for our global partners in fan engagement, betting and team performance.”
Placing AI research and innovations at the heart of its corporate development, Stats Perform aims to provide deeper, faster, more robust data and insights for its diverse partners, further delivering a best-in-class ‘breadth of data, sports research, news, video, live betting streams, integrity services’.
“Through AI we are able to discover hidden patterns in sports,” he added. “This allows us to better understand the complexities of a game and project those patterns forward to predict future outcomes. The combination of Stats Perform will give us greater ability to extract new insights and context.”
