SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Sportradar has significantly expanded its global reach with the acquisition of IMG Arena, along with the company’s full range of sports betting data rights.
This portfolio encompasses IMG’s relationships with 70 different rightsholders, covering 39,000 data events and 30,000 streaming events across 14 global sports.
IMG is partnered with the likes of Wimbledon, the US Open, Roland-Garros, Major League Soccer, EuroLeague basketball and PGA Tour. In a major boost to Sportradar’s standing as a leading data supplier for tennis, the firm now holds betting rights to three of the four Grand Slam tournaments via the acquisition.
By acquiring IMG Arena from American holding firm Endeavor, Sportradar is further strengthening its position as one of the biggest players in the global sports data space, a highly competitive sector which sees it go up against the likes of Genius Sports and Stats Perform, among others. 
Carsten Koerl, Sportradar CEO, said: “Sportradar’s success is driven by the breadth of its sports coverage, its broad product portfolio and leading technology, and its global distribution network.
“Given our proven track record of maximising ROI through our global betting rights deals and our strengthened position across tennis, basketball and soccer, we are confident in our ability to realise the full economic potential of this portfolio.
“In addition, the unique structure of this transaction accelerates our revenue and cash flow profile and will be immediately accretive to our margins. The addition of these strategic rights will unlock new growth opportunities, enabling us to deliver exceptional value to our partners, clients and shareholders.”
Endeavor further trims betting assets
Sportradar has not disclosed how much exactly the takeover has cost. However, it revealed that ‘it will not be required to pay any financial consideration’ upon closure of the acquisition.
The sportstech firm, which also reported a 26% increase in revenue to €1.1bn in its full year financial report for 2024 today, expects to complete the transaction during Q4 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.
The agreement is also noteworthy for putting further distance between Endeavor and the betting sector, with the company’s largest asset remaining TKO Group Holdings – the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and WWE.
TKO Group – which Eneadour owns a 61% stake in while the two share the same CEO in Ari Emanuel – had been the caretaker of IMG over the past few years. IMG Arena’s sale has been on the agenda for some time though.
In November last year, Endeavor agreed to a management buyout with the leadership of OpenBet, its sportsbook technology holding. IMG Arena was included in this, but Endeavor and OpenBet stated at the time that a search for a third party buyer was still underway.
