Sportradar considering legal action against Genius Sports
Sportradar has reportedly threatened to take legal action against Genius Sports in a row over the data supplier’s deal for exclusive rights to the English Premier League, English Football League and Scottish Professional Football League.
Genius Sports bought the rights from Football DataCo earlier this year, denying any obligation to enter sublicensing agreements with other data suppliers.
The agreement is intended to run for five seasons, from 2019-20 to 2023-24.
Mark Locke, Genius Sports CEO, previously told Gambling Insider: “There is no requirement for us to sublicense the rights, but we are willing to have conversations with anyone who wants to have a conversation with us.”
Despite Genius’ apparent openness to discussion however, Sportradar has accused the supplier of blocking competition by entering into the exclusive arrangement.
The agreement requires other data suppliers to purchase sub-license rights from Genius Sports before providing data, but Sportradar wants to collect its own data, claiming the current arrangements “infringe on UK and EU competition law.”
A letter before action seen by The Sunday Times accuses Genius Sports and Football DataCo of “aggressively targeting” anyone else collecting live match data in stadiums.
Genius Sports declined to comment when contacted by Gambling Insider. Sportradar is yet to comment despite being the party considering the legal action.
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