Sports.ru is looking to leverage Abios’ data to improve its esports offering. Esports has a big following in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a regional bloc with Russia as its de facto head, so sports platform Sports.ru has inked a deal with Kambi-owned Abios to grow its esports footprint in the area.
Abios' data will power the brand’s esports coverage and make several new features possible, including match and tournament calendars, as well as in-depth stats.
“Abios provides us with what we need, what our users need, and do it fast and securely,” remarked Aleksey Pontyakov, Senior Product Manager at Sports.ru.
He added: “We have a lot of Dota 2 and CS: GO fans, and we need a stable data source, especially during main events like The International or PGL CS: GO Majors. Our users want to get a lot of information about their favourite teams and players — they want to know tournament schedules.”
Sports.ru is not the first company to recognise Abios’ potential, with the Malta-based Kambi Group having purchased the data firm in August 2021 for the purpose of growing its esports segment. At the time, Kambi’s COO Erik Lögdberg called the company’s acquisition a “very good cultural fit” in an interview with Gambling Insider.
Commenting on its agreement with Sports.ru, Jacob Howard, Key Account Manager at Abios, said: “Sports.ru and their esports initiatives have come a long way and answers the need for esports coverage in CIS countries, as many fans, teams and players are housed in the region.
“We’re well aligned with their mission to bring esports to a position where it’s on par with other sports and recognised as the ground-breaking phenomenon it is. Therefore, we are happy to support and fuel Sports.ru and their various platforms with data as well as supporting their quest in creating further value for esports fans.”
