Carsten Koerl, Sportradar: Playing a fair game keeps us coming back

Carsten Koerl, Sportradar: Playing a fair game keeps us coming back

Carsten Koerl, CEO at Sportradar, explains why “working with the utmost integrity” to safeguard businesses from corruption remains at the foundation of its operations, before highlighting some of the company’s “standout moments” for 2019.

This included becoming the first industry supplier to hold data distribution deals with each of the ‘big four’ US sports leagues, hiring former Interwetten CEO Werner Becher as the new managing director of US betting and completing its first betting and gaming platform acquisition through Optima.

Since we started our operations, Sportradar has been committed to helping ensure that professional sports are played fairly and that illegal activity is identified, prevented and stopped. 

That, to us, is how we define victory. We have a responsibility not just to our betting clients and their customers, but also to the global professional sports leagues, teams and players that billions of fans admire and enjoy.

Working with the utmost integrity remains the foundation of our operations. This dedication has enabled us to become the global leader in the space, with more than 1,000 companies in over 80 countries entrusting us as their partner and supplier. 

It has also enabled us to build the world’s largest partner network of sporting bodies and rights holders, working side-by-side with them to grow fan engagement and safeguard their businesses from betting corruption.

These core values have defined our success both in the past, but also the present, and this year has been no exception, with some standout moments.

The trust we have developed over two decades, as well as the enormous effort and investment in integrity, technology and innovation, has enabled us to secure the biggest partners in sport with all the major US leagues.

One of the major highlights of 2019 came in August when we announced the extension of our partnership with the NFL. 

The renewal significantly expanded upon our previous partnership, including exclusive distribution of real-time official play-by-play data to sports betting operators in the US and internationally where sports betting is legal and regulated. 

Official licensed data will improve the speed and accuracy of NFL data and enhance protections for consumers. In addition, we now have the right to distribute live audio-visual (AV) game feeds to sportsbooks in select international markets.

Our US presence has also been significantly boosted by the appointment of Werner Becher as Managing Director of US Betting. He most recently served as CEO of Interwetten, where he more than doubled the sports betting operator’s revenue during his seven-years there. In his new role at Sportradar, he will be focused on the growth, development and execution of the company’s betting strategy in the US.

Building on our presence as a major, global business founded on fast, reliable and insightful data, we also unveiled an entirely new revenue stream by launching ad:s, our programmatic ad solution.

Complementing the range of sports betting services we already provide, we now have our own data and technology-driven marketing platform that applies that same deep, analytical expertise to media investments, focusing on eliminating waste and increasing returns.

With the sports betting landscape ever more competitive, efficient customer acquisition and retention is now the central question for running a successful sportsbook, and ad:s is uniquely positioned to address this challenge.

Just a few months ago we also made our first betting and gaming platform acquisition, agreeing terms with Optima, and are now busy integrating their cutting-edge technology. 

This is a significant strategic deal for the business and enables us to add further advanced technology to our global business portfolio and expand our offering, presenting new and existing customers with a 360-degree portfolio of flexible platform and content services and solutions. It puts us in a prime position to achieve our aim of becoming the world’s leading supplier of turnkey betting services and solutions.

As we close out 2019 with these significant accomplishments, we expect 2020 to be a defining year for us. We are proud of the significant role we have played in helping the sports industry drive growth whilst simultaneously safeguarding its future. We know that playing a fair game when no one knows who will win is what keeps us all coming back!

Source: SBC News