It has been reported that US Sportsbooks have quietly been approached about paying 1.5% of net profit for NFL data. The news was posted by ESPN’s David Purdum on Sunday.
He said: “According to multiple sources, sports betting data distributor Sportradar is asking bookmakers for a 1.5% cut of net profits.”
This, he said, would be “from in-game bets on the NFL.” And they would be, he added, “In exchange for access to the league’s official data feed.”
That, of course, is no real surprise. It was on the cards weeks ago when the NFL announced that Sportradar were now their exclusive sports data providers. It was no coincidence, either, that this occurred in the month prior to the start of the NFL season.
Sportradar, which is based in Switzerland, is a global leader in gathering and analyzing sports data for its clients.
Clearly professional football was looking for a middleman to do work it wished to avoid.
NFL calls for data payments have met with a stony silence
Before that time, an NFL suggestion it should be paid for official data had generally met with a stony silence. Sportsbooks have low margins, usually between 5 and 10 per cent of their winnings. They also have state taxes to pay; some as low as 8.5%, others as high as 36%.
Generally speaking, then, they have not been too keen to buy official data and cut their margins even further.
At this stage it seems that the sportsbook lobby is as yet undecided about going with or opposing the Sportradar ask.
But with live, in-game betting becoming increasingly popular with action-seeking fans, they may seriously have to consider it.
For some time, parlay has been the most popular form of sports betting, mainly because lots of money can be won for very little. On the other hand the bookmakers win more than they lose. Parlay bets offer large rewards to the punter, but are often no more than a mini-lottery.
However, live, in-match betting and the instant thrill it can give sports fans, is rising fast. It could have been even faster if more reliable and instantly available NFL data had been available.
In-play football betting has had its problems
Despite football with its helpful breaks between plays being well suited to in-play betting, it’s had problems. Slow-to-arrive data has been one of them. This is because too many bets have been impossible to process in time.
Clean, swift NFL data would do a lot to improve the situation. For those sportsbooks who see in-play wagering growing dramatically, it may be the way to go.
On the other hand, if only a few sportsbooks go for the 1.5% option, the NFL might have to think again. It may also help slow the rush from other sporting bodies looking to emulate the NFL call.
Sports punters, especially in NJ, will be watching the game being played between the NFL and US sportsbooks with great interest.
They would clearly welcome the increased accuracy and processing speed NFL data will bring to live football betting. They won’t like it, though, if it costs them more than it’s costing now.
