Sportsdata.IO, formerly branded FantasyData, has been busy taking its ‘complete sports data solution’ to the post-PASPA sports wagering market in the US, collating and distributing fast and accurate data in simple formats that aim to reduce costs and add value.
SBC Americas spoke with Dustin Sullivan, a Partner at the firm, who offered an overview of the new brand, how it came into operation and some of the ideas it has in store for the rapidly growing US business.
He told us: “SportsDataIO began in 2008 by founder and CEO, Scott Gimpel, as FantasyData, with its inaugural season offering only NFL scores and stats on the Tuesday following the weekend’s games. Over the last 10 years we’ve seen steady, organic growth that has allowed us to improve our offering year over year.”
Ten years later and with almost 200 clients under its belt, the company is now providing real-time data feeds across all major US sports, and top soccer leagues globally, plus industry solutions built specifically for gaming, fantasy and fan engagement.
“While we saw fantastic growth by providing industry-specific solutions for the fantasy industry, we saw a need for the same industry-specific solutions for the gaming industry once PASPA was repealed, so in Q1 of this year, we responded by rebranding to SportsDataIO,” added Sullivan.
In what is widely acknowledged as a crowded market place, SportsDataIO has clearly understood the need to differentiate its offer. Sullivan explained: “Our USP is based on the fact that we offer a one-stop-shop for industry-specific applications. For gaming, we can package both our odds feeds and predictive models alongside our core feeds that provide schedules, scores, stats and play by play.
“We have similar bundles available for fantasy, fan engagement, and general digital/media industries. Also, as an independent data provider, we have fewer restrictions on the types of deals we’re able to do.”
The company has also introduced new innovations for the forthcoming NFL season such as advanced grading and performance metrics and an aggregated odds service, among others. Talking more about these new developments, Sullivan noted: “While the US gaming market is still in its infancy, we can look to more established markets to be able to anticipate the future needs of the US market might.
“Our Aggregated Odds Service is meant to meet that need by providing all lines across all sports for all legal onshore sportsbooks, which will allow affiliates and odds comparison sites (just to name a few) the ability to integrate a single data feed that will allow them to automatically expand into each new market as new states come online.”
He continued: “Similarly, as technology becomes more advanced, so has the need for more robust data. Our Advanced Metrics for NFL provides more than 130 player-specific metrics that goes above and beyond the average box score that offers an almost unlimited number of use-cases, although we’ve seen the most growth with those clients that are building predictive models.”
Finally, Sullivan offered his take on the potential for in-play betting in the US, specifically in reference to suggestions that American bettors may be a little more resistant to the pastime than their European counterparts.
“We have no doubt that in-play will be just as big in the US as it currently is in Europe and beyond,” he advised. “I think there is a certain level of education that needs to happen for American bettors, and the sportsbooks need to fine-tune their technology in order to offer fun and engaging in-play markets. As both of those make improvements over time, we’re confident we’ll see the percentage of handle on in-play make significant improvements.”
