Data Rights: Official vs. Unofficial Feeds

The history of sports data rights is a transition from **Open Facts** to **Proprietary Speed**. The 1997 landmark case ***NBA v. Motorola*** established that sports scores are facts and cannot be copyrighted, fueling the rise of **Unofficial Feeds** generated by independent "courtsiders" and scrapers. Unable to stop data collection through copyright law, leagues pivoted to a **Commercial Model** in the 2010s, selling exclusive access to **Low-Latency Feeds** required for modern **In-Play Betting**. In the post-PASPA United States, this commercial preference was codified into law, with several states mandating the use of **Official League Data** for settling bets. The industry is now dominated by aggregators like **Genius Sports** and **Sportradar**, who act as the exclusive gatekeepers between the leagues and the sportsbooks.