The Economics of Official League Data Feeds

The **Economics of Official League Data** refers to the commercial ecosystem where sports leagues monetize real-time match information by selling exclusive distribution rights to aggregators (primarily **Genius Sports** and **Sportradar**). **Key Historical Developments:** * **The Commercial Pivot:** After US states rejected statutory "Integrity Fees" (a direct tax on betting handle) post-2018, leagues utilized commercial contracts to mandate the use of official data for in-play betting settlement. * **The Latency Value:** The value proposition is speed; official feeds are milliseconds faster than broadcasts, protecting books from "courtsiders" (latency arbitrageurs). * **Revenue Sharing:** The industry shifted from fixed-fee data costs to a model where data providers take a percentage (1.5%–5%) of a sportsbook's Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR). * **Legal Moats:** Through litigation (e.g., *Sportradar v. Football DataCo*), leagues have successfully used database rights and stadium terms of service to suppress "unofficial" data scouts, creating effective monopolies on the supply of real-time facts.