Genius Sports is enhancing its media business through the acquisition of Massachusetts-headquartered sports fan data specialist Sports Innovation Lab.
The acquisition brings together Genius Sport’s portfolio of official league data with Sports Innovation Lab’s fan graph to create a real-time activation platform.
“This acquisition is an important step in the continued growth of our media business,” said Genius Sports CEO Mark Locke. “By integrating the most comprehensive official sports data with unmatched fan intelligence, we are strengthening our foundation and providing partners with a powerful new way to understand and engage fans at scale.
“The Sports Innovation Lab acquisition transforms our media business, instantly extending our reach into an established customer network across multiple verticals. It positions us to lead the market, accelerate growth, and drive a step-change expansion of our customer base.”
Founded in 2017, Sports Innovation Lab’s proprietary fan intelligence model – Fluid Fan Graph – is built on observational, transactional and deterministic fan data, which is used by global brands including Legends, Kellanova, NASCAR, and Monumental Sports and Entertainment.
“Joining forces with Genius Sports represents an incredible opportunity for both our business and our team,” said Sports Innovation Lab CEO Josh Walker. “Genius has always led the way in making sports more innovative, reshaping how technology connects fans to the games they love. We look forward to uniting our visions, scaling our platform globally, and delivering even greater value to our clients and partners.”
The acquisition builds on several major moves made by Genius Sports to boost the media division, which include the launch of FanHub last year, the extension of its NFL deal, and partnerships with PMG, EA Sports and Verizon.
Shares in Genius Sports Ltd (NYSE:GENI) closed 2.44 per cent higher at $12.58 per share in New York Thursday.