Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm, is believed to be in the market to offload sports data provider Stats Perform. This is according to unnamed sources reported by Bloomberg, though the timeline and specifics regarding any potential suitors or pricing for the sale have not been clarified.
Stats Perform uses artificial intelligence and other innovative tech to provide data related to sports for gaming and media companies, as well as other clientele. The company is capable of delivering highly personalized experiences and unique insights by plugging the most comprehensive live and historical sport data, and partnerships with leading federations, into their AI models.
The Texas-based Vista bought Stats from FOX Sports and the Associated Press in 2014, and later merged it with Perform in 2019 after investing in DAZN. The Perform deal gave the buyer access to Opta, RunningBall, and Watch&Bet.
The advancement of sports betting to be increasingly reliant on data and technology has created a possibility that Stats Perform might attract a range of interested buyers. Certain analysts regard sports betting data providers as indispensable tools for sportsbook operators, especially in the current environment where there is a heightened interest in live betting and single-game parlays among bettors.
This business model focuses on the growth of the regulated international sports betting market and visualizes sportsbook operators paying premium prices for data. It relies on the providers’ capability to profit from league data contracts. Clients of Stats Perform range from Bet365 to Google, La Liga and William Hill, and many more. Its competitors, Genius Sports and Sportradar, have market values of $1.25 billion and $3.20 billion respectively, which could potentially offer a benchmark for Stats Perform’s selling price.
Vista Equity has been rumored to sell Stats Perform in the past, with speculations first emerging in mid-2021. These rumors arose just two months after Genius went public through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company and just before Sportradar’s initial public offering.
Managed by CEO Carl Mergele, Stats Perform offers artificial intelligence solutions and other data services to betting platforms, technology corporations and professional sports teams from the NFL, NBA and MLB, among other sports. The company also delivers performance insights for individual athletes and teams in sports including rugby, cricket, soccer, golf and tennis.
