This summer, STATSCORE staff will not be building sand castles or diving into a hot sea, as this is the key time to sign and integrate some new leagues for whom the dynamic sports stats company becomes the exclusive data provider.
Jakub Myszkorowski, Chief Commercial Officer of the Polish-based company, gives his insights on the goings on at the STATSCORE HQ, explaining why he believes now is the right time to launch an exclusive sports data offensive.
SBC: Why is now the right time to go on an exclusive sports data offensive?
JM: It is exactly right here and right now as the number of competitions won’t grow rapidly and the betting industry’s demand for high-quality and diversified data is stronger than ever. Of course, there are still some must-have leagues in their offer, so those who possess the rights to eg. EPL are confident that their product will be massively bought, but there is more and more interest in the emerging leagues that are building their reputation.
Several team sports have gained a reasonable worth for the industry. Such that they hadn’t had before. This is definitely the right time to dig into the market and expand the portfolio of the leagues. However, if someone did not start it before, it could be a little late now.
Acquiring exclusive data rights is a long, sophisticated process that takes a couple of stages. It is not a purchase of an apple pie, when one moment you feel hungry and the very next you are sinking your teeth into a sweet pie. It takes more time and mutual understanding.
At this stage, STATSCORE owes exclusive rights to:
– 2. Liga (Poland, soccer)
– Women Ekstraliga (Poland, soccer)
– STATSCORE Futsal Ekstraklasa (Poland, futsal)
– PGNiG Men + Women (Poland, handball)
– Futsal Division 1 (Belgium, futsal)
and more to come soon. This means that the organisers of the competitions will make sure that only STATSCORE scouts are allowed to collect the data from the venues and all the other potential scouts won’t enter the stadiums and halls.
SBC: In 2021 alone, you’ve signed or rendered exclusive partnerships with the PVF, Polish Ekstraliga, 2. Liga and the PGNiG Superliga. Can you tell us a little bit about what these partnerships entail?
JM: First of all, each of these partnerships is a sign of trust by a league in our business model, our story and our values. In the competitive market of data providers willing to work with leagues on an exclusive basis you have to come with a plan that is convincing, well-balanced and flexible.
For us, this is also a big commitment as our goal is not only to provide the leagues with valuable data, unique products for their official websites as well as for the clubs websites (as each receives individualised platform to display their LIVE matches and stats as you can find eg. here for Sporting), but also to secure the incomes from offering the data to the betting industry.
At this stage, each sports organisation expects to diversify its incomes and betting industry is one of the main pillars of increasing turnover.
We make sure at STATSCORE to guarantee the optimal flow of incomes from this space to secure the safety and financial success for our partners. This requires building relationships with the final data users, who will offer odds from the leagues we work with. Together we also protect the leagues’ data from unauthorised use as only the safety and integrity of the data secures the well-deserved incomes for the data owners.
SBC: What are your key aims for these agreements, and how do they demonstrate your commitment to the development of Polish sports?
JM: We understand well that the data is provided mainly for the sports fans. Sports stats is a new language in which each discipline can describe itself to its followers.
We know that it is our responsibility first to collect the fastest and reliable data from the venues, and then to make sure that fans can access it in a nice and comfortable way through the leagues’ websites, mobile apps and more.
Last but not least, fans need to be educated about the importance of stats and about the essential sports data interpretation guidelines. This is why we invested into analysis and hired key experts who prepare special editorials for the leagues in which they explain the meaning behind the data.
At STATSCORE, we care about balanced growth of the leagues by providing multichannel communication for different target groups. For those who prefer to be guided, we provide longer articles published at our partners’ websites. Those that are keen on making their own assumptions can access TeamCenter platforms at club’s websites or LeagueCenter platforms at leagues’ websites to dig deep into the detailed stats for players, teams and competitions.
Finally, we prepared special infographics (a dedicated intuitive tool) that allows us to easily publish in social media the pregame stats in a form of a set of key data visualized in an attractive way and branded with a certain league’s sponsors. This is a great way to integrate the fan base and build the communication around sports’ stats.
SBC: Can you give us a sneak peek of any exclusive sports data deals that you have in the pipeline for later this year?
JM: As you can imagine, each successful deal needs to flourish in silence. This is why we can not reveal too much regarding the details of upcoming signings. I can only say that STATSCORE is on the verge of announcing a couple of big exclusive data rights deals with key leagues from Central Europe.
Our plan for 2021 is to focus further on the chosen set of disciplines for which we have proven our quality, creativity and well-balanced plan of powering up the leagues growth. I am sure that this summer and fall you will have plenty of chances to read about new STATSCORE’s partners at the SBC News.