Sports tech company Genius Sports takes over Sports Innovation Lab, focusing on fan data collection
Genius Sports, a leading sports data and technology company, has announced the acquisition of Sports Innovation Lab. This move provides Genius with a valuable research arm, as stated by Genius chief revenue officer Josh Linforth.
The financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed. However, the acquisition has seen the integration of Sports Innovation Lab personnel into Genius's team.
Sports Innovation Lab, founded by Josh Walker and four-time World Champion women's hockey player Angela Ruggiero in 2017, has built a comprehensive database of sports fan segments, encompassing over 400 million individuals and households. This database includes data tied to purchasing data that marketers can use when targeting their messaging.
One of Sports Innovation Lab's key strengths lies in its ability to offer sponsorship measurement services. This capability, now added to Genius's offerings, is set to benefit both the advertising community and league and team partners.
The acquisition is complementary to Genius, which sits on the other side of the equation, building front-end experiences where sports fans interact. The combined forces of Genius and Sports Innovation Lab are already in market with a joint offering.
Linforth mentioned that Sports Innovation Lab has built technology to index and understand the sports fan from various data sources. This new capability expands Genius's existing abilities, enabling the company to better understand specific sports fan segments and target them effectively.
Genius previously projected a 60% year-on-year revenue increase in its media-focused business for this fall. With the addition of Sports Innovation Lab, this projection could potentially be amplified.
The acquisition also marks a significant milestone for Sports Innovation Lab. Co-founder Josh Walker stated that they had planned to raise a significant amount of money, but Genius already had the resources for things such as data rights deals with leagues and an international sales team.
The NFL has also been impacted by the acquisition, as Genius and the league have reached a two-year extension, with Genius retaining its role as the exclusive distributor of official real-time play-by-play and betting data.
Angela Ruggiero, a former board chair of Sports Innovation Lab, is known for her accomplishments as a four-time World Champion women's hockey player. Despite her absence from the company, her influence remains significant in the sports technology industry.
However, the identity of the person who co-founded Sports Innovation Lab with Angela Ruggiero in 2017 is not clearly identified in the provided search results.
In summary, the acquisition of Sports Innovation Lab by Genius has provided the latter with a research arm, expanded its capabilities in understanding specific sports fan segments, and added a new capability for sponsorship measurement. The combined forces of the two companies are poised to make a significant impact in the sports technology industry.
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