NFL Gets $450 Million of Genius Sports Stock In Global Data Deal
The National Football League is receiving 22.5 million warrants for shares in Genius Sports under a partnership that will make the London-based data and analytics provider the sole gatekeeper of NFL data, through a deal Sportico first reported last week.
The league will receive a total of 22.5 million warrants exercisable at a penny each, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday evening. As such, the NFL will own approximately 5% of the company.
The league will have 11.25 million warrants immediately vested when Genius goes public, with the rest vesting over the term of the agreement. Genius is in the midst of going public through a merger with the blank check firm dMY Technology Group II. Shareholders of the special purpose acquisition company will vote on the deal April 16, and the combined business is expected to begin operations on April 20. News of the NFL deal sent dMY II shares soaring 41% Monday. They closed today at $19.85. Based on that closing price, the NFL has rights to stock worth $446.6 million, in addition to undisclosed cash fees Genius is paying in the agreement.
Genius Sports won the right to be the official gatekeeper worldwide for the NFL in distributing data to sportsbooks. Official data feeds are one of the direct ways that sports leagues can profit from the rise in sports betting in the U.S. The NFL and Genius will aim to make the feed compelling enough in speed, reliability and proprietary information that sports books and media outlets will pay a premium for the service. According to the filing, the term of the deal, is six years, renewable by the NFL afterward a year at a time.
The NFL selected Genius for the partnership after a months-long bidding process that included rival Sportradar—the two companies dominate the market for sports data and analytics globally. The NFL doesn’t require equity stakes in its partnerships, but it does have an active investment arm, 32 Equity, that does take partial ownership in situations the league feels it can benefit from in the long run. The NFL also holds equity in Sportradar, for example, as well as publicly held mobile games maker Skillz, privately held On Location Experiences and closely held Fanatics.
Requests for comment to Genius Sports and the National Football League weren’t immediately returned.
(This story has corrected the NFL’s ownership stake in Genius to read 5% instead of 15% in the second paragraph.)
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