Sportradar Completes Its Acquisition of IMG ARENA

Sportradar announced that it has closed its acquisition of IMG ARENA, which marks a major milestone for both companies. This follows recent approval from the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The Deal Has Been Sealed

Earlier this year, sports data specialist Sportradar set out to acquire IMG ARENA from Endeavor Group Holdings. The former business argued that this acquisition would strengthen its position as a leader in sports technology, content, and data.

In July, the UK CMA launched an invitation to comment on the matter, seeking to understand whether the merger would hurt competition in the sports data sector. On August 29, the CMA followed up with an inquiry into the merger.

While the CMA had originally set October 24 as its deadline for the investigation, the competition body okayed the deal much earlier, allowing Sportradar to proceed with the transaction.

For context, Sportradar will not provide any financial consideration as part of the acquisition. Instead, the company will receive a total financial consideration of $225 million for the arrangement. This will include $122 million in cash repayments by the seller to certain sports rightsholders and approximately $103 million to Sportradar over two years.

Sportradar’s Coverage to Swell to 1M Matches

By acquiring IMG ARENA, Sportradar will gain access to a business that boasts partnerships with over 70 rightsholders, delivering roughly 38,000 official data events and 29,000 streaming events across 14 global sports on 6 continents. This monumental addition will significantly bolster Sportradar’s coverage to over 1 million matches a year.

In addition to that, the acquisition of IMG ARENA will enhance Sportradar’s capability to develop and distribute new content. The latter company said that it expects to seamlessly integrate and monetize the rights held by IMG ARENA into its own business.

Additionally, the deal is expected to improve Sportradar’s adjusted EBITDA margins and free cash flow conversion and boost its overall growth.

Carsten Koerl, Sportradar’s chief executive officer, commented on closing the deal, reaffirming its importance to his team. He lauded the acquisition of IMG ARENA as a significant milestone for this company, saying that it will strengthen Sportradar’s already strong global footprint.

With this, we are uniquely positioned to deliver even more immersive, data rich experiences to our clients, partners and fans around the world while accelerating innovation at scale across the global sports ecosystem.

Carsten Koerl, CEO, Sportradar

In other news, Sportradar just discussed the opportunities offered by AI in the war on match-fixing.