Genius Sports, the international sports data technology company, has agreed a new multi-year integrity, technology, and AI partnership with US collegiate sport's Pac-12 Conference.
As part of the agreement, the firm will serve as the exclusive distributor of official data from Pac-12 competitions to licensed sportsbooks worldwide and “power the next generation of authorized and responsible sports betting, integrity, fan engagement and monetization, and performance analysis in college sports.”
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Through this role, Genius Sports will administer a new authorized gaming operator (AGO) program designed to safeguard the integrity of Pac-12 competitions and protect student-athletes.
In addition to eliminating any negative and risky bet types, the AGO program has been created to provide greater transparency, information sharing, and cooperation between the Pac-12, Genius Sports, and licensed sportsbooks, and prevent prohibited bettors from placing wagers.
Genius Sports will deploy its GeniusIQ data and AI platform in every venue across Pac-12 football and men’s and women’s basketball competitions – creating a single destination for tracking data and video capture, real-time insights, and commercial activation.
The two parties will collaborate on a range of innovations designed to “safeguard integrity, improve the fan experience, and unlock new revenue streams.”
Genius Sports’ Moment Engine tool will also enable brands to activate advertising in real-time around key moments in Pac-12 games across broadcast, streaming, and digital platforms.
The partnership will also support Pac-12 schools by offering performance analysis tools.
Programs will have access to the GeniusIQ-powered Performance Studio platform, which provides coaches and athletes with analytics and video tools used by many NBA and WNBA teams.
Mark Locke, CEO at Genius Sports, said: “College sports are entering a new era where official data and real-time intelligence power everything from integrity and betting and media to performance.
“By deploying GeniusIQ across Pac-12 venues, we are building the data infrastructure that connects leagues, sportsbooks, broadcasters, and advertisers in real-time.”
Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould added: “The Pac-12 is thrilled to announce this partnership, which will allow a college sports conference, for the first time, to impose direct and meaningful integrity restrictions on sportsbooks who receive and use Pac-12 data.
“This partnership positions the Pac-12 as an early-mover in the data rights space, connecting to our strategic vision and challenger mindset to push boundaries in a disciplined fashion while introducing new opportunities for brand elevation and revenue growth.”
The partnership comes a few months after a decision was made to continue not to allow college athletes in the US to bet on professional sports in the country, with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) governing body voting to rescind a potential rule change at the last minute.
A last-minute push to rescind a rule change that would have enabled college athletes to place bets on professional sports games in the country reached the required two-thirds majority of the NCAA's member schools (241) in November.
The rule change was initially meant to come into effect on November 1 last year, but as 75% of the NCAA cabinet members did not vote in favor, a recission (cancellation, repeal) window was triggered.
At that time, it was reported that Greg Sankey, commissioner of the powerful SEC collegiate body of schools, contacted NCAA president Charlie Baker to complain about the betting rule change.
Since then, multiple figures inside the US professional major leagues have been arrested by the authorities on charges of involvement in illegal gambling schemes.
Indeed, in mid-November, as the required number of schools were submitting paperwork to rescind the rule change, the NCAA banned a former college basketball player – Hysier Miller – permanently, for betting repeatedly (including on his own team, the Temple Owls).
Sports betting in the US has been growing considerably in scale as an industry during the last half-decade.
