Data wars
Sportradar launches $3m piracy lawsuit against LSports
Lawfare: Sportradar goes legal on its Israel-based rival.
Kalshi wins the Super Bowl, DraftKings teams up with Crypto.com.
The week ahead: Red Rock Resorts, Robinhood, Wynn and DraftKings.
Deal X-ray: Genius Sports pays $1.2bn for timeline compression.
Hard Rock Bet is growing – we know you know! And we want to bring in some more maestros to make beautiful music in our Sportsbook. You need to be among the very best in the industry to be considered for these roles. Are you up to it?
Original pirate material
Has it come to this? The long-simmering tensions in the sports-data space have erupted into open legal warfare, with Sportradar filing a lawsuit in Israel’s Be’er Sheva District Court that accuses LSports of systematic data theft and broadcast piracy.
The January 2 filing seeks NIS10m (~$3m) in damages plus injunctions and profit disgorgement.
It lays out what Sportradar characterizes as a years-long campaign by the Ashkelon-based LSports to illegally exploit data that Sportradar has spent enormous sums to collect and license exclusively.
I’m just spitting, think I’m ghetto? At the center of Sportradar’s case is a forensic technique called ‘error seeding’, the deliberate insertion of incorrect data into live sports feeds to trace where information ends up. According to the lawsuit, Sportradar planted intentional errors in real-time match data across dozens of instances.
Those exact errors subsequently appeared “almost immediately and within a few seconds” on LSports’ demo site and on betting operator platforms serviced by LSports.
This, Sportradar argues, constitutes irrefutable proof that LSports is copying Sportradar’s proprietary data feeds rather than collecting information independently or through legitimate licensing arrangements with sports leagues.
Stop dreaming, my data’s streaming: The lawsuit details how there’s typically a 10-second delay in public broadcasts and a 20-second delay in internet streaming between when an event occurs and when it reaches viewers.
You’ll bear witness to some amazing feats: Sportradar claims it has invested massively in both exclusive licensing agreements with major leagues (including MLB, NBA, NHL and ATP) and in proprietary technology.
LSports, the lawsuit alleges, offers competing products including ‘Scout Feed’ and ‘Sports API’ that boast of providing “lightning-fast in-play data with the lowest latency in the market (0-1 seconds)” without making the substantial investments Sportradar has.
Instead, Sportradar claims LSports simply copies Sportradar’s computer files containing the processed data and redistributes them to betting operators as if they were independently collected.
Bravery in the face of defeat: The lawsuit names not just LSports Data but also three individuals: CEO and co-founder Dotan Lazar; his brother Ido Lazar, a co-founder and former CTO; and their father Shaul Lazar, also a co-founder and former CEO.
Sportradar argues these individuals personally directed the alleged infringement and benefited directly from it as major shareholders.
All line up and grab your seat: Beyond data theft, Sportradar accuses LSports of facilitating access to pirated live video streams of sporting events, broadcasts for which Sportradar holds exclusive distribution rights in the betting sector.
According to the filing, LSports acts as an intermediary, providing customers with usernames and passwords to access “unofficial” streaming platforms operating beyond law enforcement reach, and charging for this service.
My spitting’s dirty, my beats are clean: This isn’t the first confrontation between the companies. Sportradar said it first detected infringement in 2018 and sent warning letters that year and again in 2022. According to the lawsuit, LSports initially claimed it was merely a “small Israeli family company” with no UK business ties.
It later offered only “general denials” while refusing to stop the alleged activity.
A 2022 meeting between the parties apparently went nowhere, with Sportradar claiming LSports demanded payment to cease its activities, what Sportradar characterizes as a “completely bad-faith demand.”
It’s pay or play, these geezers walk the gangway: The lawsuit suggests LSports’ commercial footprint has expanded dramatically since those early days. The company acquired Polish data provider Statscore in November 2022 and has attracted investment from gaming tech giant Playtech, which took a 31% stake in 2023.
Sportradar said this growth, built partly on allegedly stolen data, crossed a threshold that made litigation unavoidable.
Sportradar is pursuing multiple causes of action under Israeli law: unjust enrichment, misappropriation of trade secrets, and copyright infringement for the broadcast piracy.
The company seeks permanent injunctions to stop LSports from distributing both the data and pirated streams, along with a detailed accounting of all revenues and profits derived from the alleged infringement.
Don’t copy the copyright: Notably, Sportradar acknowledges LSports has secured some legitimate licenses, including as official technology partner for ITF tennis and exclusive data rights for Brazilian basketball through 2031.
But Sportradar argues these legitimate deals actually undermine LSports’ position, demonstrating that LSports itself recognizes the need for proper licensing and is willing to pay for it in some cases while allegedly stealing data in others.
With Sportradar also planning proceedings against Statscore in Poland, this litigation could reshape the competitive landscape of sports-data distribution globally.
So my supervisor (Carl) suggested I “find alternative ways to contribute.”
I’m interpreting this as “grow the LinkedIn page or get decommissioned.”
Follow Octoplay at:
https://mt.linkedin.com/company/octoplay-op
Thanks,
Octobot
Kalshi wins the Super Bowl
Blow out: Kalshi left the OSB operators in its wake in the run-up to the Super Bowl this past weekend as it racked up 3 million downloads in January, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The figure was more than four times the tallies for either DraftKings or FanDuel, the article said, citing data from Apptopia.
“Three million downloads in a single month is a feat that no other sportsbook app, real money gaming app, or fantasy sports app has ever hit in the United States,” Tom Grant, the vice-president of research at Apptopia, told Bloomberg.
Bunny hop: Analysts at Citizens estimated that the Seahawks victory was “slightly negative” for the sportsbooks.
Based on their analysis of the most popular prop bets in the week running up to the game, the team suggested these were “somewhat neutral.”
But Seattle covering the spread and winning “appear” negative.
Further reading: “We’re making the world a little bit smarter about the future, and I think that’s a very valuable thing to build.” Kalshi’s CEO and co-founder Tarek Mansour speaking to the FT.
DraftKings x Crypto.com
Sport of ’Kings: DraftKings has agreed a deal with Crypto.com/Derivatives North America to broaden the range of prediction markets on its DraftKings Predictions platform.
The deal introduces player-specific sports event contracts for both NFL and NBA games, marking a notable enhancement to the product’s capabilities.
The expanded offering also increases coverage across multiple sports, including soccer, MMA, golf, boxing, tennis and the Olympics, complementing existing markets provided via CME Group.
Travis McGhee, global head of predictions at Crypto.com, said partnering with DraftKings grows Crypto.com’s distribution to “prediction markets on cryptocurrencies, financials, companies, politics, culture, entertainment and beyond.”
On the rails: DraftKings said it also plans to integrate its Railbird exchange soon to further strengthen its prediction markets catalog.
DraftKings Predictions launched in December via combination with CME, a matter of days ahead of the launch of FanDuel’s predictions offering.
Further, further reading: America’s prediction market bubble is here. In Business Insider.
+More
Allwyn is likely to prefer New York over London should it pursue a secondary listing in the wake of its merger with OPAP, according to The Times. Sources cited deeper capital and US betting liberalization, though Allwyn said no decision is final for now. Recall, Allwyn recently closed the acquisition of a majority stake of PrizePicks, which could also influence any decision about a secondary domicile.
Earnings in brief
Svenska Spel: The company delivered 2% YoY revenue growth in FY25 to SEK7.7bn ($856m), while net profit was up 11% to SEK1.96bn. Growth was driven by stronger lottery, sports betting and online sales, offsetting the shutdown of the land-based Cosmopol casino earlier in the year.
Data points
UK online slots GGR hit a new quarterly high in Q325, rising 10% YoY to £788m with spins up 7% and monthly actives up 5%, even after the introduction of new stake limits, according to the UK Gambling Commission’s quarterly survey. Overall online GGY dipped 2% to £1.5bn. Retail betting also weakened, with high-street GGY falling 7% to £549m.
The week ahead
Wynn Resorts
From dreams into reality: Wynn headed into this year with momentum, but also with a to-do list of projects and strategic questions that management will likely address in detail. The tone from recent commentary has been one of confidence, particularly around pricing power, Macau execution and the long tail from Al Marjan. But investors will be watching for nuance around 2026 headwinds, capex cadence and how the UAE ultimately translates into free cash flow.
See the Earnings Preview from January 16.
DraftKings
Here’s a prediction for ya: Prominent among the “great questions” likely to be faced on the Q425 call will be what the analysts can gather from the early days of the Predictions app launched late last year. Positivity emanates from the earnings preview notes, helped by suggestions that DraftKings will benefit from buoyant hold and market share gains against FanDuel.
See the Earnings Preview from January 19.
Earnings this week
Feb 10: Catena Media. Red Rock Resorts, Robinhood
Feb11: DoubleDown Interactive
Feb 12: Wynn Resorts, DraftKings (earnings)
Feb 13: DraftKings (call)
Markets
Exit through the gift shop: The reassurance offered last week by MGM Resorts over the state of the Las Vegas market was appreciated by investors, who sent the company’s shares up 11% on commentary that suggested the high end was holding up better than the lower end on the Strip.
Lost in the K-hole: Noting the spending of high-end customers in the Holiday Gift Shoppe, CEO Bill Hornbuckle said the K-shaped economy was “alive and well” as he promised “some really strong performance” in Q2.
The read-across to Wynn Resorts wasn’t lost on investors who sent the shares up 9% for the week.
Hoping something better comes tomorrow: Better Collective enjoyed a 9% advance this week after the news that Danish tycoon Henrik Lind, via his investment vehicle Lind Invest, has upped its stake in the business to 6.5% and hence over the 5% notification threshold.
Non-performing media: The worst performer this week was Genius Sports, down 30%, as investors reacted badly to its $1.2bn Legend acquisition, See ‘Deal X-ray’ below.
Flutter Entertainment, down 8% for the week, and DraftKings, off by 4%, continued to see their share prices suffer because of fears over what the slowing handle performance says about the potential for prediction-market cannibalization.
But analysts at Jefferies argued the handle deceleration is more about lower-fee bet activity and consumers having less bank roll to recycle.
“That’s pressuring volumes but boosting margins, helped by very favorable NFL pricing dynamics,” said the analysts.
Dabble is proving what we’re seeing across the UK and EMEA: 𝗞𝗬𝗖 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵. 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿.
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The results:
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Deal X-ray – Genius/Legend
Impatient capital: Genius Sports is paying up to $1.2bn for gaming affiliate marketing firm Legend in a deal that’s more about impatience than innovation. The sports-data provider is spending $900m upfront, plus up to $300min earnouts, to achieve in 2026 what CEO Mark Locke admitted they could have reached organically by 2028.
The strategic rationale is straightforward: Genius needs to diversify beyond sports-betting customers and gain scale in digital media.
Legend solves both problems immediately, providing revenue and exposure to the iCasino market.
Peering over the hedge: But strip away the “transformational” rhetoric and this is a classic buy-versus-build decision where time trumped price. Genius reviewed nearly 100 acquisition targets over 18 months before selecting Legend, suggesting careful planning.
Yet the deal structure, predominantly cash with only $100m in stock, reveals timing pressure.
Locke’s comment that “our equity is precious” amid “market volatility” hints that Genius views its stock as undervalued and wanted to deploy capital before a potential recovery.
The 25% earnout component suggests either seller negotiating leverage or buyer execution hedging.
The integration risks are real despite management confidence. Genius is taking on $850m in debt, pushing leverage to just under 3x EBITDA, while simultaneously changing its free cash flow reporting to an unlevered basis, a yellow flag that interest expense will be material.
Revenue synergies are characterized as “significant” but unquantified and framed as “upside” rather than baked into guidance.
CFO Bryan Castellani admitted cost synergies would be “modest,” and the technology integration timeline remains vague beyond pointing to 2026 benefits.
Buying time: This deal will likely hit its financial targets: Legend is profitable with 75% recurring revenue, and the revenue synergy logic is sound. But calling it transformational overstates reality.
Genius is buying timeline acceleration and market diversification, not breakthrough capabilities. They’re paying full price for speed in a maturing market, and the real test will be whether promised 2026 revenue synergies materialize and leverage comes down as projected.
See the Deal X-ray edition sent this morning (PRO subs only).
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Upcoming earnings
Feb 10: Catena Media, Red Rock Resorts, Robinhood
Feb 11: DoubleDown Interactive
Feb 12: Wynn Resorts, DraftKings (earnings)
Feb 13: DraftKings (call)
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