The Swiss gaming data company Sportsradar had the goal of going public in the US. With major business interests in the legal US sports betting industry, this was the most logical way to expand. That dream recently become a reality with a company listing on the US NASDAQ Exchange.
Trading under the symbol SRAD, the company is now poised for growth in a market that is expanding at an accelerated pace.
Going public earlier this month capped off an extended 14-month process that was filled with some turbulence along the way. Hard work and perseverance paid off in the end as Sportsradar realized that long-term dream.
The opening ceremony was attended by CEO Carsten Koerl as Sportsradar’s founder. Also in attendance was NBA legend Michael Jordan as one of the company’s biggest investors. Koerl released the following statement at the ceremony:
“Ringing the Opening Bell at the NASDAQ as a public company is a significant milestone in the history of Sportsradar. It is a testament to the ambition, originality, and resourcefulness of our employees, the strength and commitment of our partners, the confidence and support of our investors and the vision of our customers.
Moving forward, we’ll continue to propel digital transformation across the sports ecosystem as a result of our dedication to developing the most innovative products and solutions to drive fan engagement.”
The company has been able to work through two major setbacks on this path to going public. The first was the loss of its exclusive rights to distribute sports betting data for the NFL. With those rights up for bid, Sportsradar lost out to business rival Genius Sports.
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While the company was negotiating with the biggest betting league in the legal US market, a deal to go public fell apart. Horizon Acquisition Corp. II stepped up to the plate as a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company).
It has been speculated that the deal fell apart after Sportsradar lost the NFL contract. There may have been some reluctance to move forward given the impact of that major loss of business.
Down but not deterred, Sportsradar pressed on with its plans to go public. The company was able to raise close to $513 million through the sale of 19 million Class A ordinary shares.
This proved to be a very smart investment. The company’s net worth was estimated to be $8 billion. This favorable evaluation boosted the value of those shares to $27.
Along with Jordan, Los Angeles Dodgers’ co-owner Todd Boehly was another principal investor. He was actually part of the SPAC involved in the previous deal. He decided to personally buy six million Class A shares.
Despite the loss of the NFL data rights, Sportsradar is a global force in the sports betting industry. The company has 2300 full-time employees across 19 different countries. With business interests in 120 nations, there are 1,600 partnerships in place.
These partnership exist with sports betting providers, sports leagues, and individual teams all around the world. Sportsradar remains the biggest provider of sports betting data in the industry.
