The NFL Will Own 5% Of Genius Sports After Exclusive SPAC Deal With DMYD

Shares of a SPAC related to sports betting data soared after announcing an exclusive deal with the National Football League. New details of the deal show the NFL will own around 5% of the company after it completes the SPAC merger.

What Happened: Genius Sports, which is going public with SPAC dMY Technology Group II DMYD, is becoming the exclusive partner to distribute the NFL’s official data to legal sportsbooks in the U.S. and abroad according to Sportico.

The National Football League will receive 22.5 million warrants exercisable at a price of one cent each as part of the deal stated the Sportico article. No amount has been released for what Genius Sports is paying for the rights.

The NFL will own around 5% of Genius Sports and will have 11.25 million immediately vested warrants when the company completes its SPAC deal.

Related Link: Genius Sports SPAC: A Look At The Thing Behind The Thing For Sports Betting 

Why It’s Important: Genius Sports beat out rival Sportradar in a month-long bidding process for the NFL rights. The deal will give Genius Sports the exclusive rights to the NFL data for a six-year time period. The NFL can renew the contract a year at a time after the contract ends.

Sportradar, which is in talks to merge with SPAC Horizon Acquisition Corp II HZON, is the dominant provider of sports data in the U.S. and a main competitor for Genius Sports.

Genius Sports has non-exclusive deals in place with the NBA and MLB and a relationship with the NCAA. No sports league sees more wagering than the NFL in the U.S.

Along with providing content to sportsbooks, Genius Sports will package the data for sports media companies, distribute live game feeds internationally and monitor betting patterns to detect suspicious activity.

Genius Sports and the NFL are also developing a “jointly-governed technology center,” a hub that will work on innovations in NFL betting.

The National Football League invests in companies through its investment arm called 32 Equity. Investments by the NFL include On Location Experiences, Fanatics, Skillz Inc SKLZ and Sportradar.

DMYD. Price Action: Shares of dMY Technology Group II are down 4.73% to $18.72 on Monday.

(Photo by Adrian Curiel on Unsplash)