Official betting aims to provide punters with a more accurate picture of sports results by using data from the leagues themselves. This data includes player statistics, game-by-game performance, and other information. It’s used by betting sites to make decisions on wagers like point totals, money lines and more.
In the US, the battles over control of data and what data is required have emerged as a primary front in the effort to shape state and federal policy. Leagues are seeking a role as primary stakeholders in legal sports betting and want to monetize their data via a direct share of the amount wagered.
Until now, leagues have largely sought to monetize their data through an integrity fee. But the push for official league data mandates has supplanted that idea as the preferred method of generating profits from the sports betting industry.
Leagues want to use real-time data for in-play wagers, a strategy that’s likely to work in the US because of its speed. In order to make that possible, they are looking for a commercially reasonable price tag.
According to sources within the industry, that price tag might range from 0.25% of the total amount wagered on each league. If it’s successful, this will allow the leagues to recoup their costs while also providing operators with a more reliable data set for in-play wagering. However, the value of official data has yet to be proven. This makes the battle over official betting data a difficult one for leagues.