Sportradar: "Augmented streaming is the next step on the innovation journey"

As the gaming industry eagerly anticipates the upcoming ICE London 2024 event, Sportradar, a leading provider of sports betting and data solutions, is gearing up to present its latest innovations at the show. Mateo Lenoble, Regional Sales Director LATAM at Sportradar, shares insights into the company's offerings and expectations for ICE London this year.

One of the highlights from Sportradar's portfolio is the ATP Service+, a new product collection that will be featured at the event. In addition to this novelty, Lenoble discusses Sportradar's augmented streaming capabilities, AI-driven products and how the company's products help solve the challenges its clients face.

What will be the main novelties that Sportradar will focus on at ICE London this year?

We’ll be showcasing products that form part of our new ATP Service+ product portfolio. Augmented streaming, among other visualization products on display, is just one new innovation. Augmented streaming is the next step on the innovation journey, building on the Computer Vision technology we displayed last year, showing how we captured deep data for the first time in the industry, processing live sport images at 120 frames per second.

This technology was rolled out later in the year on our Enhanced Table Tennis product and this very deep data is now at the core of our new products and services. Augmented streaming is powered by such deep data, which then has AI models applied to create dynamic visual overlays on live streamed content, including real-time betting statistics, performance insights and 3D animations.

This provides valuable commercial opportunities for sportsbooks and viewers can also choose the streams and overlays that are most relevant to their content preferences. Augmented streaming is the next step in the trend towards 100% data-driven streams.

Other solutions on display include ALPHA ODDS. This is our AI-driven odds recalculation service, which allows operators to adjust their betting prices in ‘real-time’ to stabilize their trading operations. Since this was made available, evidence across 2023 shows it can improve trading efficiency by 11%. The pricing models within ALPHA ODDS more accurately predict the probability of a game event taking place, enabling operators to manage their risk more effectively.

We’ve just been awarded independent certification for it from auditors PwC, achieving the International Standard in Assurance Engagement for matching and client invoicing calculation systems.

Given ICE London’s status as one of the major global events in the industry, what are your expectations for the expo?

I would describe ICE London as a truly global event that attracts operators from across the world. ICE brings the industry together and provides an opportunity for everyone to showcase their latest products, services and innovations.

For Sportradar, we can help solve the challenges our clients are facing by using our expertise and industry-leading technology to help them achieve their business goals. As a company, we have a problem-solving mindset and we've been focused on creating the products and services that add value to our clients’ businesses.

How would you describe the industry's and your client's current demands at the time? What markets will you focus on at the expo?

The market is growing exponentially and it is increasingly difficult for operators to differentiate their offerings. From a pure betting odds point of view, our Alpha Odds solution allows operators to create bespoke betting prices that are based on their own liabilities. The AI models within Alpha Odds allow operators to offer their customers a completely different betting price.

What's more, AI-driven personalization tools are allowing sportsbooks to deliver highly personalized customer experiences. The AI technology needed to create a 1-to-1 betting experience is already with us and through our VAIX business, we’re providing clients with integrations so they can deliver a personalized front-end betting experience to each individual customer. This includes the ability to serve customers in-play recommended bets and it removes the need for customers to manually search for their next bet.

In-play bet recommenders will become increasingly important this year as we introduce micro-betting markets on ATP for example – those are quick, in-play betting markets which aren’t linked to the final outcome of a game. The increase in content combined with shorter betting cycles will require a more instantaneous approach from bettors, and the in-play bet recommenders will enable this.

Although ICE takes place in London, in terms of markets, it goes so much wider than Europe. Of course, there is a large number of operators from across EMEA, but we always find that there’s a large attendance from LATAM too. Last year also showed an increase in people travelling from APAC for the show.

The event comes as we enter a new year for gambling. What is your assessment of how the sector developed in 2023, and what should we expect from it in 2024?

Advances in technology are really propelling the betting industry forward. We said at the beginning of 2023 that AI would continue to drive true innovation and for Sportradar, last year was all about Computer Vision. Taking the technology from an innovation project to the stage we're at now incorporating it into our core products and services, it’s having a real business impact.

Looking at the year ahead there's going to be increased application of the technology. It's enabling us to collect a deeper level of data, which we're using to power the next generation of betting products for clients. As already mentioned here, augmented streaming uses this deep data.

Micro-betting is another example. The speed at which Computer Vision collects and processes data allows for the creation of new markets, faster bet types and more of them. This opens up new possibilities for operators to offer their customers a whole new betting experience.

Sportradar’s role in all this is to be the innovator, working closely with rightsholder partners to continue to develop the next generation of betting products that will transform the industry. We have more than 20 years’ worth of historical data and now the capability to collect deep data. That’s a powerful combination and an unrivalled jump-off point for product innovation.

What other industry events does the company plan to attend this year?

We’ll be attending SBC Summit Rio, SiGMA Americas in São Paulo, Peru Gaming Show, G2E in the US, plus events in Europe and APAC throughout the year.

How does Sportradar handle regulatory challenges in various regions while providing data and integrity services?

We operate within whatever regulatory framework and laws exist in any country. The regulatory landscape is developing and changing continually which will in turn provide opportunities for the industry to develop further. It’s an ever-changing landscape.