Digitisation is the new asset class': Genius Sports CEO on how media fragmentation is transforming sport's monetisation model

When Genius Sports was founded in 2001 the dotcom crash was in full swing, betting was still predominantly an analogue activity done in high street shops, and the use of data within sport was a niche activity pursued exclusively by enthusiasts and outsiders. The digitisation of sport and society over the subsequent quarter of a century has transformed everything. Data analytics are present in virtually every sporting activity and technology is a key driver of growth and efficiency in the professional arena. Meanwhile, Genius has evolved from a startup based in a cheap office above a noisy printing press in Southwark into a global organisation employing more than 2,600 people. “We worked out why the office was cheap pretty quickly because you would end up with a massive headache every day,” recalls Genius chief executive Mark Locke, speaking exclusively to SportsPro. Betting has remained a constant source of strength over the past 25 years, with Genius providing real-time data feeds and products to bookmakers across the world, unlocking in-play markets that have generated significant revenues for bookmakers and rights holders. The liberalisation of gambling legislation in the US has accelerated this activity, opening up the world’s biggest sports market and unleashing a new wave of growth. But Genius has always had spirations beyond betting. Locke says the company’s next ambition is to create an ‘operating system’ for the sports industry that builds on its core data competency and comprises multiple services and products. “People historically think of us as a betting company but [our revenue split] is 60 per cent betting and 40 per cent media, and we actually see that flipping in the not too distant future,” Locke explains. “What we do is deploy technology into sport, and we see betting as just one of the many revenue streams that sport can generate. We’re in the business of monetising sports fans across the entire ecosystem.” Real time statistics and graphics are helping leagues engage viewers during live broadcasts (Image credit: Genius Sports) A new era of fan monetisation Genius sees digital transformation as a means to offset the negative consequences of changing fan behaviours that are undermining traditional business models. Fans now have a vast array of content and entertainment choices vying for their attention, and younger, digitally-savvy consumers are less interested in watching live events than previous generations. Furthermore, they are less likely to watch linear television, never mind pay for it. This shift has challenged subscription and advertising-based revenue models, leading to plateauing or contracting media rights values for all but a handful of tier one properties. As sport seeks new ways to engage and monetise fans, Locke views data, digital services and direct fan relationships as the next big asset class in sport, creating a new source of revenue that can replace and expand legacy income streams like media rights. “Consumption is moving away from broadcast,” Locke explains. “There is a change in how sport is funded [which has historically] been [through] media rights. It’s an absolutely seismic, fundamental and incredibly fast shift. “The NFL, the Premier League or the NBA will be fine, but they’re at the pinnacle. Other leagues are coming under enormous pressure from falling rights fees. “This forces leagues, teams and owners to look at other ways of generating revenue. They have assets – broadcast, betting data – but ultimately, they’ve got fans, and those fans are the key to that monetisation. “Fans have always been monetised – they’ve just been monetised by broadcasters who buy rights and sell packages. Now, fans are going to be directly monetised in a very personalised fashion – and it’s going to be done by the leagues. “By that, I mean it’s going to be done by technology partners because leagues are not technology businesses. What that means is we’re very well placed for the world where rights fees [are declining].” “We want to serve the entire ecosystem” Genius’ data operation is at the heart of this mission. The company analyses more than 240,000 sporting events annually, a scale enabled by a shift from manual data collection to automated computer tracking systems. Its GeniusIQ data and AI platform transforms millions of computer-vision captured data points on every single athlete, official and ball on the field, effectively producing a digital twin of a live sporting event that can be recreated and analysed from any perspective. This has enabled officiating technology like semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) but also unlocks new fan engagement and analytical use cases for teams, leagues and federations. Meanwhile, advanced algorithms process vast amounts of data to create previously unmeasurable metrics. Premier League, National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association are but three properties to benefit from new ways to analyse performance using data and video captured by GeniusIQ. Coaches and players benefit from new performance tools, teams and broadcasters can create new, immersive data-driven fan engagement products, and commercial teams can offer new opportunities to sponsors and partners. This data can also be used to make backroom functions more efficient, fuel ticketing and merchandise sales, and drive sign-ups to mobile applications or DTC platforms. By leveraging this data, the sports industry can create the digital services and data-driven business practices that build and deepen relationships with audiences and effectively monetise that fandom. “We’re in the business of monetising sports fans,” says Locke. “We want to serve the entire ecosystem and help brands, media and sports organisations achieve their goals using the data they’ve acquired. “The asset class [that is going to grow revenues] is going to come from digitisation. With GeniusIQ we collect 10,000 points on a human body 200 times a second. We synthesise entire games based on those data points.” Genius now works with 650 partners, including major competitions like the National Football League (NFL) and Premier League and broadcasters like ESPN and Sky Sports. But brands, whether they are endemic to the sports industry like Puma or seeking to reach sports audiences like Coca-Cola, are increasingly leveraging Genius’ ability to understand and reach fans to run more effective marketing and advertising campaigns. Sports organisations and brands can launch campaigns that leverage data to achieve better results, whilst also tailoring them to specific moments so that programmatic advertising campaigns can be held around major events, goals or other on-field outcomes. “A really interesting example is takeaway food,” Locke says. “When a fan’s favourite team is losing a sporting event, the consumer is 25 per cent more likely to order a takeaway. [Insight] like this allows you to see the value of the data driving buying decisions.” Making a US$1.2bn bet on Legend Recent acquisitions made by Genius have furthered its expansion plans. Technologies acquired through the purchases of Second Spectrum and FanHub power key Genius products, while the takeover of Sports Innovation Lab (SIL) in 2025 boosted its fan intelligence operation. The US$1.2 billion swoop for digital sports media and gaming affiliate platform Legend earlier in 2026 was the biggest in company history – and raised a few eyebrows from analysts and investors who questioned the size and purpose of the deal. The move was designed to dramatically scale Genius’ advertising capabilities and further diversify its revenue streams. Legend’s media network and marketing technology directly provides content, data and gamification tools to digital platforms, while publications such as Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports are among its syndication customers. These capabilities make it possible to detect when sports fans are researching teams, players, odds and scores and are therefore more likely to place a bet. Legend’s platform then connects users with the most relevant bookmaker, product or advertiser. Last year, its network generated 320 million visits from 118 million unique players. However, unlike a lot of other companies in the sports industry, Genius is publicly traded, meaning its strategy is constantly judged by the stock market. Shares in the business fell by a fifth in the immediate aftermath of the Legend news. Enable this content? This content is served by a third party, open.spotify.com. If enabled, open.spotify.com may collect information about your activity. Manage preferences to always allow this content. Locke acknowledges the deal was divisive but says it was largely misunderstood at the time, arguing that the acquisition of Legend was more than acquiring a simple affiliate business. Instead, it was about adding a behaviour intelligence layer that would have relevance across multiple applications and strengthen the wider digital transformation of sport. “Legend has high-quality technology that allows them to collect enormous amounts of data in real time that know what customers’ intent is,” he says. “You know how Instagram knows immediately what you’re interested in? This is what Legend does. It just happens to do this across sport and casinos. We’ve bought that engine.” And although Genius has acquired some destination sites as part of the transaction, Locke stresses they are used to amplify the network and will generate more traffic for partners. “We don’t need to own the fan, we want to own the revenue pathways to that fan,” he continues. “We don’t want to acquire new customers; we want to help sportsbooks and casinos acquire them so we can get commission on every wager made by customers we send to end operators. In lots of ways, the business model Legend operates is like Booking.com.” Genius Sports’ close relationship with the NFL has led to initiatives like the Madden Cast (Image credit: Genius Sports) Building for the future In an open letter defending the Legend deal earlier this year, Locke pointed out that several of Genius’ previous big money moves had been questioned at the time but had added long-term strategic value. Indeed, signing a deal with the NFL in 2021 was a landmark moment for the company, establishing a relationship with the most influential sports property in the world’s biggest sporting market and becoming a showcase for the full breadth of Genius’ portfolio. However, the terms of the deal – as Locke alluded to in his open letter – have long been scrutinised. The US$120 million-a-year contract was struck during a frenzy of activity in the newly created data rights market when various providers sought to tie down sports properties to exclusive deals, hoping to capitalise on the exploding popularity of online betting and digital platforms. The NFL was also handed an equity stake in Genius, even though the league could walk away from the partnership at the end of the contract. Locke is adamant that the deal was the right thing to do, noting it had been extended twice without going to tender, and that the ability to offer more than just betting services had enhanced the return on investment. In the same way, Locke says investors increasingly recognise the motivations behind the Legend takeover and the company’s ongoing efforts to control as much of the data channel as possible. In doing so, he believes the company is positioned to both withstand the threats of artificial intelligence (AI) and thrive on the opportunities the technology presents. “If you own the data – especially if you own the data and the distribution – AI is a massive net positive,” Locke says. “If you just process other people’s data and you don’t own the distribution and that network effect, you are at real risk of AI disruption. “I think people are starting to understand that our business is going to benefit from AI. So we’re starting to see the stock coming back.” Get your daily briefing of all the essential news across the sports industry with the SportsPro Daily Newsletter. Subscribe here.