Genius Sports Buys FanHub, Second Spectrum This Week

• Sports data and analytics company Genius Sports has just acquired Second Spectrum and FanHub in a pair of deals.
• Second Spectrum is a data-tracking and AI services developer and was sold for $200 million, while FanHub, a developer of free to play games and fan engagement software, was acquired for an undisclosed amount.

NEW YORK – Massive sports data and analytical brand Genius Sport is making some major acquisitions this week.

Announced Thursday, Genius Sports has officially purchased Second Spectrum for a released cost of $200 million. Second Spectrum is a fully integrated sports AI developer that works to track and visualize data for the English Premier League, NBA, and MLS.

Genius Sports also acquired free-to-play game and software creators FanHub for an undisclosed fee.

Both of these deals came in this week as Genius looks to expand heavily into the digital data market for sports betting.

With more and more states around the country working to legalized sports betting, Genius and many other companies see the online sports betting landscape as a major sector ready to grow.

Genius Sports is looking to use Second Spectrum and FanHub to create new user media experiences for their partners and clients. This could take the form of data-driven coverage of games, analytical takeaways for media or broadcast coverage, or sportsbooks implementation to make betting with real-time data even easier.

“Genius is committed to capturing and distributing the fastest, most accurate and secure official sports data. This acquisition supports our long-term strategic vision of utilizing AI tracking, enhanced data insights and transformative technology to revolutionize the sports data landscape for the fans, our customers and sports and media partners,” said Mark Locke, CEO of Genius Sports.

This move also comes in wake of Genius Sports’ officially listing on the New York Stock Exchange on April 21. Genius Sports is now trading under $GENI and saw a 30%+ increase in stock price after these new deals were officially announced.

Genius Sports will likely continue to expand their foothold with the current league partnerships while assisting them on this new digital betting wave.

With more leagues looking to implement betting as past of the officially fan and media experience in the US, companies like Genius will continue to succeed. With regulated sports betting set to expand heavily over the next decade, Genius Sports is likely making the right move at the right time.

News tags: FanHub | Genius Sports | Mark Locke | New York Stock Exchange | Second Spectrum