Premier League Fights Data Piracy: Official Stance on Unlicensed Betting Feeds

The battle for control over sports data has intensified as Football DataCo, the entity representing the Premier League, EFL, and SPFL, issues a stern warning against unofficial data providers. In the modern betting landscape, real-time data is the most critical asset for setting odds and managing live markets. When companies scrape this information without paying for licensing rights, it threatens the financial stability of the leagues and raises serious integrity concerns.

Adrian Ford, the General Manager of Football DataCo, has explicitly compared the act of data scraping to theft. He noted that technically adept businesses are extracting data from official sources and redistributing it from jurisdictions with weak intellectual property laws. This makes it incredibly difficult for rights holders to pursue legal action. The issue remains a global challenge where legal precedents vary, as many courts have previously ruled that raw facts and figures cannot be copyrighted.

Numbers and facts

At the heart of the official data ecosystem is Genius Sports. The partnership, which was originally established in 2019, has been extended to the completion of the 2024/2025 season. This exclusive deal grants Genius Sports the rights to collect and distribute live betting data for more than 4,000 UK football fixtures every single season. The scope of this partnership has also expanded to include AI-powered tracking technology, specifically the Second Spectrum solution, which is being deployed across Championship grounds.

Ford highlighed that the market is currently being undermined by providers selling inferior services at significantly lower prices. This not only reduces the revenue potential for the leagues but also introduces risks to the integrity of the sport. The leagues are often the ones left to deal with the consequences of integrity breaches, making the case for mandated use of official data even stronger from their perspective.

"Unofficial data can be created from any part of the world and technically savvy businesses can scrape data – the equivalent to theft – from users of official data – in both cases unofficial data can be created in jurisdictions that offer less intellectual property protections and this makes stopping the process more difficult." - Adrian Ford, General Manager of Football DataCo

Background

A notable legal attempt to curb this practice recently failed in the UK. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Foster had proposed an amendment to the Sporting Events Bill that would have criminalized unauthorized data collection, often referred to as data piracy. However, the amendment was not successful, leaving rights holders to rely on commercial agreements and technical barriers rather than criminal law.

The industry has also seen internal friction regarding these exclusive rights. Sportradar initiated legal proceedings back in 2020 against Football DataCo and Genius Sports, alleging that their exclusive arrangement violated competition laws in the UK and European Union. The dispute was finally settled out of court in 2022, resulting in a sub-licensing agreement that allowed Sportradar access to a delayed secondary feed. Despite this settlement, the core issue of unlicensed scraping remains a major point of contention for Adrian Ford and his organization.

Why it matters for German players

For bettors in Germany, the source of data is more than just a technicality. The German State Treaty on Gambling 2021 (GlüStV 2021) was designed to ensure a fair and safe environment for consumers. When operators use unofficial or unreliable data, it can lead to discrepancies in live betting markets, potentially resulting in unfair losses or voided bets for the players. Licensed operators under the GGL (Joint Gambling Authority of the States) are expected to maintain the highest standards of data integrity.

Furthermore, German regulation mandates various player protection measures, such as the 1,000 Euro monthly deposit limit across all providers and the central LUGAS database. By choosing GGL-licensed platforms, players ensure they are engaging with businesses that respect the official rights of sports leagues, which in turn supports the long-term sustainability and honesty of sports betting. Unlicensed data feeds often lack the precision required to meet the strict regulatory oversight present in the German market.

What it means for GGL-licensed casinos

Operators holding a German license must prioritize legal compliance above all else. Engaging with unofficial data sources could be seen as a breach of the integrity standards required by the GGL. Therefore, these operators are likely to continue relying on major distributors like Genius Sports to power their sportsbooks. This ensures that the data used for settling bets is the same data produced by the leagues themselves, eliminating any gray areas regarding match outcomes and protecting the operators from potential litigation or regulatory sanctions.