Badminton Europe (BEC), has signed a wide-ranging rights agreement with data and media services company Sportradar that builds on the pre-existing betting and broadcast partnership that has been in place between the two organisations since 2015.
Under the expanded, multi-year deal, Sportradar will become the official and exclusive data partner for all BEC competitions across Europe and provide a new OTT platform for the governing body.
As BEC’s official data partner, Sportradar will supply betting operators and media platforms around the world with data from the 35 BEC tournaments each year, including the European Championships, European Men’s and Women’s Team Championships, European Mixed Team Championships, and elite circuit events such as the International Challenge and International Series.
The OTT tie-up will see Sportradar draw on its technological capabilities to supply Badminton Europe with a global OTT service: Badmintoneurope.tv (www.badmintoneurope.tv).
The new service will feature multi-court coverage of the biggest BEC tournaments with regular live action from the International Challengers and International Series. The platform also features on-demand match content from past years, competition draws, webinars and podcasts and will be free to view upon registering for the service.
Sportradar said it will also develop and launch a new BEC website and market BEC’s sponsorship inventory, both on-site at tournaments and by integrating messages into Badminton Europe’s digital environment.
The company will also help BEC to manage customer data and bring improvements and efficiencies through use of its Data Toolkit products.
Lutz Tigges, senior director at Sportradar, said: “We value the success we’ve had working alongside Badminton Europe these past few years and the trustful partnership we’ve developed.
“Together we grew technical and commercial standards including the global reach of Badminton events. Now, we’re excited to be supporting them as they utilise our broad range of products and services to grow the profile of their sport around the world and work towards their long-term commercial goals.”
Brian Agerbak, general secretary at Badminton Europe, said: “The extended partnership with Sportradar to include an OTT platform, a new website and a Federation Data Toolkit will strengthen our digital footprint. It is an important strategic target for us to grow our digital followers and allow them access to our digital services through a single sign on process.
“Furthermore, growing our media exposure and increasing global visibility for our products are key components for us. We have been very satisfied with the cooperation with Sportradar in the previous years and we are excited to further develop our profile with such a strong partner by our side.”