Sports data and content company Sportradar has launched a new AI-driven product that will seek to simulate professional sports matches for the betting market amid the global competition lockdown due to Covid-19.
Simulated Reality will be made available to customers within Sportradar’s existing portfolio of events, initially launching on Friday covering football’s English Premier League, Spanish LaLiga and German Bundesliga.
Drawing on Sportradar’s historical football database and statistical output to provide match data for the product, the first simulated reality games will offer a range of pre-match and live (in-play) betting opportunities. The simulations will reflect team form and normal match play.
Simulated Reality football will offer fans the chance to complete the current football season, with all remaining fixtures scheduled to be played as per their original date and kick-off time. Played out over a full 90 minutes, fans will be able to bet on their favourite teams and access match analysis and league tables, while the game itself will be visualised by live match trackers.
Sportradar said it plans to extend its Simulated Reality product to several other leagues and competitions in the near future, with other sports earmarked for production including tennis and basketball.
Carsten Koerl, chief executive of Sportradar, said: “We have listened carefully to our customers and the betting community who have made it clear there is an appetite for alternative means of betting during this time where this is a void in live sports action.
“Simulated Reality will give our sports betting partners seamless access to a highly unique product that is first to market at no extra cost and integration. As market leaders in the industry, we pride ourselves on our ability to quickly pivot our business strategy and redirect our resources towards delivering new and innovative solutions such as this.”
Sportradar and Formula 1 this month announced the introduction of new, live in-race betting markets for the 2020 season, furthering the motor-racing championship’s drive to better exploit its data rights. Sportradar also signed a deal with the National Premier Leagues (NPL), Australia’s second-tier football league, that will see the launch of the NPL.TV streaming platform.
IMG Arena, the sports betting arm of the IMG agency, and ATP Media, the ATP Tour’s international media-rights sales and broadcast production arm, also announced today (Monday) that they have developed a virtual ATP Masters 1000 tennis product for the betting market. The product, which will be ready next month, has also been developed in response to the dearth of live sport during the Covid-19 pandemic.