iGaming Business magazine In-play Focus 2015 | Page 13

IN-PLAY FOCUS 2015

THE NEED FOR SPEED
The insatiable demand of sportsbooks and bettors for more data has seen a
number of new companies enter the supply chain, raising concerns about the
quality and reliability of these feeds, writes Marc Thomas of SIS.
Having a robust, reliable, and fast data feed is
the desire of every sportsbook operator in the
industry. As competition increases, and more
and more customers bet in-play on multiple
sports and markets, the quality of those data
feeds has never been more important.
In-play betting now makes up an
increasingly higher percentage of sportsbook
activity, as half-time and pitchside advertising
gives casual punters up-to-the second odds
on everything from the next goal scorer to the
next wicket to fall.
To meet this growing demand, a number
of new data feed companies have entered the
supply chain. But this in turn has brought
concerns about quality and reliability.
There are numerous considerations for
operators to weigh up before choosing which
data supplier to bring in to feed their allimportant trading teams and sportsbooks.
One area to consider, in particular, is the
growing trend among sports rights holders
to control the distribution of both pictures
and data to deliver better value to partners
and sponsors.
Many rights holders are taking steps
to protect their intellectual property and
have engaged cyber-security groups such
as COMSEC to ensure that unofficial data
scouts are identified and removed from
stadiums.
Recently, the newly renamed governing
body of the top