The concept of official betting has become front and center in the sports betting conversation, as leagues seek to shape US state and federal policy. Following their years-long opposition to gambling, leagues are now focused on profiting from legal sports betting – ideally through a direct cut of the total amount wagered. While this remains a long-term goal, the pursuit of official data mandates has emerged as a primary vehicle.
In the current debate over sports betting, leagues are seeking to impose an official data mandate in state-regulated markets, which would require operators to use their own real-time data rather than that of third parties. This data is used to grade in-game wagers such as an exacta (picking the first two finishers of a race in correct order), a quinella (first three finishers in any order), or a trifecta box (first three in any combination).
Sources within the industry indicate that the cost of official data has been pushed up to as high as 0.255% of the total amount wagered on a given market by distributor Sportradar. However, the industry has not yet proven that such a fee is commercially reasonable for its value to bettors.
Illinois is the only state that has a specific official data requirement in its sports betting law, and it requires only the use of official data for Tier 2 bets, which include most wagers other than a straight bet on a particular team or event outcome. In those cases, the official data must be provided by a “governing body of a game or sports league, organization, or association that is expressly authorized to provide such information to licensees.”