Sportradar enters a multi-year partnership with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and in doing so, the company has expanded its portfolio of partners in the sports betting sector. With the deal, Sportradar will be able to collect and distribute data on sports betting from IHF’s active events, which totals around 300 matches annually. This development comes days after Sportradar partnered with the Dutch FA to fight off fixed matches.
The Partnership Will Last Until the End of the 2029/2030 Season
As details from the agreement state, Sportradar and IHF will collaborate until the end of the 2029/2030 season, and apart from the sports betting data, the deal includes an integrity element – the Universal Fraud Detection Service (UFDS), which is a monitoring system that prevents match-fixing and other bet-related risks while also educating officials of the body how to spot match-fixing.
The competitions that are set to be included in this deal are the Olympic Qualifiers, FIH Hockey World Cup Qualifiers, FIH Hockey5s World Cup, FIH Indoor Hockey World Cups, FIH Hockey World Cups, and the FIH Hockey Pro League.
As a way to assist with data and tournament management, Sportradar will also provide a Competition Management platform that will factor match rankings, results, and player statistics. The FIH will likely use this platform to engage with the global hockey audience and provide more significant insights. All continental and national bodies and other FIH member associations will be available on this platform.
Sportradar and FIH Shared Encouraging Words About Each Other
Sportradar continues to expand on the global market. The Swiss sports data and technology company was recently listed on NASDAQ, and it has multiple partnerships related to betting data, one of which is with the respected soccer international sports bodies – UEFA. Sportradar and UEFA reached their first agreement on sports betting rights.
While commenting on the partnership with the FIH, the regional CEO APAC and chief commercial officer of Sportradar, Ed Blonk, stated that the company’s expertise and leverage will allow it to provide FIH with bespoke services and thus, help elevate hockey and make sure that the game experiences continued growth. Blonk also added that Sprotradar is delighted to collaborate with the FIH and provide hockey fans around the world with enhanced engagement experiences.
On the other hand, the CEO of FIH, Thierry Weil, stated that one of FIH’s key initiatives is to come up with events that bring massive entertainment that is meaningful for the players but also have a major focus on the fans to attract more people to the sport and increase the participation.
Weil said that Sportradar’s record of supporting the most prominent sports federations in the world is a good indicator that its solutions will help the sport of hockey globally, and that is why the FIH is excited to choose that particular company as its partner.