Sports data giant Sportradar, known for its official data deals with leagues, is in “intense” talks with a range of prediction market businesses, planning to offers its services to companies operating across the event contract ecosystem, according to CEO Carsten Koerl.
Koerl was speaking on Sportradar’s earnings call Tuesday following the release of its first quarter results.
The results came just days after the publication of two short-seller reports on April 22, from Muddy Waters Research and Calisto Research, both alleging Sportradar had ties to illegal gambling. Those reports led to a 30% plunge in Sportradar’s share price, before a modest recovery. Sportradar executives also addressed the claims in the reports on the earnings call and with a supplemental release alongside its first-quarter report.
Sportradar provides a range of services to sportsbooks but is most known for its data. It holds the official data rights for the NBA and MLB, so sports betting operators wishing to use that official data must procure it from Sportradar.
In talks with prediction markets
During its earnings presentation, Sportradar outlined that its services could be useful to a range of different types of businesses involved in prediction markets. It said that futures commission merchants — the role of Robinhood and FanDuel Predicts — could use its customer acquisition tools and visualizations. Market makers who trade on exchanges — such as Susquehanna or Jump Trading — could use its live data feeds and odds. Designated contract markets — the role of Kalshi, Crypto.com, and Polymarket US — could use all of those services.
Koerl said the business was in talks with “all the players” in the space, and that an announcement could come soon.
“The talks we have with all the players in prediction markets are pretty intense” he said. “The talks have been happening over the last couple of weeks.
“We think that discussions are in a very mature stage. There is nothing to announce now but we believe that soon we will announce something.”
Koerl added that for now there were no types of product within Sportradar’s wheelhouse that the business would treat as off-limits for prediction markets.
“At the moment, we don’t see limitations,” he said. “That is something which we leave to the regulators figuring out the way here.
“What we can do is we are working hands-on and very quick on the best possible product to serve our partners on the prediction markets.”
Short-seller reports
Regarding the short-seller reports, Sportradar published a note outlining its “rigorous know-your-client process.”
“Sportradar is committed to taking all reasonable steps to ensure its products and services are delivered in accordance with applicable laws and regulations,” the business said. “This applies regardless of whether the client holds a local license or an offshore license from a nation such as Anjouan or Curaçao, provided that those licenses are used in jurisdictions where they are acceptable and the operator conducts its activities in accordance with applicable local laws and regulations.”
On the earnings call, Koerl said that Sportradar makes a mid-to-low single-digit percentage of its revenue from so-called “gray” markets, where online sports betting may not be strictly prohibited but is not regulated. He said the business does not make any money at all from “black” markets, which have specific bans on online sports betting.
“To be clear, Sportradar and I reject the unfounded and misinformed allegations contained in the reports,” he added.
In the note, Sportradar also said that the structure of its business can sometimes “generate the appearance of a ‘Sportradar footprint’ on a third-party website” without a genuine “Sportradar contract with that website.” The business offers its services to some sports betting operators directly — in which case Sportradar conducts due diligence and the operators are required in their contracts with Sportradar to act legally.
However, Sportradar also offers its services to aggregators, who then pass the data on to sportsbook operators. In this case, Sportradar said “the onus of downstream KYC, licensing verification and jurisdictional compliance sits with the licensed B2B partner — not with Sportradar, which has no contractual relationship with the ultimate downstream operator.”
In addition, Sportradar said its feeds are often pirated by unlicensed operators.
Koerl addresses ‘sting’ operation
The short report from Muddy Waters included a claims that a Sportradar salesperson walked an undercover Muddy Waters analyst, posing as a sportsbook employee, “through product offerings tailored to each illegal market, bragged that [Sportradar] ‘serves everyone,’ and offered to introduce us to the Yabo Group — China’s largest illegal gambling operator.”
Koerl said this was misleading. He said that if the analyst were to actually have taken steps toward signing a contract, then know-your-client mechanisms would have kicked in.
“This was never a contract,” Koerl said. “When the sales guy is selling something, there will be a kickoff of a very extensive KYC process. This is far off from a signed contract.
“No excuse on this, it should not happen, but it was far from signing a contract or teasing someone into doing business in illegal markets.”
Sportradar results
The results showed Sportradar’s revenue grew by 11% to $346.5 million. However, the business swung to a loss, mostly due to foreign currency exchange rate changes.
Sportradar shares fell by as much as 16.2% Tuesday to $11.71, matching the lows reached Wednesday after the short reports. They are down almost 50% so far in 2026.
