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STATS LLC, a sports statistics tracking and analytics company, announced the purchase of Bloomberg Sports, a sports statistics company launched by financial information and news giant Bloomberg L.P. four years ago. Though the terms of the deal were not announced, a Reuters source said the deal was between $15 to $20 million. Bloomberg Sports (BSports) will retain its name and its employees will stay at their New York City offices.
STATS’ technology produces real time sports scores, historical sports data, a fantasy sports operation and proprietary basketball player tracking program called SportVU technology. The company wants to use the deal to become the premier resource for sports analytics. “Our mission is to revolutionize the way sports are viewed, understood, played, and enjoyed. The addition of BSports’ very talented team and compelling portfolio of products significantly bolsters our global strategy,” said STATS CEO Gary Walrath, in a statement.
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STATS sells most of its services to professional teams and media companies. Particularly impressive is STATS SportVU Player Tracking technology. The technology allows teams to quantify and analyze the movements of NBA players in every game throughout the season. This technology gives coaches a better understanding of the contributions individual players make to the game.
Taking much of its expertise from financial parent company Bloomberg L.P., BSports will bring to STATS predictive modeling, data analysis and integrated data systems. Nearly all Major League Baseball teams use BSports’ Pro2 integrated data system, which helps project player performance. STATS said the acquisition would help strengthen its position in baseball.
“When we started Bloomberg Sports, our goal was for it to become the industry-leading provider of creative, premium data analytics services to sports professionals and fans, which is exactly what’s happened,” BSports CEO Bill Squadron said. “We are proud of what we have built and are delighted to see it take the next logical step, which is combining forces with the industry’s leading data company.”
