Report: betting data supplier Sportradar mulling SPAC route to public markets

Sports data supplier Sportradar is said to be the latest betting-connected company plotting a public listing through a reverse takeover by an already listed firm.

On Wednesday, Brendan Coffey, a writer at sports business journal Sportico, reported that sources had informed him that Sportradar was “exploring plans to go public,” likely through a ‘special purpose acquisition company’ (SPAC) aka a ‘blank check’ firm that has already undergone the onerous initial public offering rigamarole.

Coffey had little other details to share and Sportradar’s management is reportedly not interested in furthering this discussion, at least, not publicly. The identity of Sportradar’s possible suitor is similarly unknown but whoever comes-a-courting better have some seriously deep pockets.

The Swiss-based Sportradar is (for the moment) privately held, so it’s not required to release its financial data for analysts to pick over every three months. But the sale of a minority stake in the company in mid-2018 put a $2.4b valuation on the company, and that was only two months after the US Supreme Court struck down the federal sports betting prohibition.