ITF extends agreement with Sportradar through 2021 for the exclusive worldwide distribution rights of ITF Official Data

The International Tennis Federation announced today that its agreement with Swiss-based company Sportradar AG for ITF Official Data has been extended for an additional five years through 2021, following a global tender process that attracted significant market interest. Under the terms of the new deal, Sportradar, a global leader in sports data and digital content, will continue as the ITF’s official data rights partner for the ITF Pro Circuit, and Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas, and will remain the preferred streaming partner for a range of ITF Pro Circuit events. The recent successful launch of the ITF Pro Circuit app is just one of the joint initiatives of the ITF and Sportradar, allowing fans to closely follow Pro Circuit events around the world through live scoring information and live streaming.

ITF President David Haggerty said: “Sportradar AG has been an excellent partner for the ITF, allowing us to increase the fan base for the ITF Pro Circuit as well as our flagship competitions, Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas. We have worked together extremely well since our partnership began four years ago, and look forward to working with Sportradar over the coming years to further grow fan, media and market interest in the official data from our competitions.”

Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl said: “We are very pleased to continue our partnership with the ITF. The last four years have been incredibly fruitful: we have developed a new market for our clients and partners and we have also boosted the commercial value of the ITF’s live data and existing digital products. I am excited about the coming years which will see us develop even more outstanding solutions maximising the live data, video coverage and digital services for tennis enthusiasts all around the world.”

In addition to the live coverage of over 50,000 ITF matches per year through Sportradar’s umpire technology, Sportradar will also increase the live streaming coverage together with the ITF’s National Federations. A newly developed ITF Media Platform will bring the digital content as close to the fans as possible, giving them the opportunity to follow more tennis action than ever before and generating new ways for the ITF to increase its commercial value.

The data Sportradar has collected and processed for the ITF since 2012 has helped to support the ITF’s internal integrity processes. Furthermore, the speed and accuracy of Sportradar’s official data collection and processing has also impeded those who have sought to collect, disseminate and use unauthorised data.

ITF Launches Official Live Scoring Mobile App For ITF Pro Circuit

The ITF today announced the launch of the official ITF Pro Circuit live scoring mobile app. The app, which offers point-by-point score updates straight from the umpire’s chair at more than 1,200 Pro Circuit tournaments per year, will be powered by Sportradar AG, the worldwide distributor for ITF Official Data.

Mobile app users will be able to receive notifications about each match such as start times, set scores and final scores, as well as seeing a full list of tournaments taking place each week, the daily order of play for each tournament, detailed match statistics, in-play updates of key match moments and player head-to-head records and biographies.

The mobile app, which is available on iPhone and Android, is the latest improvement to the ITF Pro Circuit’s coverage of live scores. Last month the live web scoreboard, also powered by Sportradar AG, underwent a comprehensive redesign, making it compatible with mobile devices.

Since the inception of the ITF Pro Circuit live web scoreboard in 2013, the Pro Circuit website (www.itftennis.com/procircuit) has seen over a 40 per cent increase in visitor sessions, with more than 17 million visits so far this year.

The ITF Pro Circuit consists of over 1,000 men’s and women’s entry-level professional events each year. These events act as a transition between the junior and the senior game, offering world ranking points and enabling players to progress to the higher-level events on the ATP and WTA tours. The 2015 ITF Men’s Circuit consists of 692 Futures tournaments in 79 countries, while the 2015 ITF Women’s Circuit features 593 tournaments in 63 countries. All events are organised and/or approved by ITF member nations, with total annual prize money in excess of $19 million.

ITF President David Haggerty said: “The ITF Pro Circuit is the starting pathway for a player’s professional tennis career and it remains a vital stepping stone for reaching the upper echelons of the game. We have introduced an official live scoring app because we believe it will be an important tool for players as well as National Associations and tournament organisers in the promotion of their Pro Circuit events.”

Sportradar’s Managing Director of Data and Licensing Dr Johannes Ranke said: “Up to this point, we have enjoyed a really successful partnership with the ITF characterised with innovation and ambition. Our data collection model for the ITF Pro Circuit is truly unique, accurate and fast, and we look forward to further building up our product portfolio together with the ITF and to keep on improving the integration of their competitions across today’s digital channels.”