Uniting with Interregional Sports Group (ISG) and Sportradar, Formula 1 is seeking to elevate engagement with the launch of its live ‘in race’ odds offering for the 2020 season.
Having first been trialled as part of an exclusive partnership, the agreement between ISG and Sportradar will provide comprehensive pre and live race odds, allowing the sport to embrace the market at a time when sports betting and engagement is seeing continued growth across the world.
Tony Ragan, Joint Chief Executive, ISG Group commented: “F1 already has a huge global fan base, unrivalled television audiences and provides a thrilling experience for both experts and newcomers to the sport. The potential for pre-race and in-race betting is huge and F1 itself is developing in a way that will continue to fuel opportunities for additional markets. This season’s introduction of a Championship Point for the fastest lap is a case in point. The potential for the betting markets was perfectly illustrated at the French GP where Sebastian Vettel who, despite a later tyre change, secured the fastest lap in the dying seconds of the race.”
Current pre-race odds already in place include driver markets (winner, podium and top ten finishes), constructor markets, group winners, drivers to be classified, race head-to-heads and pole position head-to-heads.
As part of the deal, the Sportradar’s live odds team will maximise historical F1 data to form new live odds models, which are set to be launched ahead of the 2020 season at the Australian Grand Prix in Albert Park.
Sportradar will initially offer around 30 unique markets during qualifying and on race day. This will be further enhanced by markets beyond the podium positions, with in-team competition and driver head-to-heads developing on a race-by-race basis. The supplier is also providing its Integrity Services to protect the sport from potential match-fixing risks.
David Lampitt, Managing Director of Sports Partnership at Sportradar added on the launch: “F1 remains an untapped market for bookmakers, despite it being one of the richest data driven sports in the world.
“This partnership enables us to roll out enhanced data-driven products, which will provide additional betting opportunities both prior to and during live races, creating the most comprehensive offering available anywhere. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with F1 and ISG to create insights from their unique data sets in a way that will both excite the market and help build customer engagement and interest across the sport.
