Cricket South Africa has appointed sports data and AI technology firm Stats Perform as its official data partner for both international and domestic competitions.
As part of the deal, Stats Perfom’s Opta and RunningBall brands will collect, analyse and deliver official data and ball-by-ball event data to global broadcast, media, and betting operators. The service will allow fans and bettors to boost engagement opportunities for CSA competitions, teams and players throughout the duration of the partnership.
Additionally, the service will also be beneficial to CSA’s national team coaches, analysts and performance staff working with each Mzansi Super League franchise as they will have access to Stats Perform’s ProVision recruitment tool which helps inform player selection and opposition analysis.
Kugandrie Govender, CSA Chief Commercial Executive, stated: “CSA has a vision to make cricket a truly national sport of winners, supported by a majority of South Africans and to pursue excellence on the field. To achieve our goal, we need a comprehensive and premier data provider with a proven track record with global cricket competitions.
“With an unrivalled breadth of distribution into sportsbooks, global media and broadcast, as well as an unrivalled pedigree for collecting deep, accurate and fast data, Stats Perform was the perfect partner for us. They will help us improve on-field performances through deep and accurate data and analysis software, commercialise our properties and engage with fans at home and overseas. We are excited to work with them to grow the sport we love.”
Stats Perform’s ProVision service provides an online platform for detailed data-driven analysis across both red ball and white ball formats. Moreover, the platform is designed to be specifically tailored to a team through the use of interactive graphics, charts, and visualisations, integrated with match footage.
The agreement will also allow Stats Perform to distribute exclusive live match video streams to licensed global sportsbook operators through their Watch&Bet betting platform. Furthermore the firm will enhance fan engagement opportunities by delivering CSA news clips to media worldwide through its editorial content service.
Overall the deal includes live streams and live data for all South African home international fixtures across every format, including CSA’s domestic competitions.
“We are thrilled to provide extensive media, betting and team performance coverage for all of the premier Cricket South Africa matches,” added Alex Rice, Stats Perform’s chief rights officer.
“We look forward to ensuring that the CSA coaching team get invaluable data and video insights, and maximising significant opportunities for global engagement. Through our new agreement, Stats Perform data and video will be used to analyse performance on the pitch and improve the way it is experienced and understood by fans; we look forward to providing a premium in-play gaming experience, improved data insights and providing more content for sponsors.”
