The US National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will begin selling data from its championship events to domestic sportsbooks as part of an expanded partnership with sports technology company Genius Sports.
The expanded partnership will give Genius Sports the rights to sell live data from all NCAA postseason tournaments through 2032, including the men’s and women’s March Madness basketball tournaments.
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Along with basketball, the NCAA organizes collegiate lacrosse, softball, baseball, ice hockey, volleyball, and wrestling, among others.
However, regular season matches and American football’s post-season games such as the College Football Playoff are not included in the contract, as they are not controlled by the NCAA.
NCAA’s LiveStats platform will also remain free for member schools, with the company using its GeniusIQ AI platform to enhance the feed’s real-time analytics and insights.
Financial details of the partnership have not been disclosed but it has been reported that Genius Sports and the NCAA will continue to revenue-share, as per their original agreement signed in 2018.
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By GlobalDataThe pair’s original 10-year deal included Genius packaging NCAA data for broadcasters and fan sites, which it will continue to do for the duration of the expanded deal.
Genius’ other major partners include American football’s NFL, baseball’s MLB, golf’s PGA Tour, and English soccer’s top-tier Premier League.
Genius Sports’ chief executive Mark Locke has said: “Since 2018, Genius Sports’ technology has transformed the college sports data ecosystem.
“This extension is a powerful endorsement of our vision, delivering cutting-edge data solutions to support NCAA schools while connecting our sportsbook partners with the highest quality NCAA official content, alongside our exclusive NFL and Premier League rights.
“Most importantly, it’s a partnership grounded in innovation, integrity, and a shared commitment to the future of collegiate athletics.”
The move marks a major change in the governing body’s approach to sports betting in the country, having shied away from it despite other major US sports leagues forming lucrative betting partnerships in various states after sports betting was made legal in 2018.
Its executives have largely spoken out about the effects the industry has on its athletes and lobbied to limit the types of college bets that are permitted.
In January, NCAA president Charlie Baker urged the US' Congress to limit sports betting in college sports during a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C, describing how hundreds of student athletes had been approached to modify their performance.
As such, he called for a ban on athlete-specific prop bets and bets on individual college players.
As part of the new deal, Genius has said it will launch an Authorized Gaming License, whereby sportsbooks can access official NCAA feeds and logo, with the program including an agreement to limit “risky bet types.”
It added that the program would have expanded integrity safeguards to “reinforce fair play and protect student-athletes.”
The partnership is set to bring in more income for the NCAA, which reported $1.38 billion in revenue for 2024 – the majority of which comes from its media rights partnership with US broadcasters CBS and Turner to air the men’s basketball tournament.
Data deals have proved lucrative for other US sports leagues on the back of the nascent US betting market, with Genius’ deal with the NFL including cash and at least $450 million in stock at the time of signing the contract.
Rival sports data company Sportradar’s tie-ups with basketball’s NBA and baseball’s MLB, meanwhile, also include an equity element.
