Stats Perform Review
6.9/10Chicago-based, Vista-owned data company that FIFA named its first-ever exclusive worldwide betting data and streaming distributor for World Cup 26 (January 12, 2026, all 104 matches, direct licensing through 2029), stacked on ICC cricket to 2027, the WTA to 2030, Concacaf, the Opta brand, and 0.5s glass-to-glass stream latency, months before refinancing its maturity wall at a 12.35% yield.
Our read
500,000+ matches a year across 3,900+ competitions with 2M+ data points per match, plus the segment's only quantified stream latency at 0.5s glass-to-glass, docked for the coverage the 2024-2025 rights exits took with them, Serie A and the Australian Open.
FIFA's first-ever exclusive worldwide betting data and streaming appointment (all 104 World Cup 26 matches, signed January 12, 2026) plus ICC to 2027, the WTA to 2030, and Concacaf, priced down for the October 2024 Serie A walkout and the Australian Open loss to Infront in September 2025.
RunningBall in-venue collection and the Phenix WebRTC patents (January 2026) stand behind the 0.5s claim, with 10 of the top 10 sportsbooks served and no SLA published anywhere.
No public developer portal and direct-only distribution make this the weakest integration story of the big three, partly offset by the productized Exclusive FIFA Package and the Opta widget line.
Prices the cleared-but-costly credit arc (CCC-class ratings refinanced April 2026 at a 12.35% yield with $275M of sponsor equity) and the October 2024 Serie A withdrawal, held up by zero enforcement, no layoffs, and a tier-1 client wall.
Private with nothing published on either side of any deal, leaving the company's own 12.35% cost of debt as the only hard price signal.
Methodology. Our own score, a weighted average of six dimensions, tilted toward coverage and official rights. Scored on the sports data weighting: a quarter of the grade sits on coverage and latency, a fifth on official rights, 0.15 each on reliability, integration, and trust, and a tenth on commercials, which lets the World Cup rights book carry a file that gated docs and dark pricing pull down. Read the full methodology
- The sole official gate to the biggest betting event of 2026: FIFA's first-ever exclusive worldwide betting data and streaming distributor covers all 104 World Cup 26 matches plus the Women's World Cup 2027 and the rest of the FIFA slate, sold direct to licensed books as the Exclusive FIFA Package on a partnership running through 2029 (signed January 12, 2026).
- Federation depth rivals cannot source officially: ICC cricket reclaimed from Sportradar on a four-year deal to 2027, the WTA to 2030 with an exclusive umpire-derived feed plus rally and shot-level data, and a multi-year Concacaf deal signed March 20, 2025.
- Opta is the most recognized data brand in soccer, collecting since 1996, and its 1M+ monthly Opta Analyst visitors give operators a content and marketing layer no raw feed carries.
- The only quantified stream-latency claim among the big three: 0.5 seconds glass-to-glass on RealTime Streaming, backed by RunningBall in-venue collection, 140+ AI models, and the 21 WebRTC patents bought with the Phenix assets in January 2026.
- A tier-1 client wall: Entain, FanDuel, Kaizen Gaming, Superbet, SportyBet, Betano, and BOYLE Sports, out of 10 of the top 10 betting sportsbooks served.
- Its money costs more than its rivals' money: the April 2026 refinancing sold a $475M four-year term loan at S+700 with a 96.5 issue discount, a 12.35% yield, rated B-/B3, and it took $275M of fresh Vista equity alongside, a structural handicap in every rights auction against Sportradar's profits and Genius's cheaper debt.
- The rights book shed domestic leagues on the way here: an announced Serie A extension ended in an October 2024 withdrawal, the league's betting rights went to Genius Sports for 2025-26 through 2028-29, and Tennis Australia moved the Australian Open to Infront Bettor in September 2025.
- There is no way to underwrite the counterparty: a private company with zero revenue or EBITDA disclosure, where the only financial record is a rating-agency arc that ran through CCC territory before the 2026 cure.
- The product surface is the narrowest of the big three: no managed trading, no open developer docs (access is on request), and a prediction-markets product with no named client while Sportradar signed Kalshi on June 8, 2026.
Books that need official World Cup 26 or Women's World Cup 2027 data and streams (there is no other source), cricket-facing operators inside the ICC window to 2027, tennis in-play desks after the WTA umpire feed, and anyone building soccer content on the Opta brand.
Operators wanting one-stop US league feeds (official NBA, NHL, MLB, and NFL data all sit elsewhere), books that need outsourced trading with their data, engineers who expect open docs before a sales call, and buyers who require counterparty financials.
Markets & licensing
Stats Perform sells data and streams to licensed operators rather than holding gambling licenses itself, and unlike its two big rivals it shows no supplier-registration trail either: no US entries exist on the named-state record (July 2026), where Sportradar counts 56 licenses or equivalents and Genius Sports 41. The regulated-market surface it does have is contractual. The FIFA, ICC, and WTA mandates all specify distribution to licensed betting operators, which makes license verification part of the sales gate rather than a register entry, and the model puts the actual licensing burden on the operator buying the feed. Nothing in Europe requires a B2B gambling license for data supply in most markets, no MGA or UKGC entry exists, and no restricted-market policy is published anywhere.
US books buy the FIFA package and the Opta feeds direct, with FanDuel on the client wall and 10 of the top 10 sportsbooks served. There are no state supplier registrations (July 2026), which fits a data-supply model where the operator's license does the regulatory work, though it also means no state register carries the vendor the way registers carry Sportradar and Genius.
UK-facing books run Stats Perform content under their own operating licenses, with Entain and BOYLE Sports both on the client wall. Data supply is not license-gated in the UK or most of Europe, so the operating license doing the regulatory work is the book's own.
- US supplier registrationsUnited States
- None held, consistent with selling data and streams to licensed operators rather than acting as a licensed gaming supplier · July 2026 · no US supplier registration
- Federation betting mandatesWorldwide
- The FIFA, ICC, and WTA appointments specify distribution of data and streams to licensed betting operators, putting license verification inside the sales process · FIFA signed 2026-01-12 · ICC to 2027 · WTA to 2030 · Concacaf 2025-03-20
- UK / EU data supplyUK / EU
- No B2B gambling license required for data supply in most European markets, and no MGA or UKGC entry exists for Stats Perform · July 11, 2026 · operator licensing carries the regulatory load
Licensing tier: A register-free footprint by design: the federation mandates gate distribution to licensed operators contractually, so an empty run across state vendor registers reflects the model rather than a compliance gap.
Not disclosed.
Data and streams flow worldwide without gambling-license gates in most markets, so there is no register trail to list, only the licensed-operator wording inside the rights mandates.
No restricted-market policy is published, with the licensed-operator gate living inside the federation mandates rather than a stated company policy (July 11, 2026).
Sportsbook & verticals
A vendor's lineup often mixes its own builds with other companies' products plugged in. When the sportsbook is third party, a second company stands behind your contract.
Integrations & engineering
One contract and one API instead of a separate deal per studio, feed, or PSP. Here's what connects, how fast, and on what stack.
Delivery is direct and account-managed end to end. Bet Trading Data carries pre-match and in-play pricing-grade data collected by RunningBall in-venue teams and the Opta analyst network, the Dynamic Stats API serves stats on demand, Bet LiveStreams and RealTime Streaming handle the AV lane on the WebRTC stack bought from Phenix, and Opta Graphics, Opta Pulse, and the SP Payout Card cover front-end content and settlement. Every product licenses direct from Stats Perform, the World Cup 26 rights are packaged commercially as the Exclusive FIFA Package, and no reseller or marketplace lane exists. With no public developer portal, evaluation happens inside the sales process.
None published (July 11, 2026). With documentation on request only, the integration calendar is discovered after sales contact rather than read in advance.
Products & tools
Nine named products on the sportsbooks page, anchored by the Exclusive FIFA Package: RunningBall-collected trading data, streams at 0.5 seconds glass-to-glass, Opta graphics and stats content, and a settlement card, all licensed direct with no reseller lane.
Exclusive FIFA Package
The productized World Cup: official betting data and betting streams for all 104 matches of World Cup 26, licensed direct to sportsbooks under FIFA's first-ever exclusive worldwide distributorship, announced January 12, 2026 and running through 2029.
- Both lanes exclusive worldwide: betting data and betting AV streaming, a first in FIFA's history (January 12, 2026)
- All 104 World Cup 26 matches, plus the Women's World Cup Brazil 2027, Futsal World Cups in 2028 and 2029, the U-20 slates, and the Intercontinental Cup through 2029
- RunningBall carries the ultrafast in-play data for modeling, trading, and settlement while Opta supplies the stats, insights, and match trackers
- Bet LiveStreams delivers the streams, with thousands of member-association matches flowing through FIFA+
- Sold direct by Stats Perform, with no sublicensed reseller lane anywhere (July 2026)
Bet Trading Data & Dynamic Stats API
Pre-match and in-play pricing-grade data built on RunningBall in-venue collection and the Opta analyst network, served as feeds and through the Dynamic Stats API, with 140+ AI models working upstream.
- Pre-match and in-play data at trading grade under the Bet Trading Data name
- RunningBall ultrafast in-venue collection, the engine Perform bought in 2012
- WTA coverage includes an exclusive umpire-derived feed plus rally and shot-level ultrafast data (December 2023 extension)
- 20+ sports and 3,900+ competitions (July 2026)
- 2M+ unique data points collected per match (2026)
Bet LiveStreams & RealTime Streaming
The AV side of the federation mandates: betting streams for FIFA, ICC, WTA, and Concacaf properties, with RealTime Streaming carrying 0.5 seconds glass-to-glass on the WebRTC stack bought from Phenix in January 2026.
- 0.5 seconds glass-to-glass on RealTime Streaming, the only quantified latency figure among the big three
- Bet LiveStreams carries the World Cup 26, ICC, WTA, and Concacaf betting streams
- Phenix Real Time Solutions assets bought January 12, 2026 for about $7M, bringing WebRTC delivery and 21 patents
- Streams ride the same exclusive mandates as the data, so both lanes come from one contract
- No SLA or uptime number backs the latency claim anywhere public (July 11, 2026)
Opta Graphics, Pulse & Prediction Products
The consumer-recognized layer: Opta Graphics and Opta Pulse widgets, the SP Payout Card for settlement, and Opta for Prediction Markets, all trading on a data brand soccer audiences have quoted since 1996.
- Opta Graphics and Opta Pulse drop-in visuals built on the same data spine as the feeds
- SP Payout Card supports bet-settlement workflows
- Opta for Prediction Markets is a live product with no named client (July 2026)
- Opta Analyst pulls 1M+ monthly visitors, the brand halo operators borrow
- Opta collection history runs back to 1996, when match data meant 50 to 60 data points logged from VHS tape
Platform & capabilities
Everything the product does out of the box. If a feature isn't listed, the vendor either doesn't offer it or doesn't say.
The history
Sales decks get rewritten for every deal. A dated record doesn't.
Two lineages meet here. STATS started in Chicago in April 1981 as Sports Team Analysis and Tracking Systems and passed from FOX Sports and the Associated Press to Vista Equity Partners in June 2014. Perform Group formed in London in 2007 from the merger of Premium TV and Inform, listed on the LSE in 2011, bought RunningBall in 2012 and Opta Sportsdata in 2013 for about $61M, went private under Access Industries in late 2014, and renamed itself DAZN Group in 2018 with Perform Content as the B2B arm. Vista bought Perform Content from DAZN in 2019 and merged it with STATS to create Stats Perform, which explored a sale in 2021 (Evercore was hired, no deal happened), rode its debt into CCC territory, and reset the balance sheet in April 2026 with a $475M refinancing and $275M of fresh sponsor equity. CEO Carl Mergele fronted the FIFA appointment of January 12, 2026, the deal the current company is built around.
Brands & clients on the platform
Corporate
- RunningBall (2012, by Perform)
- Opta Sportsdata (2013, by Perform)
- Phenix Real Time Solutions assets (2026)
Leadership
Milestones
- 1981
STATS is founded in Chicago in April as Sports Team Analysis and Tracking Systems, the American half of the future company.
- 1996
Opta starts collecting soccer data in England, 50 to 60 data points per match logged after full-time from VHS tape.
- 2007
Perform Group forms in London from the merger of Premium TV and Inform, the British half of the lineage.
- 2011-2013
Perform lists on the LSE (2011), buys RunningBall for in-venue speed (2012), and buys Opta Sportsdata for about $61M (2013).
- 2014
Vista Equity Partners buys STATS from FOX Sports and the Associated Press (closed June 6), while Access Industries takes Perform private in November.
- 2019
Vista buys Perform Content out of the renamed DAZN Group and merges it with STATS to create Stats Perform, headquartered in Chicago.
- 2020
The WTA signs its six-year exclusive official data and streaming deal, later extended to 2030.
- 2021
Vista hires Evercore to explore a sale that never happens, while Serie A betting data rights begin their 2021-2024 run.
- 2024
ICC rights are reclaimed from Sportradar on a four-year deal to 2027, the Serie A extension collapses into an abrupt October withdrawal, and Football DataCo expands the media-lane deal in December.
- 2025
Concacaf signs multi-year (March 20), Genius Sports takes the re-tendered Serie A rights (August 4), and Tennis Australia moves the Australian Open to Infront Bettor (September).
- 2026
FIFA appoints its first-ever exclusive worldwide betting data and streaming distributor for World Cup 26 (January 12), the Phenix WebRTC assets arrive the same day for about $7M, and the April refinancing clears the maturity wall at a 12.35% yield with $275M of fresh Vista equity.
Where they're pushing next
- The FIFA slate it now owns end to end, from World Cup 26 through the Women's World Cup 2027 and the Futsal World Cups of 2028-2029
- Cricket-facing books inside the ICC window to 2027, the property it has now taken from Sportradar twice
- Prediction markets, where Opta for Prediction Markets is live as a product and still without a named buyer (July 2026)
Longevity and ownership
Switching vendors is expensive, which makes the company's staying power part of the purchase. What the contract says about your data decides how expensive an exit gets.
Stats Perform vs alternatives
No two vendors describe themselves the same way, which makes their own claims hard to line up. Every name here answers the same fields, so you can see where this one sits against the closest alternatives.
| Attribute | Stats Perform | Sportradar | Genius Sports | LSports |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1981 | 2001 | 2000 | 2012 |
| Team | 3,300+ | 3,900+ | 2,600+ | — |
| Sportsbook | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Licenses | — | — | Tennessee, Massachusetts, Ohio | — |
| US market | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Pricing | Not published | Not published | Not published | On request |
| Trading model | None sold | Managed via MTS or tools-only | Managed | Tools only |
| Bet builder | — | — | Own engine | — |
| Sports | — | — | — | 100+ |
The take: Sportradar owns the US league gates and the managed-trading lane Stats Perform never built. Genius Sports holds the domestic soccer lanes Stats Perform lost, Premier League betting data through 2028-29 and Serie A from 2025-26. LSports sells unofficial breadth at value pricing with no rights book at all. Pick Stats Perform when official World Cup 26, ICC, or WTA access decides the buy, and price the 12.35% credit reality into any long contract.
Pricing & terms
Stats Perform quotes pricing per project. Here's how the model and the terms are structured.
Direct per-product licensing, with World Cup 26 packaged as the Exclusive FIFA Package and every number sales-gated
Turnkey
Support & account management
You can't demo service before you sign, so what a vendor puts in writing is the only floor you can hold it to.
Frequently asked
The things operators actually ask before signing.
How does a sportsbook get official World Cup 26 data and streams?+
Directly from Stats Perform and nowhere else. FIFA appointed it exclusive worldwide distributor of both betting data and betting streams on January 12, 2026, the first appointment of its kind, covering all 104 World Cup 26 matches plus the Women's World Cup 2027 and the rest of the FIFA slate, with the partnership running through 2029. Commercially it is packaged as the Exclusive FIFA Package: RunningBall carries the ultrafast in-play data for modeling, trading, and settlement, Opta the stats and match trackers, and Bet LiveStreams the streams. There is no sublicensed reseller lane, so licensed operators contract with Stats Perform direct.
What is the Vista and debt situation at Stats Perform?+
Vista Equity Partners has owned the business since buying STATS from FOX Sports and the Associated Press in 2014, explored a sale in 2021 that found no buyer, and then funded the fix itself. By early 2026 the company faced a fully drawn $62M revolver, a $471M term loan due July 2026, and a $140M second-lien due 2027, at CCC-class ratings. The April 2026 refinancing replaced all of it with a $475M four-year term loan priced at S+700 with a 96.5 issue discount, a 12.35% yield, rated B-/B3, plus $275M of fresh Vista equity, and Moody's upgraded the company to B3 on the deal. Read it as stabilized but expensive: the maturity wall is cleared to 2030, and the market still prices the credit at high-yield levels.
Who holds Premier League betting data, Opta or Genius Sports?+
Genius Sports, through the 2028-29 season. Stats Perform's Football DataCo deal, expanded in December 2024, covers the media lane only, so Opta numbers power Premier League content and analysis while the official betting-data feed for the same matches sells through Genius. The same split now applies in Italy, where Serie A's betting rights went to Genius in August 2025. What Stats Perform sells instead is global federation properties: World Cup 26, ICC cricket to 2027, the WTA to 2030, and Concacaf.
What happened between Stats Perform and Serie A?+
It held the league's betting data rights from 2021 to 2024, announced an extension, then withdrew in October 2024. The rights were re-tendered and won by Genius Sports on August 4, 2025, running 2025-26 through 2028-29. For buyers the episode is on-the-record evidence that the company will walk from an announced deal when the economics stop working, which is the read to price into any long rights-backed contract.
Does Stats Perform run trading or price markets for operators?+
No. Bet Trading Data delivers pre-match and in-play pricing-grade data, and the operator or its trading supplier compiles the odds and holds the risk on top of it. Nothing like Sportradar's MTS exists in the lineup, and there is no public developer portal either, so plan for a direct, account-managed integration scoped through sales. That boundary keeps the product surface the narrowest of the big three data vendors, and it also means a book never hands its trading decisions to the company that supplies its rivals.