Badminton Europe adds OTT platform after extending Sportradar agreement

Badminton Europe (BEC), the governing body for international Badminton tournaments in Europe, has added an OTT platform to its output after extending its agreement with the sports betting and sports entertainment products and services company Sportradar.

The multi-year agreement adds to the betting and broadcast partnership that has been in place since 2015 and sees Sportradar becomes the Official and Exclusive Data Partner to Badminton Europe for all BEC competitions.

A new website and a Federation Data Toolkit, which will allow BEC to take control of its data, is also included.

Brian Agerbak, general secretary at Badminton Europe, said: “The extended partnership with Sportradar to include an OTT platform, a new website and a Federation Data Toolkit will strengthen our digital footprint. It is an important strategic target for us to grow our digital followers and allow them access to our digital services through a single sign-on process.

“Furthermore, growing our media exposure and increasing global visibility for our products are key components for us. We have been very satisfied with the cooperation with Sportradar in the previous years and we are excited to further develop our profile with such a strong partner by our side.”

As a result of the extended deal, Sportradar will supply betting operators and media platforms around the world with data from more than 35 BEC tournaments each year.

These include the sport’s flagship events – the European Championships, European Men’s & Women’s Team Championships and European Mixed Team Championships – as well as elite circuit events such as the International Challenge and International Series.

Additionally, as global media rights holder, Sportradar will work closely alongside BEC to increase the profile of its tournaments and competitions not only in Badminton key markets in Europe and Asia but also in new and emerging territories.

Utilising its OTT platform, Sportradar will provide Badminton Europe with a global OTT service to showcase match action and editorial content.

Badmintoneurope.tv will feature the main events across several courts along with regular live action from the International Challengers and International Series nearly week by week.

The platform also features on-demand match content from past years, competition draws, webinars and podcasts. Content will be free to view upon registering for the service.

To maximise TV and OTT media exposure, Sportradar’s ad:s team will market sponsorship inventory to interested advertisers, both with on-site activities plus specific integration in the digital environment of Badminton Europe.

Lutz Tigges, senior director at Sportradar, added: “We value the success we’ve had working alongside Badminton Europe these past few years and the trustful partnership we’ve developed. Together we grew technical and commercial standards including the global reach of Badminton events. Now, we’re excited to be supporting them as they utilise our broad range of products and services to grow the profile of their sport around the world and work towards their long term commercial goals.”