The International Cricket Council (ICC) and sports information provider STATS LLC have announced an agreement making STATS the official data partner of cricket’s governing body.
Under the three year deal, STATS will provide live ball-by-ball coverage for all major ICC events beginning with this week’s ICC World Twenty20 in England and followed by the ICC Champions Trophy to be staged in South Africa in September. STATS will also begin building a historical ICC statistical database and holds an exclusive license to market and sell ICC branded data services and applications to multi-media and other entities.
“This is the first time the ICC has looked for an official partner in this area so we are pleased to be able to work with an accomplished operator like STATS,” said ICC commercial general manager Campbell Jamieson. “ Data rights are an emerging area within the business of sport and it is important that ICC takes a balanced approach to the commercialization of scores and statistics generated from ICC events.”
STATS executive vice president Steve Byrd added: “We are honoured by this commitment from the ICC. Demand for world-class cricket content is extremely high among our global network of media clients. We look forward to bringing an exciting array of official ICC branded interactive solutions to cricket fans across the globe, including fantasy games and rich broadband match trackers.”
STATS provide real-time scores, historical sports information, Associated Press editorial content, a fantasy sports operation and SportVU technology. It is jointly-owned by the Associated Press and News Corporation, with corporate offices across the globe.
