Introduction
IMG Arena - part of entertainment powerhouse Endeavour, leveraging sports data rights to generate value for the sports betting industry.
IMG Arena is part of entertainment powerhouse Endeavor. The business leverages official sports data rights to generate value for the sports betting industry via fast data, live streaming, event centres and virtual sports. IMG Arena is an official partner to PGA Tour, European Tour, UFC, ATP Tour and other sports governing bodies and rights-holders.
The Challenge
Going beyond data provision to launch an engaging digital experience
In a world where always-on, mobile-first behaviour is changing so many businesses, sports betting is adapting too. Fans want to engage and interact with their favourite sports wherever they are, and in ways that feel natural and familiar.
IMG Arena’s challenge is also its opportunity - to provide more than data to the betting industry. By investing in cutting-edge Event Centres, starting with Golf and UFC, their mission is to add exceptional levels of value to their customers and to fans, ultimately providing everyone with more choice.
Selecting a partner would be itself a challenge. With so many ways to approach application development, IMG Arena needed someone who could bring a unique vision to the table, backed by technology that could be trusted in the most demanding environments.
Selecting a Partner
Developing the next generation of interactive sports display
With a track record of success in real-time data visualisation, scalability and fan interaction, Monterosa was approached to present a solution to IMG Arena in a competitive evaluation of over ten options.
After a detailed analysis of the options, Monterosa / Interaction Cloud™ was chosen as the platform and a unique partnership was forged to develop the next generation of interactive sports event centres, quickly.
For those areas of the solution that required development, we partnered to provide super-fast feed processing compatible with the unique needs of both Golf and UFC. For the front-end application we joined forces with IMG Arena’s in-house product management to develop an exclusive web application that would get to market quickly.
But could this combination deliver results? As has been proven by a resoundingly successful industry response, Monterosa’s unique combination of SaaS and innovation partnership has proved to be a powerful combination.
Solution
A new kind of Event Centre
Our product vision adopted the best elements of existing event centres but focussed more on how gaming has transformed the way we engage with sport. Borrowing more from (our customer) EA SPORTS than from the competitive set, we developed a unique way to convert raw data into low latency visualisations.
Every shot, every punch, every moment captured inside a compelling visualisation that means fans can enjoy the moment with or without video - as rights allow. Over the course of two years as the technology has been developed, we now have two cutting-edge event centres with unparalleled levels of visual appeal.
Results
Delivering on IMG’s goals
Now in use with Bet365 and Rush Street Interactive, IMG Arena Golf and UFC event centres add some of the most advanced capability to the apps and websites of the world’s biggest betting companies.
Sub-second latency - So fast that fans will use the IMG Arena app to watch Golf
Every shot visualised - For the first time fans will be able to consume visualisations of every shot, from every hole for every player – a true step forward in how golf is consumed
A unique engineering challenge - A true innovation project to reinvent how sports data is transferred at speed from a remote sports location, interpreted, contextualised and present to sports betting fans.
Industry recognition - the IMG Arena Golf Event Centre has been shortlisted for Hashtag Sports Awards in the Best Sports Betting Content category
130k
Data points gathered
35k
Betting markets per tournament
