Official betting refers to wagers that meet a certain set of criteria that the sport’s governing body has established. These rules and regulations are designed to protect both players and sportsbooks, so bettors can have confidence that their bets will be settled fairly. Often, these bets require that a match or event must reach its full conclusion in order to be considered official. However, there are other factors that can impact the outcome of a bet as well, such as weather conditions or who seems to have the most momentum.
Following the US Supreme Court’s overturning of PASPA, sports leagues have been fighting to shape state-regulated sports betting policies. In particular, they want to be a primary stakeholder in the market and they are intent on profiting from US sports betting. Ultimately, they would like to collect a direct cut off the top of all US betting handle. Short of that, they have pushed to mandate the use of their official data in regulated sports betting markets.
The American Gaming Association supports private commercial agreements with the leagues for official data, but opposes legislative mandates. Several states have already passed legislation that includes a qualifier in which the requirement can be circumvented if it is found to be unreasonably restrictive on the industry. In the meantime, some operators are forging relationships with companies that collect real-time data, such as Sportradar and Genius Sports. It will be up to those who make the bets and the bettors to determine how much official data is worth, and a growing number of them appear to be willing to pay for it.