Twenty-one years ago, the founder and CEO of Sportradar, Carsten Koerl, he found himself at a crossroads.
His first adventure in the world of sports data, the startup Bwin, had successfully landed on the Vienna Stock Exchange, but Koerl had lost control of the company shortly after the hypo. Nonetheless, the deal made him financially independent. Koerl doesn’t remember exactly how much money he had at the time, but he knows it would have been enough to retire at 35.
Koerl, however, assures that that idea never crossed his mind. After taking a long vacation in Australia, he began planning his next move. The opportunity presented itself to him a few months later in Norway, where, in 2001, he spent $ 150,000 (about $ 135,000 at the time) to buy a majority stake in a sports betting and data company called Market monitor as. That company would later evolve into Sportradar.
“It was the right moment to say: ‘Ok, let’s start something new, it’s time for a journey'”, Koerl told Forbes via Zoom, with a beaming smile.
That decision paid huge dividends. Sportradar, which is based in Switzerland and helps sports leagues compile data such as game statistics and distribute them to media and betting operators, went public on Nasdaq on Tuesday. After opening at $ 27 per share, the stock fell to $ 25.05 at the close. A figure that has set the valuation of the company at 7.4 billion dollars. Koerl, who will remain CEO with 81.8% of the voting rights, also retained a 31.8% stake. Forbes estimate the value of that share in 2.4 billion dollars. The owner of the Charlotte Hornets (Nba), Michael Jordan, that of the Dallas Mavericks (Nba), Mark Cuban, and that of the Washington Capitals (Nhl), Ted Leonsis, in addition to the co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers (Mlb), Todd Boehly, all have minority shares in Sportradar.
Born in southern Germany and now living in Switzerland, Koerl, 56, explains that Sportradar has provided him with the ideal way to channel his two passions: one for sport and one for technology. His love of sport and competition began as a child, when he was a Bayern Munich fan. And it continues today.
“Two weeks ago I found myself swinging on a swing overhanging a ravine in Switzerland with my son, who wanted to see if his father was capable of such a thing or not,” Koerl recalls with a smile. “Obviously I am capable of it. I’m competitive “.
As told in 2018 from an article of Globe and MailHowever, Koerl realized that an athlete’s future was unlikely and turned to information technology. He studied electronic and microprocessor engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Konstanz, Germany, before launching Bwin (then called Betandwin) in 1997 and Sportradar in 2001.
Today Sportradar has become dominant in the world of sports data. It expanded into the United States in 2014, boasts more than 900 sports betting customers, including DraftKings, FanDuel and Flutter, and over 150 partners across sports leagues, including NBA, Mlb and Nhl. The agreement between Sportradar and Nhl also gives the National hockey league the right to purchase of $ 90 million worth of Sportradar shares, according to Sportico. According to the documents filed in view of the ipo, Sportradar recorded almost 18 million dollars of net profit last year, on revenues of 478 million dollars.
Society, however, has its problems. The uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which blocked the world of sport, has put Sportradar’s business at risk. Another noteworthy obstacle arose earlier this year: the rival company Genius sports bought the data rights of the NFL, previously detained for two years from Sportradar. (The NFL retains a 7% stake in Sportradar’s US subsidiary, following a previous agreement.) Koerl is confident in his ability to keep the competition at a distance based on his company size, turnover and earnings. (Genius sports has a market capitalization of $ 3.7 billion).
As for acquiring billionaire status, Koerl says it doesn’t change his life. He still intends to stay out of the spotlight, but, like twenty years ago, he doesn’t even think about early retirement.
“I love what I’m doing,” says Koerl. “I feel full of energy and, as long as I feel valuable to the business and to the company, they want to keep working.”
