The NFL is receiving $94 million in Genius Sports stock for granting the data and analytics company two more years of exclusive play-by-play and gambling data to sportsbooks globally.
“The NFL is our largest commercial partner and one of our largest shareholders; that gives us a tremendous position in the market,” Charles Scherr, Genius’ head of corporate development and strategic initiatives, said on a phone call. “Frankly, it aligns all stakeholders in what the business needs to do for the next five years through the balance of the decade.”
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In a regulatory filing Wednesday morning disclosing the financial aspect of the data partnership extension announced earlier in the day, Genius said that it granted 9.5 million warrants—the right to buy stock—to the NFL. Of those, 4.5 million are vested immediately, with the remaining five million vesting on April 1, 2028. The exercise price for the warrants is one penny each. Based on Genius’ early stock price Wednesday of $9.93, the award is worth $94.34 million. Genius shares were up more than 5% on the news.
The NFL already owned 14.5 million in stock, all exercisable warrants, from the league’s existing data deal with London-based Genius. With today’s additional warrants, and Genius’ current diluted total share count of 277.2 million, the NFL effectively owns nearly 8.7% of Genius Sports, making it the largest shareholder in the business, based on publicly disclosed shareholder information. The NFL’s total stake, including both vested and unvested warrants, is now worth more than $235 million.
Based on Genius’ annual report, the league owned 18.5 million warrants, all exercisable, at the end of 2024. The league probably sold or distributed four million of those warrants to member clubs. Given the additional regulatory responsibilities that come with owning 10% or more shares in a business, the NFL has some incentive to remain under the 10% threshold.
A spokesperson for the NFL declined to comment beyond what was in the announcement.
Genius and the NFL originally teamed up to offer official gambling data in 2021. The extension expands the deal, allowing Genius to sell ad inventory on NFL BetVision, which are the streams of live games in the sportsbook apps. Genius said in a May call with investors it broadcast about 270 NFL games last season on BetVision.
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