Genius Sports CEO: Legend deal will help monetise engagement in audiences

Locke described Legend as “not simply a media business”. “It is a technology company built around large, loyal sports and iGaming audiences,” he said in his opening remarks regarding the deal.

Founded by Nick Kisberg more than 20 years ago, Legend is the parent company behind over 25 global affiliate brands, including Covers.com, which it acquired in 2020 as its first move into sports betting. iGBA also understands that the group owns or part-owns Casino Guru and Casino.org.

Locke highlighted Legend’s systems as tools designed to capture user engagement in real time for both sport and gaming experiences. Legend, however, under its previous ownership, largely focused on casino-related operations.

He emphasised that these engagement systems create a feedback loop where long-term value is created. “It is not about answering factual queries. It is about facilitating participation inside owned environments and continuously improving the economics behind it.”

$300m tech investment

There was also confirmation that Genius Sports paid six times pre-earnout EBITDA for Legend, which Locke said has a $300 million investment in technology and advanced data modelling purpose-built for sports and gaming. Although it is unclear if the CEO meant previous Legend leadership invested this sum into these areas, or if that is the estimated value of the development and research thus far.

Locke then went on to address the wider topic around AI and whether the technology could render much of the traditional iGaming affiliate sector redundant. “AI makes this more valuable, not less. LLMs commoditise information retrieval. 

“That is precisely why owning the environments where 118 million users repeatedly choose to participate, and the behavioral data those interactions generate becomes a structural advantage,” he added.

“In fact, advances in AI strengthen this model. Better prediction, deeper personalisation and faster adaptation make participation more relevant and commercial outcomes more efficient.”

Locke also confirmed the wider integration plans with Genius Sports’ existing operations with Legend, namely by combining official data with Legend’s audience and behavioural technology. 

Revenue synergies

He also listed a four-point plan for revenue synergies between the two companies, including customer cross-sell, audience asset monetisation, monetising fan audiences for sports leagues and teams alongside the distribution of data products.

In his closing remarks, Locke reconfirmed that in the acquisition of Legend, the company have now created the largest, most valuable new asset class in sport.