Sportradar’s acquisition of IMG Arena has been cleared by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), enabling the firm to form a giant in sportstech and data.

The CMA, the UK’s competition regulator, announced today that it had “cleared the anticipated acquisition by Sportradar Group AG of IMG Arena US parent, LLC”.

Its information so far has been limited, but it states that it will publish the full text of the decision ‘shortly’. Its reasoning for clearing Sportradar’s takeover of IMG is thus so far a mystery.

What we do know is how significant a moment this is for Sportradar, with the acquisition of IMG set to make it one of the most dominant firms in sportstech, particularly in data rightsholding.

A Sportradar statement to SBC News read: “We are pleased with the outcome of the CMA’s review. We anticipate closing the transaction in the ordinary course of business subject to satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions. We will share further details in due course.”

Sportradar was already a formidable player in this field, maintaining partnerships with the likes of UEFA, the NBA, NHL, MLB and FiA. This data is subsequently sold to its bookmaker partners, including US market leaders FanDuel and DraftKings and major UK player William Hill.

Upon acquiring IMG, Sportradar will gain additional deals with 70 different rightsholders including WImbledon, EuroLeague Basketball, MLS and the PGA Tour. IMG’s portfolio covers 39,000 data events and 30,000 streaming events across 14 sports.

The big business of sports data

Given the reach the combined entity will have in the UK, it’s easy to understand why the CMA wanted to take a closer look at the deal. Relevant parties were invited to a consultation in July, and on 29 August a merger inquiry began.

Sportradar secured terms to acquire IMG from American holding firm Endeavor in March 2025. Sportradar did not pay any financial consideration while Endeavor paid the Swiss-based, Nasdaq-listed sportstech firm $125m.

Until the regulator reveals exactly why it has given Sportradar the green light to proceed with acquiring IMG we can only speculate. However, a key reason could be that despite the duo’s combined extensive reach, domestic football is largely not included.

Sportradar’s competitor Genius Sports is the main rights holder for English domestic football, being the official data collection and distribution partner of the Premier League and English Football League (EFL) via its deal with FootballDataCo (FDC).

As football is the most widely viewed and bet upon sport in the UK, the CMA may have judged that Sportradar and Genius Sports, as well as other firms like Stats Perform, will remain on a relatively even footing despite the IMG takeover – though as stated above this is pure speculation at this point.

Nonetheless, the clearance is undoubtedly a big win for Sportradar which can now press ahead with its sportstech vision not just for the UK but internationally, with Britain just being one of many key markets for the firm.