Sportradar antitrust complaints put the NBA’s exclusive betting-data deal in front of EU and UK regulators

Oct. 15, 2026 — The NBA isn’t a party to the dispute, but one of its most valuable and least discussed contracts is now in front of European competition regulators. On Wednesday, sportsbook software provider Altenar Technologies filed antitrust complaints with the European Commission and Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority. The complaints accuse Sportradar of using its exclusive control of official live sports data to shut rival suppliers out of the betting market. The exclusive league deals they cite include Sportradar’s agreements with the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NHL and the ATP tennis tour.

The European Commission said it had received information on the matter and was assessing it. The CMA said it does not comment on specific situations outside a formal investigation. A complaint is not a finding of wrongdoing, and it does not automatically open a case. If an abuse of a dominant position is confirmed, though, EU rules allow a fine of up to 10 percent of a company’s annual global turnover. Altenar has also asked the British regulator for interim measures that would restore its access to data and odds while any investigation runs.

What the NBA sells Sportradar

The relationship goes back to 2016, when Sportradar became an official provider of real-time NBA statistics. In November 2021 the two sides signed a much bigger eight-year agreement that began with the 2023-24 season, so its natural end comes after 2030-31. Under that deal Sportradar is the exclusive worldwide provider of NBA, WNBA and G League data. It is also the authorized global distributor of official betting data and the distributor of live game video to international sportsbooks. The deal expanded its rights to player-tracking data, and its fraud detection system monitors global betting on league games for integrity purposes.

The NBA gets paid in two ways. Sportradar pays annual license fees, and neither side has disclosed the amount. The league also received warrants for 3 percent of Sportradar’s Class A shares on a fully diluted basis as of the signing date, with an exercise price of one cent a share. According to Sportradar’s filing with U.S. securities regulators, 20 percent of the warrants vested when the deal was signed and the rest vest over eight years starting in 2023. That makes the league both a licensor and a shareholder of the company now facing the complaints.

Altenar’s argument

Altenar builds turnkey sportsbook platforms, the software that smaller bookmakers license instead of building their own. Its case to regulators is that these platforms can’t compete without official league feeds. It says Sportradar controls those feeds for several of the biggest leagues while also selling a turnkey product of its own. “We believe Sportradar is using its control of essential sports data to shut out businesses with a competing offer,” an Altenar spokesperson said, adding that bookmakers across the EU and UK “need a choice of suppliers and a market that supports competition and innovation.”

The European filings follow a lawsuit Altenar brought at the end of March in federal court in New Jersey. That complaint calls Sportradar and Genius Sports, which holds the NFL’s exclusive data rights, a duopoly in official league data. It argues that NBA, NHL and MLB official data are each a separate market, and that Sportradar holds monopoly power in each one through its exclusive deals. Altenar said it had not been able to close a commercial deal with a single U.S. sportsbook because it lacked access to that data.

The U.S. case has not reached the merits. Judge Evelyn Padin allowed Sportradar to file a motion to send the dispute to arbitration and pause the lawsuit. She also told the company to explain why U.S. antitrust claims would fall under the two companies’ partner agreement, given that the contract defines its territory as “Global excluding USA.” In a Sept. 1 reply, Sportradar argued that Altenar’s claims cannot be separated from the agreement that has governed their commercial relationship for the past five years.

Sportradar’s response to the European complaints was blunt. “Altenar’s latest efforts to inflame the news agenda appear duplicative, unnecessary and serve as a thinly veiled attempt to assert pressure in the existing commercial disputes in process,” a company spokesperson said. “Sportradar has and will continue to comply with antitrust and other laws wherever it does business.” The company also said it had known since February that Altenar was threatening complaints in several jurisdictions.

Why exclusivity matters to the league

For the NBA, exclusivity is a big part of what it is selling. Commissioner Adam Silver publicly called for legal, regulated sports betting in 2014, years before most of the league’s peers. Since the Supreme Court struck down the federal sports betting ban in 2018, the league has argued that sportsbooks should pay for official data. A few states, Illinois among them, require official league data for some in-game wagers. When one distributor controls the entire feed, that distributor has a reason to pay a premium, and in this case it also gave the league equity. If a regulator forced Sportradar to supply competitors on fair terms, the NBA’s data would still be licensed and still be used. But the exclusivity that a single buyer pays extra for would be worth less, both under the current deal and when the rights are sold again.

European action has limits. Altenar’s complaints concern the EU and UK betting markets, not the U.S. market. Any remedy would more likely set access terms than undo league contracts. The timing still matters. The current agreement has four seasons left after this one, so talks on the NBA’s next data cycle will start with competition questions already on the record in Brussels, London and New Jersey.

A crowded year for the league’s data partner

The complaints add to a difficult year for Sportradar. In April, the short-seller research firms Muddy Waters and Callisto Research alleged that the company made substantial income from unlicensed gambling operators. Sportradar rejected the claims and said the reports misrepresented its business and were designed to help short sellers. For the NBA, the issue goes beyond money. Sportradar’s monitoring is part of how the league watches for suspicious betting on its games, and that area has drawn far more scrutiny since the federal gambling indictments involving NBA figures in October 2025.

The business itself keeps growing. Sportradar raised its revenue guidance this year, despite signs that U.S. online sports betting activity is slowing. It has pointed to prediction markets and the integration of IMG Arena as new growth areas.

The next steps are in three places: whether the European Commission opens a formal case, whether the CMA grants Altenar’s request for interim access, and how Judge Padin rules on arbitration. None of that changes what NBA teams get from the league’s central revenue this season. It does mean the league’s exclusive data model is being challenged before competition authorities on two continents, four seasons before the NBA has to sell those rights again.