Sports Media Report
STATS, the worldwide leader in sports data and intelligence, announced an extension of its relationship with The Associated Press that includes distribution rights of AP sports news and images for the next three years.
Numerous major media clients are powered by a foundation of STATS data merged with AP sports news and photos. The extended collaboration continues to provide a one-stop shop solution to media companies with a single point of delivery and consistent metadata across sports content. Media heavyweights like Yahoo, Microsoft and NBC are in the midst of long-term deals featuring a combination of STATS and AP-streamlined sourced content.
STATS and AP have a long relationship, dating back to before the world’s most trusted news agency purchased the sports data giant as part of a joint venture with NewsCorp in 2005. For years prior to that, STATS provided Major League Baseball box scores to AP and was a real-time data provider to AP’s online MegaSports product. In 2014, AP and NewsCorp sold STATS to Vista Equity Partners.
“When you merge best-in-class data with best-in-class journalism, you bring to market an unparalleled product with limitless potential,” said Brian Orefice, STATS’ Director of News and Data Production. “We’ve had an incredible run with AP during our explosive growth over the years, and we look forward to expanding on that foundation as our company’s core mission evolves.”
“We are pleased to continue our work with STATS to offer media companies a streamlined way to receive quality sports data, news and photos,” said Ted Mendelsohn, AP’s vice president of commercial and digital markets. “This collaboration is a win for our customers, who can use the multiformat content to tell comprehensive sports stories.”
