By Anuka Roy
When we went to meet Arvind Iyengar, he was wrapping up a meeting at Lord’s. Yes, you got that right, Lord’s. No, he was not in London. He was right here in Mumbai. Before you conclude, he was not doing a video conference either. Fine, we would not keep you guessing anymore. Lord’s is the name of one of the conference rooms at the Sportz Interactive office. The whole office is done up in sports theme not restricted to just cricket. The room where we met Iyengar, the CEO of the organisation was a tennis-themed meeting room.
About 14 years ago, Sportz Interactive began as a data and analytics provider for sports enthusiasts across the world. And, today with over 200 people in there team, it works with some of the biggest names among broadcasters, publishers, sports leagues and teams. “In a nutshell, our company is all about revolutionising sports fan experience. Our vision is building top products and services. So, core business is actually taking sports experiences and translating that to fans in digital mediums and helping them stay close with their core sport. Whether that is in the form of data feeds where they can stay up to date with the latest scores or analysis of who is more likely to win a game or visualisation of fantasy games,†said Iyengar.
A large focus of the organisation remains digital but they are also looking at few other mediums as well. Sportz Interactive is a single window solution provider for any sports enterprise committed to engaging their fans through data analytics and digital solutions. Sportz Interactive is an integral member of the Chicago-headquartered STATS Global Network, which has a controlling stake in the company.
Taking about their work and the projects the organisation has been involved with, Iyengar said, “We have worked with tech companies, sports leagues and teams, broadcasters with their digital presence and have built that up. We are the official data and digital agency of Indian Super League (ISL). At the backend, we start off with capturing scores and data for every player in the ISL. So, how many times have they scored goals to how many times they have touched the ball. Then we take the data and analytics to build a product that a fan can visualise. We build something like a match center where a fan is in front of the television and wants to follow something on their mobile app, or they are on the road and are able to follow the game. We build all the digital properties- the website, mobile app.â€
Star Sports,the Indian Super League, the International Cricket Council (ICC), ESPN, Cricinfo, NDTV, Yahoo, Patna Pirates, hotstar, Hockey India, Pro Kabaddi, UEFA and the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) are some of the entities Sportz Interactive has partnered with.
According to Iyengar, the USP of Sportz Interactive is the sole focus on sports. He said, “There are other data, digital and content agencies, we are the only ones who do sports. We fundamentally believe that the way you look at sports is different from the way you look at handling a brand. There is a reason they are called sports fan and everywhere else you have got consumers. The fact that we are able to do everything unlike other agencies that might do a bit of it, and the fact that we only do sports and nothing else and as a result are the people with expertise in it, is a differentiator from others.â€
UEFA Fantasy 2016, the official fantasy game of UEFA Euro 2016, was the latest offering from Sportz Interactive. With this launch under, Sportz Interactive has now focused its attention on spreading its presence in the international market. Its aim is to be a leader innovating in the arena of digital sports products and experiences globally.
Talking about future plans, the CEO says that the journey of the organisation was good till now but they are still scratching the surface. But, to him, as far as future is concerned, there will be an explosion of more and more people coming online and they will be in a position to deliver to the fans.
