Tribune’s Gracenote Buys Sports Data Firms

Gracenote Inc., a provider of entertainment data and a division of Tribune Media Co., today bought Infostrada Statistics and SportsDirect Inc., and launched Gracenote Sports.

Gracenote said the acquisitions make it the first global provider of music, video and sports data, and enable the company to provide one-stop data solutions for clients in the U.S. and around the world. Infostrada Sports and SportsDirect produce and distribute sports data in North America, Europe and Asia — together, they will provide the foundation for Gracenote to deliver next-generation sports statistics to the rapidly growing sports entertainment market.

Infostrada Sports and SportsDirect provide Gracenote with in-depth sports data, including schedules, scores, play-by-play stats, as well as team and player information for all of the major professional leagues around the world including the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, European Football and the Olympics.

Gracenote said it will tap into these data sets and leverage its own entertainment data expertise to create new data-driven sports products and services for fantasy sports and fan applications, as well as a variety of online, broadcast and print media.

“Our clients have been asking for Gracenote to add sports data to the music and video solutions that we already provide worldwide,” said John Batter, Gracenote CEO. “The acquisition of Infostrada Sports and SportsDirect will immediately position Gracenote to take a leadership role in the growing sports entertainment data market and will make Gracenote the only company to deliver a portfolio of music, video, and sports data.

“Gracenote has deep experience producing, packaging, and monetizing entertainment data for the world’s top music, movie and TV brands. The addition of sports allows us to apply our technology and data capabilities to the sports sector and create new ways to enhance the fan experience,” Batter added.

Gracenote will also work with its existing customer base, which includes cable and satellite operators, consumer electronics manufacturers and automakers, to define entirely new experiences for sports fans. “As connected devices become even more pervasive, Gracenote will be uniquely positioned to drive viewer tune-in by featuring next-generation sports data and statistics in cable and satellite program guides,” the company said.

Gracenote added it will also be able to deliver sports data as statistical overlays for live sports events on smart TVs and handsets, and live alerts on automobile dashboards.