How Sportsbooks Rely on the Same Odds Providers for Data

Jared Waterson's weekend playing hockey was a bust. His team couldn't find the puck let alone their footing.

But off the ice, Waterson was winning big.

When the defeated players made their way to the pub to drown their sorrows in pitchers of cheap pilsner, he opened his laptop and got to work. After over a decade of betting and losing thousands of dollars, his strategy was finally paying off.

About three weeks prior, he started betting on game and player totals. Since changing his approach, Waterson had made over seven thousand dollars and the money continued to roll in.

That is, until he opened his email Monday morning, Bet365 had limited his account.

Sportsbooks give the impression anyone can be successful and then limit winners

While this may be surprising for some, it is the reality for many amateur and professional sports bettors alike.

For example, Washington Post recently showcased this hypocrisy when a Chicago-based attorney was both celebrated for his win and limited by DraftKings. The bettor hit big on 50-to-one odds that Evan Fournier would be the top scorer against the Boston Celtics. When Fournier scored 41 points in the game, the man posted a photo of his $50,000 win which was soon shared by DraftKings. However, the next day, he was limited to $100 bets on NBA games. Days later, he could not bet more than $3.63.

When speaking to the Post, he said, "The major problem I have is that DraftKings used my ticket to make it seem like you can win big, just like they do in their commercials. You promote my tweet, and literally the next morning I’m limited.”

Recently, in the Behind the Lines podcast, journalist Shane Mercer said, "You don't necessarily have to win a whole lot of money to get limited or restricted [by sportsbooks]. Sometimes it's just a matter of ‘You're taking a bet that will win over time.'"

So what's a bettor to do?

Mercer is calling all sports bettors' to sign a change.org petition. The petition, started by Scott MacKenzie, a member of the inplayLIVE community, implores the Canadian government to make limiting winners illegal as other countries and jurisdictions have.

In addition to calling for change, it's important that bettors are aware that a limited account on one platform does not mean that your amateur or professional betting career is over. While one platform, like DraftKings or Bet365, may have previously been your home for sports betting, bettors can shop around.

Andrew Pace, founder and CEO of inplayLIVE, shared on the podcast, "[When] you have found your home book... you're actually not really using that book's lines. You're using someone else's lines. As a pro, I love hearing that because I can find these lines somewhere else as well, potentially. And that doesn't mean that my journey [betting] comes to an end... because of the fact that I can then go find those lines through another."

The odds of one sportsbook are the odds of many

What many bettors may not know is that sportsbooks are not setting their own betting lines. Instead, a limited number of odds providers supply the same data to a vast number of sportsbooks. So while the sportsbooks may work hard to differentiate themselves by running different promotions, they are essentially the middleman between the odds providers and the bettors themselves.

A prime example of this is Kambi, the data provider for dozens of sportsbooks globally including Bet Rivers, Leo Vegas Sports, and UniBet Sports.

For a considerable amount of time, Kambi was also the odds provider for DraftKings (along with its competitor, Barstool Sports). Recently, however, DraftKings acquired SBTech. Though this may have separated the DraftKings lines in North America, the betting lines DraftKings offers can be found on other platforms in Europe, like VIP Casino.

Bet365 is a different version of the same thing

Because of Bet365's sheer magnitude, the company is able to contract multiple odds providers. Additionally, they receive some unique propositions from one of their odds providers, Sportradar, that other clients of Sportradar do not get.

Despite this, Pace says, "You'll notice when you're using DraftKings and Bet365 for any player props, the systems will lock at the same time. They'll reopen at the same time. The numbers will be identical... For all of their player props in, say, the NBA and the NFL... they're all the same, so they're using the same odds provider... Sportradar. Draft Kings, which owns SBTech, is outsourcing another odds provider for that system."

In turn, Pace points out that Bet365 gets its flash props from SBTech despite being such intense competitors with DraftKings.

This shows sportsbooks are far less differentiated than they appear to be. Not only that, but many aren't forthcoming about their data sources and, correspondingly, many odds providers are tight-lipped about how many sportsbooks they serve.

In general, odds providers aren't transparent

To make informed decisions, bettors can access a considerable amount of information about publically traded companies like Kambi. But if they're not publicly traded, which Pace says, "A lot of them aren't... the information you get is so basic. It's just a landing page saying to contact us."

"There are times... at inplayLIVE," Pace says "Where we will refer to a certain company [by] a nickname because we don't even know what the company is that provided those odds. We don't know the name of the provider and there isn't really a lot of information out there about [them.]"

Pace has, in fact, called some of these companies in the interest of having some questions answered, but has had little success.

Not only is it hard to get information on who these odd providers serve, but it's also challenging to find the odds providers themselves.

Untangling the web of odds providers takes effort but it's promising

This information isn't particularly accessible. On the podcast, Mercer shared his screen to show that when you Google odds providers, the search yields sportsbooks.

Buried on the fourth page of google was another odds provider, DonBest.

"Well, you take a look at who this company, DonBest business services is working with," Mercer said. "You [have] got Caesars on here, Golden Nugget, this is all domestic, all in the US. You know William Hill, Wynn, MGM and then international clients look right at the top of the list: Bet365, BetRadar, Bovada, which also Bodog, and the list goes on."

But because everything is so interwoven, it's hard to know if a company like DonBest is providing the lines for a sportsbook or their live streaming.

Pace said, "If you want to search and dig, you can and you can find this stuff, but it takes that effort." And that's likely not what the average sports bettor will do.

For professional bettors, this hidden information is invaluable

Of course, recreational sports bettors, are more likely to find a sportsbook they like while watching their favourite sport and if they get limited, they move on. For professionals, the effort to find the same betting lines elsewhere pays off.

Pace says an example like Unibet is great. While it isn't the most popular sportsbook, "They offer pretty much everything that you could think of... So you go, 'Okay. I really like playing here, and I've been limited.'"

Professional bettors can continue their strategy by finding the odds provider for Unibet, Kambi, and looking for the same betting lines elsewhere.

Pace encourages others to do the same. Regardless of being limited or not, it's worth going to your favourite sportsbook, finding out their odds provider and then comparing their betting lines on another platform with the same data source. Pace says the two sportsbooks may not look identical, but the scores, the odds, and the timers are.

Conclusion

As it stands right now, stories like Waterson's and others are more common than sportsbooks' advertising would suggest.

Ads for Bet365, DraftKings and others give the impression that anyone can get in on the action and be successful. But when you win too often, too big, or in a way they don't like (despite being available to bet on), they tend to limit you.

Despite this, there are steps bettors can take. For one, governments should be petitioned to stop betting sites from limiting winners. For two, sports bettors need to take action on any unfair treatment. And three, sports bettors can research odds providers and find many betting lines from one platform in other places.

Pace says, this information is valuable because "... it allows us to make sharper and smarter decisions where we place the wager, where we get the best odds... Knowledge is power."

AK Pace

AK is a writer who’s been published in HuffPost and other renowned online platforms. When she isn’t studying as a full-time student or taking care of her three kids, she creates content for natural brands (including her brother’s value investing sports business 😉)