Sportradar SPAC Deal Canceled, Eyes IPO

The pullback on SPACs has been swift — and now one of the biggest deals in history has dissolved. 

Sportradar and a special-purpose acquisition company led by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly have canceled their $10 billion merger. The sports data giant is now exploring a traditional IPO. 

The deal done in March was to come with one of the largest valuations for a SPAC merger, a defining moment for a sports data business dominated by Sportradar and Genius Sports. 

Sportradar’s numerous partnerships include the NBA, MLB, NHL, and NASCAR.

SPACs, also known as “blank-check companies,” raise money on the public market with the purpose of acquiring a private company and taking it public. 

• They became very popular in 2020, raising $83.3 billion across 248 IPOs. 
• SPAC investments surpassed their 2020 totals in the first quarter of 2021. To date, investors have bought into 331 SPACs this year at a sum of $104.4 billion. 
• However, investors and companies hit the brakes on the investment model when the SEC issued guidance that some SPAC investments should likely be classified as an asset or liability, not equity. Only 16 SPAC mergers have been completed so far in Q2, according to SpacTrack. 

Genius Sports went public via SPAC merger last November at an estimated valuation of $1.5 billion. 

Another SPAC launched by Boehly’s Eldridge Investments took ticket seller Vivid Seats public in April at a $1.95 billion valuation.