Genius Sports CEO Mark Locke has said the acquisition of Legend puts the business at the “centre of a growing convergence between sport, media, wagering and brand investment”.
In a letter penned to shareholders today, 18 February, Locke laid out his and Genius Sports’ further reasoning behind sanctioning the deal which could be worth $1.2bn (£880m).
Genius agreed to pay $900m in cash and stock upfront, with a further $300m baked in as earnouts, for the business behind sites such as Covers.com, Casino.org and Casino Guru.
However, the market reacted negatively to the deal, with Genius Sports shares plunging 27% on 5 February, the day the announcement was made.
The stock has continued to decline, hitting $5.79 before the market opened today. The share price closed at $8.54 the day before the deal was announced, yet the firm’s market cap has almost halved since the turn of the year to $1.4bn.
Locke went on to cite the “massive” opportunity for the New York-listed firm, as he dismissed concerns over Legend being a “simple affiliate”.
Genius Sports did not use the word ‘affiliate’ in its press release or presentation deck when announcing the deal.
Legend’s brands generated 320 million visits from 118 million unique users in 2025. More than two-thirds of those users return regularly, Genius said.
Locke wrote: “Some people think we bought a simple affiliate business. Our view is different.
“We bought a participation layer built on two decades of technological investment that sits between official data infrastructure and the moment of transaction.”
The CEO went on to compare Legend to Booking.com as he further distanced the acquired asset from the affiliate tag.
Locke continued: “Much of the criticism has relied on a reductive use of the word ‘affiliate’. The term has been applied as shorthand, without distinguishing between low-quality traffic brokers and technology platforms built on owned audiences and behavioural intelligence.
“Booking.com earns commissions on travel revenue. No one would call it a simple affiliate business because it clearly owns consistent demand.
“The principle is the same here. The question is not the revenue model, it is whether we own the audience, the data and the participation layer. We do.
“Viewed through a traditional affiliate framework, the focus remains on publisher risk and performance marketing multiples. Viewed through an infrastructure lens, the focus shifts to control of intent, first-party data and integrated distribution.”
Locke said his company is paying six-times pre-earnout EBITDA for a business with “global strong cash flow and its own proprietary ad-tech stack and audience data built on over 20 years”.
He noted the deal allows Genius Sports to expand into igaming and deliver revenue synergies across multiple pillars.
Those include customer cross-sell and pushing Genius Sports data and products through Legend assets.
He also pointed out the market had reacted negatively and “the economics were questioned” in the past on deals the data giant had sanctioned, including the acquisition of Second Spectrum and the long-term partnership with the NFL.
He said the reaction to the Legend deal had followed the “same pattern” but that he remained confident on the firm’s strategy.
“The way we see it, we have acquired the technology to deliver the participation layer for modern sport at approximately six times EBITDA and created the largest, most valuable new asset class in sport,” Locke added.
“The way some of the market is interpreting it, we have overpaid for traffic. The gap between those views is where asymmetric returns live. We are comfortable with that gap. Now we execute.”
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The post Genius Sports CEO to shareholders: Legend is “not simply a media business” first appeared on EGR Intel.
Mark Locke pens letter to investors distancing Legend from “reductive” affiliate tag, after $1.2bn acquisition resulted in sports data supplier’s stock slumping in New York
The post Genius Sports CEO to shareholders: Legend is “not simply a media business” first appeared on EGR Intel.