Pre-Season 2020 - Official New Player Programme

Pre-Season 2020 

Official New Player 

Programme

Hi and welcome! 

Genius Sports Group —— Pre-season 2020 

2 

“ Our achievements are as much down 

to our people as they are our unique 

technology. ” 

Mark Locke ----- CEO, Genius Sports Group 

Thank you for choosing Genius. I am delighted to have you join 

our team. 

The world of sport continues to change dramatically thanks to 

both the advancement and clever application of technology. 

It’s completely transforming the way federations, leagues and 

competitions across the world are capturing, utilising and 

commercialising their data, to enhance every aspect of their 

sport. 

I’m proud to say we’ve been, and continue to be, at the very 

forefront of this digital journey. We’re now partnered with over 

500 of the world’s biggest and best sporting organisations, 

including FIBA, NBA, the Premier League and NCAA, helping them 

to maximise every opportunity technology presents to grow and 

protect their sport, for the long-term. 

Our achievements are as much down to our people as they are 

our unique technology. Amazing geniuses, not afraid to try new 

and different approaches, learning from our mistakes as much 

as our successes. 

I hope the recruitment process has given you a taste of our 

world and that this ‘pre-season programme’ will give you more. 

Much like a pre-match warm up, it’s designed to help you feel as 

prepared as possible for all the action to come. 

Although Genius Sports Group has been around for a while, we’re 

certainly not set in our ways! We’re always open to feedback and 

suggestions on what we can do better. Please do let us know 

where you think we can improve our new player experience by 

commenting on the Slack channel or in person when you join. 

We really are ‘all ears’. 

All that’s left for me to say is ‘enjoy the pre-season!’ 

Mark’s 

‘pre-season’ tips: 

I’m often asked by new joiners for 

advice on how they can be successful 

at Genius. Personally, I think it boils 

down to building a great understanding 

of our business, getting to know your 

colleagues, not being afraid of trying 

new things and of course asking 

questions! 

Use the pre-season to learn as much as 

you can about us. 

I’d also recommend you: 

1. Take a look at our website, 

geniussports.com. 

Genius Sports —— Pre-season 2019 

2. Get active on the Slack channel. Use 

3 

it to ask us questions, share comments 

and suggestions as well as connect with 

other new players. 

3. Stay up-to-date by keeping tabs 

on our main news channels – via 

our website, on Twitter and LinkedIn 

pages. 

See the back cover of this programme 

for more details. 

Mark 

CEO, Genius Sports Group 

Official New Player Programme

We connect millions of fans 

to the sports they love. 

By capturing every run, kick and throw, live from games around the world, our unique 

technology drives a complex sports data and content ecosystem. 


This technology, combined with our talented people, unlocks the value within the data 

and content to deliver: 

• A more compelling, competitive offering for betting companies, publishers 

and advertisers; 

• Raised profile, participation rates and income for sports leagues and federations; 

• The ultimate fan experience. 


4 

5 

A bit about 

Genius 

Official New Player Programme 


Our story 2019 

From a bright idea in a dark London basement, to becoming a global 

leader in capturing, distributing and maximising the value of official 

sports data. 

It’s been an amazing 

journey so far! 

We signed ground-breaking deals with Football Data Co, the official data 

rights holder of the English Premier League, English Football League and 

Scottish Professional Football League, as well as NASCAR. 

Our total number of long-term sporting partners is now over 500. We also 

acquired Oppia, enabling us to offer live video streaming solutions to our 

sports and betting partners. 

2000 2005 2007 2011 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 


‘What if we created a 

website where you could 

compare the latest 

odds being offered by 

bookmakers on different 

sporting events?’ 

The idea behind Betgenius 

was born! Initially launched 

as bestbetting.com, it 

soon developed beyond an 

odds comparison website 

and into a business selling 

managed odds directly to 

bookmakers. 

We signed our first 

major deal with FIBA, 

the governing body of 

basketball. 

Our technology has helped 

transform how live and 

official data is collected 

and used by over 200 

basketball federations and 

leagues around the world 

since. Our partnership 

continues to go from 

strength to strength. 

We appeared in the Sunday 

Times’ ‘Fast Track’ Top 100 

Tech company league table, 

placing us as one of the 

UK’s highest performing 

technology companies. 

Our growth was taking us 

way beyond UK shores too, 

as we opened an office in 

Tallinn, Estonia, a major 

technology hub. 

We acquired Boolabus Ltd, 

a company specialising in 

UX design and front end 

development, enabling us 

to enhance our technology 

offering still further. 

We began our partnerships 

with FIFA and the English 

Premier League and set 

up our dedicated Integrity 

Services team to help 

protect the future of sports. 

As growth continued, 

we opened an office in 

Melbourne, Australia and in 

Vilnius, Lithuania. 

Boosted by further 

investment by Three 

Hills Capital Partners, we 

rebranded as Genius Sports 

Group and opened more 

offices, including one in 

Sofia, Bulgaria, another 

emerging technical hub. 

Expansion continued as 

we launched our new GSM 

division and opened an 

office in Medellin, Colombia 

– a major hotbed for top 

tech talent and well placed 

to help us capture the 

burgeoning LATAM market. 

We acquired Data Project, 

a leading provider of datadriven 

technology solutions 

to volleyball leagues, 

federations and clubs. 

Our expertise and 

technology is now used in 

over 80% of those leagues 

and federations. We also 

signed Major League 

Baseball (MLB) and the PGA 

Golf Tour to our growing list 

of sporting partners. 

We were acquired by APAX 

partners who’ll support 

our continued growth and 

development. 

We opened an office in 

Lausanne, Switzerland, 

right where the governing 

bodies for Football, 

Volleyball and Basketball 

are. We also opened our 

Singapore office to help 

grow our reach across Asia. 


6 

 

7 



Our current 

formation 

As the parent company of our business, Genius Sports Group 

is a truly global operation employing over 1,500 staff, spanning 

several continents and serving a wide variety of sectors. 

From immersive statistical content to live betting and sports 

marketing services, our technology powers ground-breaking fan 

experiences that deliver value to all stakeholders across sports, 

media and gaming. 

Provides the technology and expertise to help sports leagues and 

governing bodies take control of their official data to develop 

their sport, engage fans and drive revenue. We currently work 

with over 500 major sporting organisations across the world, 

including FIBA, FIFA, NBA, MLB, English Premier League and 

NCAA. In addition, our specialist integrity teams work with them 

to protect their sports against issues such as match-fixing and 

betting related corruption. 

Leads the way when it comes to providing technology to help 

maximise the performance of operators in the sports betting 

sector. We’re the trusted partner to over 150 bookmakers in 

regulated markets across the world including SkyBet, Bet365, 

William Hill and Paddy Power. 


9 

Was launched in 2016 to help sports take their fan engagement 

to the next level. We convert powerful live sports data into super 

rich content for publishers and advertisers everywhere including 

Draft Kings, NBC, Caesars Entertainment and Ladbrokes. 

Our business is currently organised 

into three external facing divisions supported 

by one internal division. They all sit under 

the Genius Sports Group umbrella. 

An internal facing division, GSS is responsible for technology, 

support and delivery. Its function – including our Data Collection, 

UX, Customer Support and Trading teams – is to provide 24/7 

operational and technical support so that our commercial teams 

can deliver their range of products and services to our partners. 


Some of our key players 

Meet our team 

of executives 

Mark Locke 

CEO 

Tom Russel 

Group General Counsel 

Co-founder of Genius Sports Group and a true 

figurehead both internally and externally. Mark is 

a natural entrepreneur and helps ensure we stay 

ahead of the game. 

Tom makes sure all our legal and regulatory 

affairs are properly in order and works closely 

with the commercial leads to drive our agenda 

in regulating markets. 


Stephen Gardner 

Chief Service & Delivery Officer 

One of our long standing players, Steve has been 

with Genius for over a decade now. He oversees 

our Product Delivery and Operational Services 

and is a regular visitor to all major office hubs. 

Nick Taylor 

CFO 

A relatively new player himself, having joined 

in 2019, Nick makes sure we have the right 

financial controls in place and works 

with the business to enhance performance 

and opportunity. 

Steven Burton 

Managing Director 

Responsible for our sports division and 

partnerships. A sports lawyer by trade, Steven 

works with some of the largest leagues and 

federations in the world, including the EPL, 

FIBA, NBA & the NCAA. 

Sophie Powys 

Group Operations Director 

Sophie oversees all our risk and compliance 

matters. She makes sure all the right 

governance is in place and that we have the 

corresponding company policies there to help 

us do the right thing. 


10 

Campbell Stephenson 

CTO 

Carolyn Duncanson 

Chief of Staff 

11 

Another long standing player, Cam has also been 

at Genius for a decade. He is responsible for 

all Software Development and Infrastructure 

across the Group, ensuring our technology is 

sustainable, scalable and secure. 

In charge of communication and organisation 

amongst the Exec and Management Teams, 

Carolyn often acts as a proxy for Mark and the 

team, driving our key initiatives forward. 

Jack Davison 

Chief Commercial Officer 

Christopher Dougan 

Chief Communications Officer 

In charge of commercial deals and partnerships, 

Jack is primarily focussed on Betting and Media, 

but works very closely with Steven Burton to 

ensure all our commercial activities are aligned. 

Chris leads all our external PR activities. 

He works closely with commercial and legal 

teams to articulate the company’s position 

on official data and supports our push into 

regulating markets. 



Where we play 

We’re truly global. 

We currently have employees based in over 

100 countries and operate out of 9 main offices, 

all united by 1 game changing plan. 



12 

13 



Genius Stats 

Look at how we stack up! 

WE’VE DRIVEN 

THE DIGITAL 

TRANSFORMATION 

OF SPORT FOR OVER 

20 YEARS 

 

WE RAISED 

£24,000 

FOR CHARITY 

IN 2018. 

OUR EMPLOYEES 

HAVE ACCESS TO OVER 

 

15,000 ON-LINE 

LEARNING RESOURCES. 


14 

 

ALMOST 500% 

REVENUE GROWTH 

SINCE 2014 

OUR TECHNOLOGY IS USED 

TO CAPTURE DATA IN OVER 

200,000 GAMES 

A YEAR. 

б 

бб 

ббб 

бббб 

ббббб 

бббббб 

ббббббб 

бббббббб 

WE DRINK 1,241,760 

CUPS OF COFFEE A YEAR, 

MADE BY JUST 19 VERY 

HARDWORKING 

COFFEE MACHINES. 

 

WE ARE THE TRUSTED PARTNER TO 

500+ MAJOR SPORTS 

ORGANISATIONS. 

WE HAVE 

OVER 1,500 EMPLOYEES. 

 

683 OF THEM ARE 

AND GET THROUGH 

131,646 BANANAS 

AND 

DEVELOPERS 

 

28,864 BOWLS 

OF CRUNCHY NUT 

CORNFLAKES! 

WE HAVE SET UP 

MORE THAN 

12 SPORTS TEAMS 

FROM BOWLING TO 

BEACH VOLLEYBALL. 

 

AND HAVE 

9 PLAYSTATIONS, 

6 SCOOTERS, 

1 RALLY CAR, 

1 PLANETARIUM, 

1 MINI GOLF COURSE, 

1 PUNCH BAG 

AND... 

1 GIANT WOOKIE 

, 

MADE OF PLANTS (OF COURSE)! 

AND SPEND OVER 

£2 MILLION 

ON TRAINING 

EVERY YEAR. 

 

 

 

AND 1,096 SLACK CHANNELS… 

CONNECTING EVERYONE FROM BATMAN FANS 

TO THOSE IN SEARCH OF A DECENT PINT OF BEER! 


15 



Our simple, 

game-changing plan 

We don’t believe in having wordy, complicated vision 

and mission statements, nor a list of values you’ll 

probably struggle to remember, let alone live by. 

Instead, we try to keep things really simple. 


Our goal: To be the best 

we possibly can be. 

Our team culture 

and environment 


16 

How? 

By following these basic principles. 

We’re all about enabling our people to perform at their very best. We want to build 

a winning team. 

17 

1. Own it and learn from it - be accountable, open to feedback 

and learn from your wins as well as your losses 

2. Mix things up - think disruptively, gather the facts and be 

prepared to challenge the norm 

We bring together the best people, with great skills, in locations that are close 

to our customers and the markets we’re operating in. 

We provide top end office environments, which are modern, secure, bright and fun. You’ll 

enjoy quality desk space, plenty of meeting rooms and well equipped kitchens with free 

drinks, cereal and fruit. We also provide you with all the IT kit you’ll need, to allow you 

to be productive whether you’re working at your desk, on the move or at home. 

3. Do it all with passion. 

We use a range of tools and systems to support effective knowledge management 

and sharing – from SharePoint, Confluence and Jira to Workday and our intranet, Arena. 

Our main collaboration tool is Slack, so getting active on our pre-season channel 

is a great way to get familiar with it, especially if you’ve not used it before. 



There’s plenty to do in your down time too. Each main office has several break out zones where you can 

chill out away from your desk and enjoy activities like table tennis, darts, table football and PlayStation. 

We also host regular events and socials to help build team spirit and there are several sporting clubs – 

everything from football and softball, to volleyball and climbing – which you can join. 

To help you with your commute, in some locations we offer discounts at various bike shops to encourage you 

to cycle to work, as well as loans to help with the cost of your travel pass or season ticket. 

But it’s not all about work of course, we help you take care of your general health and wellbeing too. In some 

locations we offer access to free eye tests (and discounts on frames) as well as flu jabs. 


Don’t speak Genius yet? 


18 

We all know that feeling. You start your new job and for the first month or two it seems like everyone’s talking 

a completely different language – full of TLAs (three letter acronyms)! Here’s a head start on some of the 

common ones you may hear or see at Genius: 

19 

 

FMS: Fixtures Management and Settlement 

FTE: Full Time Employee 

GSG: Genius Sports Group 

GSS: Genius Sports Services 

GSM: Genius Sports Media 

ISD: In-Play Sports Data 

KPI: Key Performance Indicators 

MSV: Match State Viewer 

NCAA: National Collegiate Athletic Association 

OKR: Objectives & Key Results 

OST: Out-Sourced Trading 

QA: Quality Assurance 

SBPI: Sportsbook Platform Integrations 

SBM: Sportsbook Management 

TD: Technical Director 

UX: User Experience 



Some common questions 

Getting ready for the action 

Please do not worry about asking us questions – even if they seem trivial or basic. We 

love them! Here are a few common ones to start with. Feel free to post questions on 

the Slack channel and we’ll do our best to answer them as quickly as we can. 


Feeling a little nervous about your first day? Here’s a guide to what’s likely to happen. 

Of course, each office may do things slightly differently and timings are approximate, 

but we all aim to follow a similar model. 

10 am 

10:30 -11 am 

11-12 pm 

Arrival 

Welcome chat with your new manager 

Our Technical Services team will get you set up with your computer, Genius email address and our 

tools and apps like Slack, SharePoint and Confluence 

 

 

 

What are the working hours? 

The main working hours for most of our office locations are 9:30 – 5:30, Monday to Friday, but your role 

and individual contract will determine your personal working hours, which may be different. Your hiring 

manager will confirm this with you. 

What’s the dress code? 

We have a casual dress code. Please dress appropriately for your role and the kind of day you have, 

especially if you are heading out to meetings. 

How do I get into the building? 

Your local Business Operations team member will organise your office pass for you on day one. You’ll 

need this to get in and out of your office building and in some cases, get around and visit different 

floors. On day one, just report to reception and they’ll give you instructions. 


20 

12-2 pm 

2-2:30 pm 

Meet your new team mates and have lunch 

A member of your local Business Operations team will take you on a thorough tour of the office, showing 

you the emergency exits, stationary cupboards, bike stores and kitchens 

 

Who do I ask for when I arrive on day one? 

When you first arrive, please ask for your line manager unless they’ve informed you otherwise. 

21 

2:30-3:30 pm 

Your local People Operations Manager will meet you and take you through what you need to know from 

an HR perspective and will show you our global platform Workday. 

 

What should I bring with me? 

There’s no need to bring anything in with you. We’ll equip you with appropriate IT kit and stationary. 

3:30-5 pm 

5:30 pm 

Explore our systems and schedule further training 

Wrap up and go home! 

 

Where can I get coffee and lunch? 

All our offices provide free water, tea and coffee, fruit and cereal for you to enjoy throughout the day. 

There are plenty of places to sit and relax while you eat away from your desk, whether you bring in 

food from home or purchase it from an outdoor vendor. Some of our offices have vending machines 

providing snacks. All our offices are located in business parks or major cities where there are plenty of 

cafes, shops and other food vendors. 




22 

We hope this programme has given you more insight into the world 

of Genius and our team. 

See below some other sources of useful information. 

Website: Geniussports.com / Twitter: @GeniusSports 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/genius-sports / Instagram: #geniussportsgroup 

Slack help centre: https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/help

Pre-Season 2020 - Official New Player Programme

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?