Sportradar taps Aquila as global chairman

Sportradar has expanded its board to accommodate four new appointments, Tony Aquila as chairman, and Marc Walder, Herve Couturier and George Fleet as International board members.

Aquila will serve as the Global Chairman of the Sportradar Group Board. He serves as Founder, Chairman and CEO of Solera Holdings, Inc., a global technology company that develops next-generation solutions which manage and protect both businesses and consumers within the automotive, mobility, financial and cybersecurity industries in over 90 countries. He is an inventor with 100+ patents, serial entrepreneur and philanthropist who was named EY’s National Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013 in the Technology category.

Walder, a former professional tennis player on the ATP Tour, is currently the CEO of Ringier, a Swiss media group employing 7,000 employees in 18 different countries, and founder of the nationwide initiative digitalswitzerland.

Couturier is a non-executive board member at Sabre, the world’s leading provider of solutions for the travel industry, at SimCorp SAS, the leading provider of investment management software solutions for the world’s leading financial organizations, and is the former CTO of Amadeus.

Fleet is Head of Advisory at Canaccord Genuity and comes to the board with almost 25 years of experience in investment banking with particular experience in complex public and private acquisitions, mergers and disposals.

“We are delighted to welcome Tony and our new group board members during such an opportune time of explosive growth for Sportradar,” said Carsten Koerl, Chief Executive Officer, Sportradar.

“Each board member brings an incomparable wealth of experience and strategic vision that will further enhance the expertise of our board as we continue to build the ecosystem of sports insight.

“We have not only doubled down on the U.S. as the betting market continues to open but are ramping up our efforts to transform the way our betting partners (bookmakers, lotteries and casinos), leagues, broadcasters, and digital/social media companies delight fans and protect the business of sport.”

In July 2019, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), through its wholly owned subsidiary, CPP Investment Board Europe S.à r.l., and TCV acquired a stake in Sportradar at an enterprise value of Euro 2.1 Billion from private equity firm EQT and certain minority shareholders. EQT also reinvested a portion of its sale proceeds into Sportradar.

Additional existing shareholders include Revolution Growth, entrepreneur Ted Leonsis, basketball legend Michael Jordan and entrepreneur Mark Cuban.