Sports data and technology company Genius Sports announced Thursday it has agreed to buy sports and gaming media network Legend in a momentous affiliate deal potentially worth as much as $1.2 billion all-in.
The company said in a release that it expects the acquisition of Legend to create “a digital sports and gaming media powerhouse.” The total price includes $800 million in cash and $100 million in stock consideration upfront at the close of the transaction, and another $300 million in earnout paid across two years after closing, conditional on Genius Sports achieving certain profitability and cash flow marks.
The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.
Genius Sports described Legend as “a global, digital sports and gaming media network built to monetize attention.” Genius Sports CEO Mark Locke believes the deal will greatly advance the company’s goal of building a fully integrated sports and gaming media network.
Full integration, full engagement
Legend monetizes sports audiences through a scaled media network that consists of owned-and-operated digital properties as well as sports and betting content syndication across major publications including Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports. Its model revolves around providing consumers with connections to its hundreds of partners, including sportsbooks, sweepstakes casinos, prediction markets, other media sites and advertisers. In 2025, Legend generated 320 million annual visits with 118 million unique visitors, said Genius Sports, over two-thirds of which returned to the company’s network on a regular basis.
Through sports fan activation platform FANHub, Genius will connect the global audience with its full range of over 2,000 combined sports, media and betting partners via one integrated platform.
Genius is a data and technology partner of more than 700 sports and media organizations, including major sports leagues such as the NFL, the NBA, MLB, the NCAA and the English Premier League. It also has its own partnerships with gaming operators including FanDuel, DraftKings and bet365 as well as media networks such as ESPN and CBS. At its last financial update call in November, Locke suggested that prediction markets’ expansion into sports could be an additional avenue for the company to explore.
Genius said the deal will make it the only company operating two “synergistic” businesses across official sports data and media and advertising.
“This deal accelerates our strategic and financial objectives, supercharges fan monetization, and builds a fully integrated sports and gaming media network,” said Locke. “For Genius Sports and our global partners, it delivers more data, more audience, more inventory and greater monetization of sports fans.”
Legend one in 100 for Genius
On a conference call detailing the acquisition, Locke said that his company sets an “incredibly high” bar for mergers and acquisitions. In late 2024, the company denied reports that it was seeking to acquire B2B sportsbook solutions provider Kambi.
“We reviewed nearly 100 opportunities over the past one and a half years and chose Legend because it exceeded our key acquisition criteria on every measure – strategic fit, clear operational integration and accretive economics. We have not and we will not enter into acquisitions unless we have total confidence of that business’ ability to deliver at the level Genius expects.”
Genius also reported full-year financial estimates for 2025 on Thursday, including group revenue of $669 million, up 31% year over year, and group adjusted EBITDA of $136 million, up 59% year-on-year. Genius expects the Legend acquisition to help it achieve approximately $1.1 billion in total group revenue on an annualized pro forma basis in 2026, as well as between $320 million and $330 million in adjusted EBITDA.
“The acquisition of Legend will drive higher margins and stronger free cash flow, positioning Genius Sports to immediately transform the market and grow the size and scale of our business,” added Locke.
“Joining forces with Genius Sports brings together two world-class teams, unlocks unparalleled growth opportunities for our partners and products and gives us an even stronger platform to scale,” said Legend Founder Nick Kisberg. “I am immensely proud of what we have built and the decades of hard work that have brought us here today.”
