IMG Arena has announced that it has agreed to purchase Leap Gaming (Leap), a virtual sports and casino gaming provider. The investment will grow IMG Arena’s portfolio of sports betting content. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, including a regulatory review process.
Combined with IMG Arena’s award-winning ‘Event Hub’, Leap’s cutting-edge 3D and motion capture technologies and best-in-class products provide customers, including sports federations and sports betting operators, with immersive and varied content to enrich the fan experience.
The deal builds on IMG Arena and Leap’s existing partnership and vision to ‘make it official’ virtual sports with the addition of official logos, team names, venues and other branded assets. Through this partnership, IMG and Leap launched official virtual sports betting products with NASCAR and the EuroLeague.
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Nevis, with offices in Israel, Malta and Ukraine, Leap Gaming works with 120 sportsbook operators worldwide. Leap CEO Yariv Lissauer will become Senior Director and General Manager – iGaming, and his team of 58 will join the IMG Arena.
Freddie Longe, President of IMG Arena, said: “When we invested in Leap Gaming in 2018, our goal was to create official products and unlock new revenue streams and forms of fan engagement for our customers. We are delighted to extend this partnership and officially welcome Leap to the IMG Arena team.”
“The acquisition will allow us to build on the work we’ve already done with Leap to take the virtual sports experience to new levels and continue to enhance our portfolio of sports betting content,” he added.
Yariv Lissauer, CEO of Leap Gaming, said: “The addition of Leap to the IMG ARENA business is a natural fit born of synergies in products, customer base and, most importantly, culture and vision. This will allow us to leverage our knowledge, strengths and resources to offer an enhanced range of best-in-class virtual sports products.”
About IMG Arena
IMG Arena provides live streaming and data feeds for over 45,000 sporting events annually, as well as on-demand virtual sports products and front-end solutions. IMG Arena clients include ATP, UFC, DP World Tour, PGA Tour, MLS and FA.
