CHENNAI: On Friday, the world of professional squash created history. Over two years ago, PSA, the governing body for the sport's professional circuit, signed a partnership with technology provider Sports Data Labs to commercialise the in-game physiological data assets of players. This was the first time in history that a sport had entered into such an agreement.
"The Professional Squash Association (PSA) has today (August 8, 2018) confirmed a groundbreaking partnership with global technology provider Sports Data Labs that will see squash become the first professional sport ever to make in-game physiological data assets available for commercialisation," a release from PSA had noted then.
How did this deal benefit the players? The players who consented to PSA commercialising their data would receive a sum in a revenue sharing model that would be split three ways (PSA and Sports Data Labs being the other benefactors). The players could also analyse their own data to see their strong and weak points. How is this data useful for betting sites? They can provide the numbers generated by players to the users who can in turn use those numbers before deciding who to back.
On Friday, this first-of-its-partnership bore fruit to the players to the tune of $100,000. "Over $100,000 has been paid out to players since the Professional Squash Association (PSA) and Sports Data Labs first began commercialising physiological data to increase revenue for PSA’s athletes at the beginning of the 2018-19 PSA World Tour season," a release from PSA noted.
"Players that consented to PSA and Sports Data Labs commercialising their data were rewarded with a share of the revenue from the prize pool, with money allocated across the PSA’s major Platinum and World Championship events. Players earned a bigger share the further they advanced into a tournament."
The PSA announcement in 2018 was clear about this. "The data will be incorporated into the sport’s official broadcasts to enhance the viewing experience, whilst simultaneously being made available to commercial partners such as sports betting companies and organisations established in the health & wellness industries," it had said.
Ghosal not among beneficiaries
India's Saurav Ghosal is not among the beneficiaries of the deal. "I did not consent for the commercialisation of my data because it was tough for me to wear the device around my body," he told The New Indian Express.
"The only time I could use it properly was when it was extremely tight and I couldn't even breathe properly. So it was a strategic decision on my part to not use it." He may still revisit that decision. "There are talks that the company is working on a patch that could be stuck on your body. Maybe then," said the World No 13.
The other Indian in the top rung, women's World No 10 Joshna Chinappa was not available for comment. She and Ghosal are the Indian regulars in Platinum and World Championship events.