Mark Cuban Sells Sports-Technology Company to Dodgers Owners

(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is selling one of his sports-technology investments to the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Atrium Sports, a technology company backed by Todd Boehly and other Dodgers owners, has acquired data and video analytics company Synergy Sports Technology, in which Cuban is the biggest investor, the companies said Monday.

Synergy provides its analytics tools to a number of National Basketball Association franchises, as well as Major League Baseball and college basketball and baseball clubs.

Boehly is chairman of Eldridge Industries, which made the lead investment in the Synergy transaction. Elysian Park Ventures, which includes Boehly and fellow Dodgers owners Mark Walter, Magic Johnson and Peter Guber, also invested. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but a person familiar with the transaction said the total purchase price was about $90 million.

Atrium said the deal would fuel its expansion, including the development and use of artificial intelligence in sports. Earlier this year, Atrium entered into a partnership with FIBA, the global governing body for basketball.

Capturing Movement

Founded by a former Phoenix Suns coach, Synergy uses cameras to capture the movement of players across a court or field. Coaches can then use that data to break down plays, scout opponents and help evaluate talent. The company supplies information for teams, fantasy-sports products, fans and media networks.

Within the past year, Synergy has captured, tagged and analyzed more than 60,000 basketball games and 15,000 baseball games.

The integration of Synergy’s content into Atrium’s platforms will give leagues and teams greater access to data and to automated video production of live sports, Atrium said.

Additional investment came from undisclosed Atrium executives and other Atrium and Synergy shareholders. Inner Circle Sports, a sports-focused boutique investment bank in New York, advised Synergy in the deal.

Atrium will likely merge Synergy with automated video capture company Keemotion, which it acquired earlier this year.

--With assistance from Eben Novy-Williams.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III, Rob Golum

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