Dallas-Based nVenue Partners with NASCAR on In-Race Micro Betting, Predictive Content

Dallas-based nVenue—whose sports betting platform uses machine learning and AI to create “next play” probabilities and micro-bets for fans watching live—has already partnered with Major League Baseball and the NBA and kicked off its NFL predictive betting product. Today, it announced it’s revving its engine for something new: NASCAR.

nVenue and NASCAR have inked a multi-year partnership to develop in-race micro-betting markets and predictive content for race fans nationwide. As part of the agreement, NASCAR will work with nVenue as an official micro-betting data and technology provider, the organizations said.

Joe Solosky, NASCAR’s managing director of sports betting, said the collaboration “epitomizes a shared vision to entertain fans and enhance the race viewing experience.”

“We’re thrilled to pair our racing product with expert technology like nVenue’s to bring micro-betting to NASCAR fans going forward,” Solosky added in a statement.

Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023, NASCAR—the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing—is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the U.S. and owner of 16 of the country’s major motorsports entertainment facilities.

Developing in-race odds for stage results, pit road betting, and more

As an official micro-betting partner, nVenue said it will collaborate directly with NASCAR “to design and develop in-race odds for delivery to NASCAR fans via sportsbooks and operators.”

While traditional betting markets are focused on the end-of-race outcome—which driver will blast through the checkered flag first—in-race betting markets are focused on what comes before. nVenue says that will include “unique betting windows such as stage results, qualifying, pit road betting opportunities, and more.”

nVenue says it will leverage official live racetrack data along with historical race data points “to generate predictions and odds for each race and driver,” creating newly developed betting opportunities that will offer “thousands of additional ways for fans to engage throughout a single race.”

‘A terrific match’

Kelly Pracht, co-founder and CEO of nVenue, called the partnership with NASCAR “a terrific match.”

“nVenue brings the real-time predictive sports platform designed for micro-bets and media, and NASCAR brings the mind-share and reach of a league ready to innovate leveled-up fan experiences,” Pracht said in a statement. “We predict this industry-first collaboration will be significantly beneficial not only for sportsbooks and media, but also for NASCAR’s base of knowledgeable and new fans.”

Aiming to build a micro-betting juggernaut out of what happens next

Launched in 2018, nVenue’s real-time betting and predictive data engine leverages machine learning and AI to generate thousands of real-time probabilities and “meticulously curated” micro-bets for sportsbooks and operators. The platform takes real-time data of what’s happening in a sports event and runs it through “millions” of models to show the predictive percentage of what could happen next. (Strikeout? Single? Home run?) At any given moment , all kinds of different things can happen on a ball diamond, a basketball court, a football field—and a race track.

To date, nVenue’s engine has surpassed over 1 billion predictions delivered across its MLB, NFL, and NBA offerings, the startup says. That includes an interactive overlay presented to international audiences during the 2023 NBA Finals in June. And nVenue is currently powering the on-screen predictive analytics for Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+, as well.

In February, nVenue’s leveraging of endless “next play” possibilities landed it on SportsPro Daily’s 2023 list of 20 Sports Tech Ideas to Invest in Now.

“This zero-latency feed has been used by Apple TV to engage fans during its MLB coverage, while bookmakers can automatically create short-term markets and set odds, dramatically increasing the number of betting opportunities in a single contest,” SportsPro Daily wrote at the time, adding that nVenue’s tech is “helping bookmakers and broadcasters generate value from every moment in every game.”