EuroLeague Instant Legends Uses Old Footage for New Wagers

Article by : Helen Feb 9, 2021

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Updated: Apr 6, 2023

Bettors will be able to lay wagers on new virtual sporting events based on European professional basketball plays completed up to 10 years ago. IMG Arena’s new EuroLeague Instant Legends reworks the digital recordings of top league players and presents them in entirely new ways.

EuroLeague is Europe’s top professional basketball league and partnered with IMG Arena to offer EuroLeague Instant Legends, a wholly unique gaming experience. Instead of wagering on traditional basketball games, IMG Arena will use footage of the game’s top players over the past decade and repackage them into entirely new events.

While the EuroLeague games occurred long ago, the new format will use video footage of players in old games and repackage them into a new and vibrant wagering opportunity at sportsbooks. Exactly how the gameplay would go and the types of bets that fans can lay remains to be seen, but the basic concept is sound.

The EuroLeague is a top-tier professional basketball league, and footage of players competing in games that already concluded provides a level of betting comfort. Sports bettors do not need to worry about a particular player being scratched prior to the game or suffering injury and foul trouble during it. The randomized events produce the uncertainty needed to enable wagering.

IMG Arena did not reveal the exact gaming format, but the possibility of wagering on made or missed free throws, and similar in-game wagers certainly would be compelling for many bettors.

The advent of digital high-definition broadcasting makes it possible to use digital footage of the league’s top players and reconfigure them into entirely new virtual sporting events. Leap Gaming created the technology powering the EuroLeague Instant Legends. The program randomizes video footage to create betting opportunities for fans and serious sports bettors.

IMG Arena is a part-owner of Leap Gaming, and company officials say IMG’s investment in Leap Gaming has enabled the two entities to produce a variety of unique and highly original sports-based betting opportunities. EuroLeague and IMG Arena initially partnered in 2015 to cross-promote league basketball games and sports betting. The partnership says it greatly increased live attendance and television audiences, with more than 1.3 billion fans participating during the 2018-2019 season.

CSKA Moscow is the reigning league champion and has a total of eight league titles. The EuroLeague has 18 teams ranging across from Spain to Russia. Because it is Europe’s top professional basketball league, many players also compete in the Summer Olympics for their respective nations.

IMG Arena officials say the EuroLeague produces one of the world’s premiere professional basketball leagues, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. Turkish Airlines is the main sponsor, and the EuroLeague has been around since 1958. The league competed as the FIBA EuroLeague Basketball until 2000 when the FIBA affiliation ended.

UK-based IMG Arena is headquartered in London and works to create more collaboration among sports leagues and the sports betting industry. IMG Arena partners with more than 450 sportsbook operations around the globe. It offers on-demand virtual sports and streaming of live games, including EuroLeague basketball.

IMG Arena entered the sports betting market in 2012 and started partnering with top-tier sports operators, including the EuroLeague. IMG Arena partners with more than 40 sporting federations and some of the world’s best in their respective sports. Those entities include MLS soccer, Serie A football, ATP men’s tennis, and NHL hockey. IMG Arena focuses on delivering compelling sporting products to sports fans. The sportsbook cross-promotion is a natural fit and enables the streaming platform to better serve sports bettors as well as casual fans.