Global Sports Data – run by Penarth duo Russell Slade and Jason Dunlop – will “advise and represent” the UK’s professional cricketers in a looming legal battle
A COMPANY headed by former Cardiff City boss Russell Slade has made a breakthrough in its ongoing fight over professional sports people’s data.
The Global Sports Data and Technology Group has announced a memorandum of understanding with the UK-wide Professional Cricketers Association that will allow them to “advise and represent” players on the management of their data rights.
Performance data forms an increasingly major part of sport coverage, betting and related entertainment and GSDT believes that players are not receiving their fair share of the profit.
“Professional cricketers’ data is being processed and sent all over the world, currently without the knowledge and understanding of the players,” say GSDT.
“It is being processed by companies outside of cricket for commercial purposes with little or no funding being returned to the players.”
Article 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation defines “personal data” as information relating to an identified or identifiable person – including physical and physiological factors that are scrupulously monitored in sport.
GSDT already made headlines with Project Red Card, a succession of pre-action litigation letters issued to companies who might be using players’ data without their consent. The project initially took aim at 17 companies in the betting and entertainment industries but GSDT believe the number of culprits in football alone to be around 150.
Project Red Card expanded to include professional rugby players in November 2022. The issue of personal data rights, the Group say, is prevalent across sports.
Formed in 1967, the Professional Cricketers’ Association represents first-class players in England and Wales. They arranged a minimum wage and contract requirements in the 1970s and helped bring about a pension scheme in 1995.
The PCA signed a deal in April 2022 which allows them to negotiate commercial deals on behalf of the players. This included the use of player data for fantasy game The Cricket Draft.
On the agreement on players’ data rights, Chief Operating Officer of the PCA Daryl Mitchell said: “We have been monitoring the progress of GSDT and Project Red Card for a long period of time. We believe this is the correct time in cricket to resolve and to progress this issue with our partners.”
