Sportradar Finds New Chairman in Former Fiserv CEO
Sports data giant Sportradar has named former Fiserv CEO Jeff Yabuki its new chairman.
Yabuki, 60, joins the company at a critical time. Sportradar recently underwent a global reorganization and is exploring going public, possibly through acquisition, according to people familiar with the plans.
Yabuki was Fiserv’s CEO from 2005 to 2020, a tenure in which the public company more than tripled its revenue from $3.2 billion to more than $10 billion. He stepped down as CEO in July and agreed to serve as executive chairman through the end of 2020.
Yabuki’s “extraordinary leadership, strategic approach, and business acumen propelled Fiserv to become a global leader in financial services and payments technology,” Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl said in a statement. “We are thrilled to welcome Jeff to the Sportradar team.”
Headquartered in St. Gallen, Switzerland, Sportradar has become a dominant force in sports data. It works with most of the biggest sports organizations—in the U.S. that includes the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and NASCAR—supplying data to media organizations, bookmakers and other platforms.
The firm has attracted a high-profile group of investors as well. In 2018, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and TCV invested in a deal that valued the company at $2.4 billion. Other investors include the NFL and a trio of NBA owners—Mark Cuban, Ted Leonsis and Michael Jordan.
Yabuki replaces Tony Aquila, who left the company last year. The rest of the board is comprised of Koerl, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board managing director Hafiz Lalani and TCV general partner John Doran, plus Chuck Robel, Marc Walder, Herve Couturier and George Fleet.
Prior to joining Fiserv, Yabuki held executive roles at H&R Block and American Express. He’s also on the boards of Royal Bank of Canada and Ixonia Bancshares.
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