As Supercross signs its first data deal with a betting partner, questions remain over how extreme sports are entering the gambling arena—without the regulatory clarity or ethical safeguards seen in more established leagues.
The FIM World Supercross Championship has announced a new partnership with ALT Sports Data (ASD) to supply pre-race betting markets across major sportsbooks and fantasy platforms.
The deal, revealed on June 26, marks the first time that World Supercross will formally enter the global regulated betting ecosystem.
According to the official statement, ASD will “aggregate and distribute pre-race World Supercross racing data” and offer markets that include race outcomes, podium finishes, and other predictive elements related to rider performance.
The partnership also promises to introduce free-to-play games tied to these outcomes, designed to broaden fan engagement.
“This move not only enhances our global footprint, but it also introduces a fresh and interactive way for fans to engage with the sport,” said Tom Burwell, CEO of World Supercross. “It also provides the championship with an opportunity to develop close relationships with the bookmaker community and continue to enhance our commercial operation.”
It remains unclear how these betting markets will be regulated across the sport’s various host countries, particularly given that World Supercross has races scheduled across five continents in 2025, including four cities hosting events for the first time.
Questions also remain around the league’s strategy for ensuring integrity and consumer protection in what are often highly complex regulatory environments.
A calculated gamble in a crowded marketplace
The World Supercross Championship is not alone in viewing gambling as a growth engine. In the past five years, mainstream sports such as football, basketball, and mixed martial arts have embraced regulated betting as both a revenue stream and a fan engagement tool. What’s notable here is the adoption of these models by alternative or non-traditional sports, those often operating outside the spotlight of global media rights deals or legacy sponsorships.
Supercross, while boasting a committed fanbase and a growing international calendar, still sits on the fringes of the global motorsport hierarchy. This new agreement with ALT Sports Data is, therefore, more than a commercial arrangement and will likely be seen as a bid for relevance in an increasingly saturated and competitive attention economy.
For ALT Sports Data, whose mission is to integrate so-called “alt” sports into the betting mainstream, the reasoning for the partnership is clearer. The company’s proprietary trading platform, PRTL®, powers real-time odds and pricing across a number of niche sports properties.
In a press release accompanying the announcement, ASD co-founder and chief marketing officer Todd Ballard said the firm was “proud to help elevate [World Supercross’] presence on major sportsbook platforms.”
No financial terms of the deal were disclosed, nor were any named sportsbook partners, which raises questions about the scale of the commercial upside. Without such details, it is difficult to assess whether this marks a meaningful new revenue stream for the series or a speculative investment in fan interaction.
Risk, regulation and the reality of betting in extreme sports
At the heart of the deal lies a tension increasingly common across the sports world: the desire to monetise fan interest through betting, versus the obligation to safeguard sport integrity and consumer welfare.
World Supercross has not publicly outlined its protocols for betting integrity, athlete education, or anti-corruption monitoring. These mechanisms are now considered standard practice in larger leagues that engage with regulated bookmakers. Their absence from the announcement may simply reflect timing but it also suggests that the industry’s ethical standards for betting engagement remain unevenly applied across sporting tiers.
There is also the matter of regulation. The championship’s 2025 season will span five continents, and gambling laws vary widely between jurisdictions. While sports betting is legal and regulated in countries such as the UK, Australia and parts of the US, others – such as certain regions in Asia and the Middle East – impose tight restrictions or outright bans. How ASD and World Supercross plan to navigate these complexities has not been clarified.
Moreover, the demographic overlap between extreme sports and younger audiences poses a reputational risk. Many of these fans fall into age brackets where gambling marketing is more tightly scrutinised. The rise of gamified, free-to-play experiences, as referenced in the partnership, has drawn criticism from watchdogs in the past for blurring the lines between entertainment and inducement to bet.
