Just about everyone reading this right now is probably already aware that STATS acquired PA SportsTicker earlier this month. Unfortunately, other projects kept us from affording it proper treatment at the time, but this move is still worth attention 24 days after it was announced.

Specifically, when one of the three major statistics and information providers is gobbled up by another, it only makes sense to consider the impact.

From a practical standpoint, the move should certainly strengthen STATS’ existing stateside efforts. It’s tough to imagine how adding SportsTicker’s capabilities to the fold could do anything but help when the two companies already focused on much the same material. Of course, the similar focuses also means overlap from the merging, and SportsTicker’s 125-person staff has seen layoffs as a result.

The acquisition also included a deal with SportsTicker’s former parent company, PA Sport to extend STATS’ reach in England. That could help with important international sports of soccer and cricket, which figure to be at the center of fantasy’s expansion to a global marketplace. STATS CEO Gary Walrath mentioned the international aspect of the deal in the company’s news release.

“We also recognize PA Sport’s world-class capabilities, and anticipate the creation of many new and compelling products for our clients and league partnerships, globally, as a result of our collaboration,” he said.

Most important to companies within our industry, though, might be the paring of information outlets. Instead of three choices, sites deciding on stat and news feeds will now be down to STATS and The Sports Network. What will that mean for areas such as pricing, service and overall quality of the product?

We want to hear what you think. What will it mean for our industry or your site in particular? Has your site already been impacted by the change? Let us know either with a comment right here or an e-mail to FantasySportsBusiness@gmail.com.

STATS LLC announced Wednesday the acquisition of Israeli technology-development company SportVU, a move it says will add quite a bit to STATS’ offerings.

Most notably, SportVU collects positioning data on all actors and objects involved in an athletic contest and applies algorithms to produce helpful tools such as speed profiles and measurements of athletes’ fatigue. We’ve all heard about competitors who play faster than their 40-yard dash times, but this purports to be the first actual measure of such a phenonmenon.

For scouts and coaches that will have access to this data, it could mean more accurate and evolving player evaluations and should assist in game planning. Observers of the sports — including fantasy sports analysts — will have new ways to look at performance and different aspects to factor in when projecting future production.

STATS not only views the new capabilities as enhancing the product delivered to its customers in sports leagues and sports media, but also sees new revenue opportunities. Sponsors, for example, could pay to attach their brand to on-screen graphics that display the new measurements.

“This is a strategic initiative designed to create new business opportunities and greatly expand existing partnerships in all sectors of our business across the globe,” STATS CEO Gary Walrath said in the press release. “SportVU’s unique technologies bring new dimensions that enhance the sports experience for fans, while creating compelling new revenue platforms for our clients.”

Election watchers might have seen SportVU’s technology at work on CNN when an interview subject was virtually transported into the broadcast studio to speak with Wolf Blitzer. The company was founded in 2005, and all “key principals” will take on roles under the broadened STATS umbrella, according to the release.

STATS LLC announced a deal Monday with the NFL that will make the company the exclusive provider of real-time league play-by-play, scoring data and statistics in the country.

Of course, the actual scope of any such agreement seems questionable. As far as I can tell, the summer ruling in Major League Baseball’s case against CDM — upheld by the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear an appeal — seemed to confirm that all statistics (along with names and likenesses) exist in the public domain. Following that, one would have to assume that any person watching NFL games could legally compile the stats and pass them along freely.

Nevertheless, this deal clearly deepens the relationship between STATS and the NFL and means that no other companies can deliver official numbers from the games. The “multiyear” agreement also calls for broader use of STATS-exclusive content by NFL properties, STATS-provided AP content and fantasy updates on NFL.com and leaguewide use of StatPass, STATS’ proprietary web-based statistics tool.