from Danny Ecker of Crain's Chicago Business,

Sports data company Stats LLC has lost its third major sports statistics partnership this year to one of its top U.S. competitors.

The National Hockey League today announced a new multi-year agreement with St. Paul, Minn.-based Sportradar US that makes it the new exclusive distributor of the league's official game statistics.

Sportradar replaces Hatboro, Penn.-based sports news wire service called The Sports Network (TSN) just seven months after Stats acquired TSN in a move to expand its reach in hockey.

Under the deal, any media company that wants to use the NHL's official statistics on things like ice time, shots on goal, face-offs won and lost, among others, will license it through Sportradar instead of TSN.

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