Football DataCo, the official data rights holder of all the professional football leagues in England and Scotland, has announced a combined integrity agreement with Genius Sports and Perform Group.
The deal marks the first time Genius Sports and Perform have partnered to protect the integrity of sport. The partnership will enable all the professional league and cup competitions in England and Scotland to benefit from two highly sophisticated bet monitoring systems identifying unusual or potentially suspicious patterns occurring in global betting markets, DataCo said in a press release.
Technology will monitor all odds movements across 14 different competitions in English and Scottish football including the core Premier League, EFL, and Scottish Professional Football League matches and also the English and Scottish FA Cups and steps 1-4 in the English National League, the release said.
The agreement expands Football DataCo’s existing integrity monitoring program launched in 2014 with Genius Sports.
The companies will work together to develop a bespoke intelligence network, capitalizing on Perform Group’s and Genius Sports’ extensive industry expertise and resources. This will facilitate the development of a unique intelligence database and analytical capability that will provide Football DataCo, the Leagues and the Football Association with greater visibility and protection against threats to their integrity of their competitions, the release said.
Genius Sports and Perform Group will also work together to deliver a series of educational workshops aimed at arming players, officials and league and club executives with the knowledge to identify and avoid match-fixing’s growing threat.
“Ensuring the highest standards of integrity is a key priority for both English and Scottish Leagues and Football Associations,” said Adrian Ford, General Manager of Football DataCo. “Harnessing the strengths of Genius Sports and Perform and focusing on intelligence led information will support efforts to protect the integrity of British football.”
