Major League baseball has contracted with a London-based company to monitor baseball betting, according to a report in the Washington Post.
The league hired Genius Sports to use analytics, algorithms and proprietary software to ensure that nothing is happening in the sport that could compromise its integrity. The firm sends the league regular reports via email that show baseball betting trends.
Baseball officials said the move wasn’t prompted by any incident or specific suspicion.
“We just think it’s a prudent thing to do in this day and age. That’s it,” Dan Halem, MLB’s chief legal officer told the paper.
Last year, more than $897 million was wagered on baseball games in Nevada sports books alone, trailing only football ($1.7 billion) and basketball ($1.2 billion), according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Millions more are suspected of being bet illegally.
“That kind of risk is enormous. It’s a good proactive value for us,” Halem said of the monitoring service. “Why wouldn’t we do that?”
According to the Post, Genius Sports, is a leader in the field that also contracts with the English Premier League, among others. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The firm essentially analyzes international betting markets in real-time and identifies trends and anomalies. If a large amount of money is suddenly being bet on one particular outcome, red flags might be raised.
“It’s very akin to the financial market analysis,” said Mark Locke, chief executive of Genius Sports. “In financial markets, there are bodies that just watch the markets.”
The league will be notified the instant something nefarious or suspect emerges. Genius Sports will turn over the data, offer possible explanations and allow MLB to investigate the matter on its own, the paper reported.
