More than 1,100 suspicious sporting matches have occurred since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020. Of those, 655 took place this year, according to Sportradar Integrity Services.
Sportradar relied on its Universal Fraud Detection System to determine untoward activity in 12 different sports across some 70 countries. Football turned out to be the sport most likely to fall victim to betting-related corruption, with 500 plus matches in 2021 to date, according to Gambling Insider.
About 40 percent of the suspicious games within domestic football competition comes from third-tier leagues and below, including youth level, because fixers prey on these matches easier.
On a global level, the UFDS has detected 382 questionable matches in Europe so far this year, 115 in Latin America, 74 in the Asia Pacific region, Africa with 43, 10 in the Middle East and nine in North America.
Andreas Krannich, managing director, Integrity Services, said: “As our analysis shows, match-fixing is evolving and those behind it are diversifying their approach, both in the sports and competitions they target, and the way they make approaches to athletes, such as the rise in digital approaches.
In other Sportradar news, the company has followed other data and streaming suppliers, including Genius Sports and IMG Arena owner Endeavor, in seeking an IPO. Only Stats Perform has yet to join the club. Credit the rise in sports betting and iGaming in the U.S. for the trend, according to the Tottenham Report.
Sportradar is very much a global player, with Europe at its center. The U.S. comprised just 11 percent of the total revenue for the first six months of 2021, with €34.4 million (US$40 million). The revenues come from not just data services, but the company’s Managed Trading Services division, the streaming services to bookmakers and more.
At the recent SBC Summit in Barcelona, Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl
suggested the greater adoption of technology would be hugely influential on the connected worlds of sports, sports betting, and media.
“Our industries are combining with each other,” he told the audience. “We see media companies expanding into betting, leagues expanding into broadcasting, and betting and broadcasters moving into betting.”
The kind of investment needed can be acquired best through a publicly traded company. Sportradar raised more than $500 million cash to use for developing its product offering.
The company’s competitors will be doing the same. Endeavor spent $1.2 billion to acquire OpenBet from Scientific Games.
“The most innovative companies will be best positioned to provide the most advanced products and services at scale,” Koerl said.
