Te 10 pillars of an optimum betting market:


1. Regulated betting available through land- based and online channels


2. Unlimited licences or, if limited, enough to maintain market attractiveness


3. Licensing fees to reflect regulatory costs


4. Robust but practical player protection measures


5. Internationally competitive GGR betting tax (no higher than 20 per cent)


6. No overly burdensome additional taxation


7. Wide product offering - multiple channels: fixed odds, pool, exchange and spread betting


8. Wide product offering - permitted bet types e.g., in-play: no significant restrictions


9. Betting integrity protocols


10. Balanced advertising and sponsorship parameters


Should certain leagues or betting products be banned or does this just make the problem worse? Are there certain sports or betting products that are particularly vulnerable to match fixing?


Tere is no integrity benefit from banning markets within a licensing jurisdiction, most notably because those banned markets will continue to be offered elsewhere around the globe, notably in poorly or unregulated markets. Banning certain products is actually counterproductive from that perspective, in that it serves to drive consumers away from the regulated market.


Tere is a general misconception about certain markets being more susceptible to corruption, which the Optimum Betting Market study dispels. Te report is full of a wealth of verifiable data challenging many of the myths that have been promoted on supposed integrity protection grounds but which are more likely to simply be being used as a means to try and limit the commercial and product evolution within the private regulated betting sector, which has been driven by consumer demand for such products.


For example, there remains a general perception that some secondary betting markets are at greater risk of corruption. However, the data challenges this assertion. In football, for example, nine out of 10 (91 per cent) of all alerts in the four-year period 2017-2020 took place on primary betting markets (e.g., full time result/number of goals) compared to secondary markets (e.g., corners, yellow cards).


Te operators involved in this study had c.$11bn (€9bn) of turnover on secondary markets in


P44 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS


“Almost three quarters of all global football betting turnover is placed on in-play markets ($107bn or €90bn), only 38 per cent of football alerts and potential corrupt activity is solely attributed to that type of betting. Whereas such activity can be attributed (in part or full) to 62 per cent of


pre-match betting activity. In-play betting is not, in itself, a driver of integrity issues and the data shows that potentially corrupt betting activity is, in general, just as likely to have taken place pre-match as in-play in football.” Khalid Ali


2019, compared to an average of only five suspicious betting alerts on those markets during 2017-2020. Tat amounts to one suspicious alert on secondary markets for every $2.2bn (€1.8bn) of turnover on those markets. Tere is a clear and significant consumer demand for those secondary markets, but a relatively negligible level of risk with IBIA members.


In-play betting is another product that is often demonised. However, the study shows that whilst almost three quarters (74 per cent) of all global football betting turnover is placed on in- play markets ($107bn or €90bn), only 38 per cent of football alerts and potential corrupt activity is solely attributed to that type of betting. Whereas such activity can be attributed (in part or full) to 62 per cent of pre-match betting activity. In-play betting is not, in itself, a driver of integrity issues and the data shows that potentially corrupt betting activity is, in general, just as likely to have taken place pre-match as in-play in football.


It is important that the scale of corruption on well-regulated markets and operators be viewed in context. Operators who contributed to the report offered betting on over 500,000 sports matches, or 650,000 events including horse racing, per annum. Of these, 99.96 per cent had no suspicious betting alerts, meaning that there was an alert on one in every 2,700 sporting events on which betting was offered. From an individual sport perspective, 0.03 per cent of matches were flagged for potential integrity issues in football, or that 99.97 per cent on


which betting activity took place saw no potential integrity issues on IBIA monitored markets. Suspicious betting activity was identified on only 0.02 per cent of basketball matches offered for betting by IBIA members, meaning that 99.98 per cent had no integrity issues identified.


Te study has the most extensive and detailed collection of market information that has ever been assembled and there is simply too much data to cover here. Tose interested are encouraged to read the report, which is now available in Spanish and Portuguese, in addition to the original English version. Te feedback received regarding the report and its contents have been overwhelmingly positive.


While data supply companies are playing an increasingly crucial role when it comes to protecting the integrity of sports, do you think that there is a need for regulation of this sector so that they may operate under a set of global best practice standards?


Te provision and use of sporting event data has become an increasingly important aspect of the regulated betting market, notably driven by global consumer demand for product choice and access. Te security and integrity of that data has correspondingly taken on increased significance. Following discussions with stakeholders, and in acknowledgment of a general lack of formal regulation and licensing in aspects of the data collation and supply chain, IBIA has developed and promoted a data collation process that endorses and verifies a set of minimum data standards.


IBIA believes that this is an effective means of achieving an approach which best serves to protect the integrity of sport, its data, betting markets generated by that data and consumers enjoying those products. No data approach is infallible or immune from potential corruption, but measures can and should be taken to guard against such illicit activity and effective controls can minimise the associated risks. Te IBIA Data Standards is a tool designed to achieve this through a self-regulatory approach.


Major data companies Stats Perform and Sportradar have both passed the auditing process thereby receiving the Data Standards kitemark and have joined the IBIA Data Standards Steering Group, which also involves IMG Arena as an observer. Te first meeting has taken place and discussions have been very positive from an integrity perspective and to delivering joint actions. Sports can also have an important impact in this area by setting clear parameters regarding the sale of their data, and a number of sports and other stakeholders have expressed an interest in engaging with the Steering Group.


Are sporting bodies doing enough to prevent match fixing? What more can they do to eliminate sports betting corruption?


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120