Sportradar’s Integrity Report Sheds Light on Match-fixing Trends in 2023

With the advanced application of AI technology, the company has managed to maintain a vigilant watch over the sports betting landscape, analyzing approximately 850,000 events across 70 sports. This comprehensive scrutiny has led to the identification of 1,329 suspicious matches across 11 sports in 105 countries, echoing the persistent challenge of ensuring sports integrity.

Stability in the Face of Adversity

The report, titled ‘Betting Corruption and Match-fixing in 2023’, reveals a steady suspected manipulation rate of 0.21%, equating to one suspicious match out of every 467. This consistency in numbers, when compared to 2022’s findings, signifies the effectiveness of Sportradar’s monitoring systems. Notably, no single sport exhibited a suspicious match ratio exceeding 1%, reinforcing the notion that the vast majority of sporting events, 99.5% to be precise, remain untainted by suspicious betting activities.

The Role of AI in Integrity Services

A significant highlight from the report is the role of Artificial Intelligence in identifying suspicious matches. AI contributed to detecting 73% of these matches, marking a 123% increase from the previous year. This leap underscores Sportradar’s commitment to enhancing its Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS) with cutting-edge technology, although human expertise remains crucial for the accurate interpretation of data.

Soccer, being the most popular sport for betting, unsurprisingly topped the chart with 880 suspicious matches. Basketball and table tennis followed with 205 and 70 matches, respectively. The report also underlines the critical role of account-level betting data, which was instrumental in identifying suspicious activities in sports like volleyball, tennis, and table tennis.

Geographically, Europe witnessed the highest number of suspicious matches, followed by Asia and South America. This global spread highlights the extensive reach of Sportradar’s monitoring efforts.

The findings from Sportradar’s report have not only shed light on the prevalence of match-fixing but have also contributed to significant actions against it. Last year, data from Sportradar Integrity Services led to 147 sporting and criminal sanctions across 10 sports in 23 countries. Andreas Krannich, EVP of Integrity, Rights Protection, and Regulatory Services at Sportradar, emphasizes the vital role of technology and collaboration in combating match-fixing. He asserts, “Continued investment in the development of technology is key to detecting otherwise hard-to-find occurrences of match-fixing.”

Sportradar’s multifaceted approach, which includes real-time analysis of 30 billion odds changes and the collaboration of over 70 betting operators through the Sportradar Integrity Exchange (SIE), exemplifies the company’s holistic strategy to safeguard sports integrity.

Our Comment on the Article

The 2023 integrity report from Sportradar not only highlights the ongoing challenges in combating match-fixing and betting corruption but also showcases the advancements in technology and collaboration that are critical in this fight. The stable detection rates year-over-year reflect the effectiveness of Sportradar’s methodologies, underscoring the importance of continued investment in AI and expert analysis. As the industry moves forward, the insights from Sportradar’s report serve as a reminder of the persistent efforts required to maintain the integrity of sports worldwide.