Genius Sports has become an Associate Member of the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) as part of a partnership.
The integrity technology services company and the integrity monitoring not-for-profit will collaborate on a global sports betting integrity information sharing and wider anti-match-fixing partnership. Genius Sports and IBIA will share suspicious betting activity information from their respective monitoring and intelligence platforms as well as access to certain technological resources and integrity reports.
The companies say the partnership provides the potential for collaboration on wider anti-match-fixing activities across the world.
Genius Sports is a partner of more than 150 sports leagues and federations worldwide, including the NFL, the English Premier League and the PGA Tour. It provides these leagues with services including 24/7 bet monitoring and reporting, education tools and intelligence solutions.
“Cooperation and the sharing of information are vital pillars to safeguarding the global sports industry from the threats of match-fixing and betting-related corruption,” said Simon Martyn, director of integrity and rights enforcement at Genius Sports. “Our partnership with the IBIA will provide us and our partners with greater transparency over global betting patterns, helping to identify, manage and prevent any integrity threats.”
IBIA is a body that describes itself as “run by operators for operators” with the aim of protecting regulated sports betting markets from match-fixing. It represents more than 50 betting companies that operate in excess of 125 sports betting brands around the world and account for more than 50% of the global online sports betting market.
Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, added that the partnership, “brings together two leading global players in the sports technology and betting integrity environments with a clear focus on protecting sporting events from betting-related corruption.” He added that Genius Sports is a valuable addition to the IBIA particularly given, “the breadth of its sporting and integrity relationships across North and South America, which will assist IBIA’s operational expansion across those regions.”
Partnership comes amid heightened integrity concerns
In its Q1 2024 report, IBIA detailed 56 suspicious betting activity alerts during the quarter. It said that its alerts contributed to the investigations and sanctioning of 21 clubs, players and officials in 2023, up 40% from 2022.
Concerns over sports betting integrity have increased in 2024, in no small part due to high-profile cases such as Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter being banned for life by the NBA for his involvement in betting on NBA games and influencing his own performance to ensure wagers cashed. San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was also recently banned for life by MLB for betting infractions.
Speaking on a panel session on sporting integrity at SBC Summit North America last month, IBIA Head of Global Operations Matt Fowler and fellow experts stressed that integrity monitoring is a ceaseless, collaborative effort. He noted that “the more forward-looking sports and leagues” work in close partnership with the likes of IBIA and Genius Sports to protect their athletes, teams, and fans.
Check out our full write-up of the recent Integrity in Sports panel here.
