Sporting events and sports betting have gone hand in hand ever since the Greeks devised the first Olympics, the Romans held their first chariot races, and the Chinese kicked a ball in the first game of Cuju. And no matter how many times sports betting has been deemed illegal over the years, punters have always found a way to make it interesting. We just love to place bets on the outcome of an exciting sporting event. So much so, in fact, that these days sports betting accounts for at least 70% of the gambling revenue worldwide – we’re talking billions of euros. With such insane amounts of money flowing through the bookies every year, it’s not surprising that the industry would attract the attention of criminals looking to make some easy money through match fixing.
More Bets More Fixes
The advent of online gambling has not only led to a massive increase in the number of people placing sports bets, but also in the number of sporting events that can be bet on. There has also been a change in the way bets can be placed. In the past, it was only possible to bet on a football game via a land – based bookie, and the bets on offer were win, lose, or draw. Nowadays, punters can place bets on any number of factors, such as how many goals will be scored in the first or second half, or which player will score, or which player will get sent off. Venues have gone online, even online casinos offer sportsbook products. It’s very easy to start betting online. Almost any of the online casinos that accept PayPal makes it possible to deposit quickly and start betting without delay. Players can also place bets while a game is in play. Punters can also place bets on games within leagues that would normally fall under the radar. And it’s in these smaller games that match fixing can go unnoticed.
The Whys and Wherefores
Match fixing (and race fixing) is more common than any football fan would care to believe. After all, most fans love their game to the point of madness and would never wish to see their team cheat their way to a win. But for some people, it’s all about the money. These people know that if they place a guaranteed bet at the right moment, when the odds are low, then they’re going to make a fortune. And the only way to guarantee a bet is to fix a match.
Match fixing is accomplished in any number of ways. The most common is to pay-off the referee, but sometimes match fixing can involve players, managers, and club members. Up until the early 2000’s it was impossible for bookmakers to offer truly accurate odds on minor league games. This made it easier for match fixers to throw a game without drawing too much attention to themselves. However, in 2001, a company called Market Monitor created a software tool by the name of Betradar that could accumulate and assess data from hundreds of bookies worldwide. Using this data, Betradar could provide bookies with more accurate odds on a vast selection of matches – saving them both time and money. It wasn’t long before the team at Market Monitor realized that their software could also be used to detect suspicious gambling patterns in live sporting events.
The Rise of Sportradar
In the 2005 Hamburg vs Paderborn match fixing scandal, a referee (Robert Hoyzer) was paid off by members of the Croatian mafia to throw the game in favor of Paderborn. The crime came to light after several other referees came forward to testify that they had been approached by Hoyzer to fix other games. It was at this time that Carsten Koerl, Market Monitor’s CEO, realized that Betradar could have red-flagged the sudden upsurge of bets in favor of Paderborn midway through the game, just before the referee sent off Hamburg’s star striker with a dubious red card and then went on to award Paderborn two penalty kicks. There was little to suggest that Paderborn had any chance of winning prior to Hoyzer’s actions. Clearly, the bets were placed because whoever placed them knew what Hoyzer was up to.
The German Football Association, suitably embarrassed by the scandal, worked with Market Monitor to produce the Fraud Detection System using the Betradar software. Market Monitor is now known as Sportradar and their software is now responsible for monitoring bookmakers in over 100 different countries. Huge amounts of data are processed on a daily basis in order to calculate odds and detect unscrupulous behavior. The Sportsradar team monitors approximately 375 football games a day, as well as a huge array of other sporting events. They calculate odds using data that includes past performance, current team players, injuries, weather conditions, and game location. The data is then displayed on a graph that also displays real-time odds during the game. Should the real-time odds suddenly veer off course for no discernible reason, such as an in-game injury, or a change of player, then the team will investigate the possibility of match fixing. Since their launch in 2009, Sportradar has detected 4,145 cases of match fixing. But the fight to weed out corrupt players and officials, as well as career criminals is ongoing.
