SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has released its Q1 2023 Integrity Report, revealing 40 instances of suspicious betting activity identified by its membership, which represents nearly 50% of all commercial online betting worldwide and over $137 billion in sports betting turnover.
The report highlighted the critical need for effective integrity solutions in Latin America, of importance for Brazil, and the significant role that IBIA’s regulated operators play in detecting and deterring potential manipulation.
The 40 incidents of suspicious betting during Q1 involved nine sports across 22 countries on five continents. Football had the highest number of reported alerts globally, with 15 football alerts making up 38% of all alerts in Q1.
Tennis alerts, meanwhile totalled 12 in Q1 2023, reflecting a decrease of over 50% compared to the average quarterly figure in 2022. Spain emerged as the country with the highest number of alerts in Q1, with eight alerts matching the total number of alerts on Spanish events throughout 2022.
IBIA CEO Khalid Ali commented on the findings, stating, “IBIA’s monitoring and alert network provides the most comprehensive, robust, and detailed intelligence on suspicious betting activity globally.
“It utilizes detailed customer-account data that is only available to IBIA and its members and covers nearly 50% of all regulated commercial online betting. By harnessing those collective resources, we are able to deploy a protective shield around IBIA operators, resulting in fewer attempts to corrupt our members compared to non-members.”
The Q1 Integrity Report also provided a targeted analysis of alerts in the Latin American market, with 105 suspicious alerts reported across the region during 2018-2022.
Brazil was the primary source of alerts (31%), followed by the Dominican Republic and Mexico (10%), and Argentina and Peru (9%). Football accounted for 63% of alerts in Brazil, with tennis following at 21%. In total, there were 33 suspicious alerts raised by IBIA members in Brazil during this five-year period.
Khalid Ali emphasized the importance of a well-regulated sports betting market to combat sports betting-related match-fixing, saying: “All relevant stakeholders – betting operators, policymakers, regulators, and sports – have an important role to play to ensure that Brazil enjoys the full benefits of a dynamic and competitive regulated sports betting market while reducing the risks of match-fixing.”
According to H2 Gambling Capital, an independent authority on global gambling market data, the Brazilian sports betting market grew by 44.4% from 2021 to 2022, reaching BRL 4,506m (approximately $940m) in gross gambling revenue (GGR). It is projected to reach BRL 9.3bn (about $1.9bn) in GGR by 2027, marking a 105% increase.
The IBIA’s Q1 2023 Integrity Report serves as reminder of the importance of robust integrity solutions and collaboration between stakeholders to protect the sports betting industry from corruption, in which the “rapid growth of the Brazilian sports betting market, it is vital to prioritise integrity measures and ensure the long-term sustainability and credibility of the industry.”
