Athletes Unlimited chooses Sportradar to protect integrity
Athletes Unlimited, which operates women's professional basketball, volleyball, softball and lacrosse leagues in the United States, has entered into an agreement with Sportradar Integrity Services to provide services to detect and prevent manipulation at its competitions.
Athletes Unlimited selected Sportradar Integrity Services after a 'competitive selection process', allowing the data provider to use its Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS) to track betting patterns and identify suspicious patterns.
Earlier this year, Sportradar Integrity Services entered into a multi-year agreement with the Canadian Hockey League to provide training and betting monitoring services. During 2021 Sportradar Integrity Services detected 900 suspicious matches in world sport, with managing director Andreas Krannich noting that the number of suspicious sporting events increased in October.
There are high expectations for the league, as hockey has actively entered the sports betting horizon at the betting shops, as you can see here.
Sportradar will also provide educational services to league athletes, including webinars, on match-fixing. It will also conduct an 'integrity audit' of Athletes Unlimited leagues, which began in March 2020, and help Athletes Unlimited investigate any threats to the integrity of their events.
"We are thrilled to partner with global industry leader Sportradar as we continue to expand our betting platform for our fans," said Nicole Pavlak, senior director of special projects at Athletes Unlimited. "We are committed to creating a legitimate and secure experience that will help us increase interest in our sports leagues while maintaining the integrity of our game."
Jill Exley, Sportradar's director of partnerships for North America, said the agreement will help protect the integrity of Athletes Unlimited's tournaments as the league grows.
"By choosing Sportradar as its integrity partner, Athletes Unlimited is taking an important and proactive step in protecting its brand and business as its competitions continue to grow and generate more and more fan interest," she said. "We look forward to supporting them with our industry-leading integrity products and services and being part of their exciting journey as they revolutionise the way women's professional sport is organised and perceived by fans."
During 2021, Sportradar's Integrity Service detected 900 suspicious matches in global sport, and over the past 17 years, more than 6,900 suspicious matches.
