IBIA welcomes the retention of ITF in-play tennis data for betting

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) welcomes the decision by the tennis authorities to allow official live scoring data for International Tennis Federation (ITF) $25k matches to continue to be sold to betting operators. The move reflects discussions between IBIA and the Independent Review Panel (IRP) which saw the IRP’s initial proposal to discontinue live data for all of the ITF World Tennis Tour, comprising $15k and $25k events, limited to $15ks. The sport has agreed to implement that proposal thereby preserving $25k data sales used to create in-play betting products that are popular with many consumers.

Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “In-play betting makes up 80% of IBIA members’ tennis markets and over 95% at ITF level. Retaining live data for $25k matches and setting out an expansion of that tour is an overwhelmingly beneficial move by tennis both from integrity and commercial standpoint. Removing all ITF World Tennis Tour data from regulated operators would have led to the undesirable situation of consumers seeking that product through unregulated channels, with the corresponding loss of market oversight and the ability to detect and punish corruption.

“Protecting the sport and operators against match-fixing is an ongoing challenge. However, IBIA is encouraged by the impact of recent criminal investigations and the allocation of additional resources to the TIU. That has seen a significant downturn in suspicious betting alerts, particularly at the ITF level. It is the responsibility of all stakeholders to continue to work together to maintain that positive trend. IBIA and its members remain committed to protecting the integrity of tennis at all levels and will continue to work closely with the sport to meet that challenge.”

IBIA has released the economic analysis produced by H2 Gambling Capital (see here) which underpinned much of its response and subsequent integrity discussions with the IRP. H2 calculated that there was $650m of in-play betting gross gambling revenue (GGR) on ITF tennis from $18bn of turnover in 2017. IBIA’s Q1-3 2019 integrity reports (see here) highlight that the association’s 72 tennis alerts during that period represent a 40% downturn in the same period in 2018. The Tennis Integrity Unit’s (TIU) reports show a similar downward trend (see here).

The International Betting Integrity Association is the leading global voice on integrity for the licensed betting industry. It is run by operators for operators, protecting its members from corruption through collective action. Its monitoring and the alert platform is a highly effective anti-corruption tool that detects and reports suspicious activity on its members’ betting markets. The association has longstanding information-sharing partnerships with leading sports and gambling regulators to utilize its data and prosecute corruption. It represents the sector at high-level policy discussion forums such as the IOC, UN, Council of Europe and European Commission.