Suspicious betting alerts were down 16% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2024, the International Betting Integrity Association reported on Wednesday.
The non-profit integrity monitoring body discovered 42 Q3 alerts, down 54% from the 91 Q2 alerts. The Q3 incidents were spread across five sports in 18 countries and five continents, with soccer and tennis racking up the most alerts at 14 each.
Those two sports represented 67% of Q3 alerts.
“The third quarter saw football and tennis register the highest number of alerts, albeit those numbers are in line with those seen in recent years and, in the case of tennis, represent a significant decrease compared to its peak,” Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said.
Europe’s 14 suspicious betting alerts accounted for 33% of the total, once again the leading continent, but that was a six-alert decrease from Q2’s 20 alerts.
Burundi racked up five alerts in Q3, giving the East African nation six total in 2024, the first since 2020.
Esports normalizes
Esports alerts spiked in Q2 after a gambling scandal earlier this year led to 68 counts of suspicious betting activity on a series of eSoccer matches.
Alerts fell from 48 in Q2 to 12 in Q3.
“It should also be noted that esports alerts fell back to more normal levels in Q3, following an increase during Q1 and Q2 that was primarily the result of a linked case,” Ali added
“We continue to work closely with the integrity authorities for those sports, and indeed all sports, where we see suspicious betting, with the aim of detecting and sanctioning corrupt activity to protect sporting events and betting markets.”
Betting big on soccer
Established in 2005, the IBIA’s mission is to monitor and uncover anti-corruption and match-fixing in legal sports betting on a global scale. The organization partners with FIFA, UEFA, the ITIA, the IOC, and gaming regulators to obtain data and publicly report suspicious betting activity.
Along with its findings, the IBIA also included a study from earlier this year on soccer betting markets and products, leading to a $500 billion handle forecast for the sport in 2024. The IBIA also projects a total gross revenue of $46.3 billion this year for soccer.
“Consumers expect access to these core betting markets and any regulatory restriction of these products will inevitably impact onshore channelization,” the IBIA stated in its report.
