Sports betting integrity alerts spiked globally in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, especially in eSports.
The International Betting Integrity Association announced an 80% year-over-year increase as 90 suspicious alerts were reported in eight sports across 25 countries in this week’s Q2 release.
48 of the reported alerts came from eSports, primarily stemming from a single case that included 68 counts of suspicious betting activity on a series of eSoccer matches between Q1 and Q2.
“The situation is being monitored closely and heightened vigilance advocated as we seek to work with stakeholders to investigate,” said IBIA CEO Khalid Ali. “While the increase in alerts may understandably draw attention, it should be noted that eSports saw a significant reduction in annual alerts across IBIA’s membership in 2023.”
Detection and protection
The IBIA, which works with sports leagues including FIFA, UEFA, ITIA, more than 125 sports betting brands, and gaming regulators to monitor suspicious activity, said alerts were down 3% from the first quarter.
Traditional soccer accounted for 16 of the total Q2 alerts while 12 cases were reported in table tennis. Combined with eSports, those three sports made up 84% of the alerts.
“The case again highlights the importance and effectiveness of customer account monitoring in the detection of suspicious betting and the protection of sporting events, consumers, and regulated betting markets,” Ali said.
Tennis had the next highest number of alerts with nine. Badminton had two reported alerts, while handball, padel, and boxing had one each.
Framework and regulation
Europe led all continents with 19 alerts, six of which stemmed from Polish table tennis. Europe’s Q2 cases were up from four alerts in Q1 but down 39% year-over-year.
Eleven alerts came from Africa. South America finished with five, while four came from Asia and three from North America.
The Q2 release included a study on Brazil, which will offer legalized, regulated gaming beginning in 2024, and found that the nation is expected to turn over $34 billion from offshore betting and create $2.8 billion in tax revenue by 2028.
IBIA also asked other Latin American markets to use similar sports betting frameworks and regulations as Brazil.
