Gambling Commission integrity data shows growth in esports reports
Data from April’s summary showed that 34% of betting integrity reports came from betting operators. A further 20% came from sports governing bodies, while 15% came from bet monitoring and data suppliers, and 10% from other regulators and national platforms.
The remaining reports, at 21%, came from other sources including the Gambling Commission’s confidential reporting line, non-Gambling Commission licensed operators, law enforcement agencies and members of the public.
By sport, football received the most integrity reports, accounting for 44% of the total. Tennis received 21% of reports, while esports accounted for a further 20%. Other sports made up 15% of the total reports made.
This differed from the last published snapshot, for September 2019, when 51% of reports were from football, 30% tennis, 5% horseracing and 14% other sports.
The regulator added that reported events in April came from more than 25 non-Great Britain countries.
This marks the first report of its kind since the introduction of a new rule from 1 April, stating that all gambling licensees are required to provide the regulator’s Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU) with details of betting integrity related issues in a standardised format.
The requirement follows amendments made to the Commission’s Licence Condition and Codes of Practice on 31 October, 2020.
In addition to the April integrity snapshot, the Gambling Commission has published its updated Sports and Sports Betting Integrity Action Plan for 2021, which was first produced in 2015 and is updated annually.
The Action Plan outlines Britain’s approach to managing the risks to betting integrity, and sets out how members of the Sports Betting Integrity Forum (SBIF) aim to protect Britain’s reputation for being a safe place to enjoy sports and sports betting.
The 2021 plan builds on the SBIF’s work to date, but priority actions this year will reflect additional risks to integrity brought about by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, as well as changes resulting from the UK’s exit from the European Union.
The SBIF’s website has also been redesigned with a view to making it more user friendly, and to provide a platform where betting integrity related resources can easily be located. Resources include a sports betting integrity training module which had been developed to provide an educational resource for the wider British betting industry.
The Gambling Commission said the SBIU is collaborating with key sporting and government stakeholders to provide integrity support for the rescheduled 2020 UEFA European Football Championship.