IBIA hails tennis live scoring data agreement
Tennis governing bodies agree use of live data on $25k prize money matches in deal to preserve in-play markets
Sports betting operators will be able to continue to offer bets based on live data of World Tennis Tour (WTT) matches after an agreement was reached between integrity organisations and the sport.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) reached an agreement on Tuesday over the use of official live data on WTT matches with prize money of $25,000.
The deal was reached in spite of an original recommendation by the TIU to discontinue official live data supply on WTT matches with $15k and $25k prize money over integrity concerns.
Live scoring data is currently available on both sets of matches but would have been discontinued as part of the panel’s recommendations due to the presence of a high number of suspicious betting alerts. The move was opposed by both the IBIA and ITF.
However, following these discussions, all live scoring data on WTT $15k tennis matches will gradually be reduced, before ceasing to be offered by the ITF from the end of 2021.
The agreement only covers live scoring data for in-play betting, meaning operators will still be allowed to offer pre-match betting on $15k matches.
EGR also understands that sports betting operators have agreed to use official data and actively bar the use of unofficial tennis data for $15k matches, provided there is sufficient official data in $25k matches.
As part of this compromise, the ITF has agreed to prioritise the creation of more $25k events to provide a balanced calendar and to deter unofficial data collection at events for which live scoring data have been discontinued.
The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) said the move was “overwhelmingly beneficial” for both operators and integrity advocates.
It revealed that in-in play betting makes up 80% of IBIA member firm tennis markets, rising to 95% at ITF level.
IBIA member firms include bet365, GVC, William Hill, Kindred Group and Betsson Group.
Speaking to EGR, the IBIA said the TIU’s decision to acquiesce was down to the reduction in suspicious betting alerts on ITF tennis matches by sports betting firms following the initial agreement between the IBIA and the TIU.
Over the course of 2019, 72 suspicious betting alerts have been reported in respect of tennis matches, down 40% from those reported during 2018.
Speaking about the downturn, IBIA CEO Khalid Ali said he was encouraged by the impact of recent criminal investigations into match-fixing within the sport, but called integrity an “ongoing challenge” for the industry.
“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,” Ali said.