The Overwatch League and Call of Duty League, and Sportradar, has announced an agreement for a comprehensive integrity program to protect both leagues from betting-related corruption.
Under the terms of the deal,ย Sportradarย will monitor global betting activity related to domestic and international Overwatch League and Call of Duty League competitions organized by Activision Blizzard Esports and will report any potential integrity issues to the company to help safeguard the integrity of the competitions.
Sportradar will also provide both leagues with access, as needed, to its specializedย Intelligence and Investigation Servicesย unit. Further, Sportradar will help educate players on betting integrity risks and rules and will also develop an app to enable players to anonymously report suspected integrity issues. The companyโs Integrity Services support more than 80 of the most prominent US and international sports and esports bodies, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, FIFA and Tennis Australia.
โCall of Duty League and Overwatch League have long taken steps to safeguard the integrity of matches, and working with Sportradar is a step to further reinforce the importance of fair play,โ said Jason Hahn, Head of Strategic Initiatives at Activision Blizzard Esports. โAs our esports activities continue to grow and as fans increasingly engage with wagering on matches, we need to ensure we are doing as much as we can to proactively protect our ecosystem. Working with Sportradar, an industry leader, is important in protecting our players, teams and matches and giving fans the best experience they deserve. We look forward to establishing this relationship with Sportradar and continued expansion of our work together.โ
Sportradar will monitor betting data to identify potential issues such as match fixing, inside information misuse, and other unethical and illegal betting and gaming activities, with the goal of safeguarding the integrity of all Overwatch League and Call of Duty League competitions. The companyโs industry-leading Fraud Detection System (FDS) monitors odds from over 600 betting operators worldwide, utilizes proprietary algorithms to identify anomalous activity and is operated by a team of dedicated integrity analysts that review any unusual betting patterns. If abnormalities and potential integrity issues are flagged, Sportradarโs team alerts the relevant league in real-time of any integrity issues and aids in any resulting investigations.
โIntegrity is a crucial component to the overall success of esports, especially in a time with more betting opportunities available and more tournaments taking place,โ said Andy Cunningham, Head of Integrity Services and League Relations, North America at Sportradar. โWe look forward to working with The Overwatch League and Call of Duty League to fortify their already powerful integrity measures.โ
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