The U.S. has largely been insulated from match-fixing and other betting-related corruption, but as sports betting makes its way into more states and leagues, the threat rises.
Sportradar’s most recent annual report found a sharp uptick in match-fixing from 2021 to 2022, but North America accounted for only a small fraction of the total. However, the same factors that make certain European and Asian leagues more vulnerable to corrupt behavior can become more prevalent in the U.S. as legal sports betting spreads.
While individual compromised games — or even quarters or sets — are bad for any sport, the greater threat may be to integrity. If fans are given a reason to believe that outcomes are manipulated for corrupt purposes by players, staff, or officials, the drama inherent to the sport is poisoned — and could take a long time to recover.
The last 20 years have been largely devoid of corruption scandals, save at least one notable exception. The next 20 will require greater diligence to maintain that level of success.
