Sports Betting Is Growing, but Match-Fixing Continues to Drop

Sizable progress is being made in the global battle against match-fixing.

Sports data company Sportradar released Thursday the results of its annual integrity report, finding 1,108 occurrences of suspected manipulation across more than 850,000 monitored events during 2024. That figure is down by 17% from the year before, which then showed a flattening in the amount of suspicious activity. 

The rate of suspected match-fixing is now down to one in 615 events globally, a marked improvement from one in every 467 during 2023. 

The accelerating progress in fighting fraudulent activity in sports owes to several key factors:

• Further improvement in artificial intelligence technology, which continues to play a significant role in detecting competition manipulation, and is now the primary method of monitoring in several major sports including tennis and volleyball 
• Better access to and study of account-level betting data to spot improper movement
• Increased vigilance from various leagues and governing bodies, as well, helping deliver 104 total sporting and criminal sanctions around the role for compromising match integrity

“I see this as a positive, and hope it continues,” Sportradar EVP Andreas Krannich tells Front Office Sports. “It’s only a snapshot in a much larger period of time fighting for sporting integrity, and it won’t mean anything unless we continue it. We have to now train for the next season, so to speak, and stay vigilant in our fight against this cancer.”

The largest amount of suspicious match activity was again in Europe, with 439 of the 1,108 events in question, and soccer repeated as the sport with the most suspected manipulations. That European figure, however, fell by roughly a third compared to 2023. 

Bigger Issues

The Sportradar data arrives as much of the U.S. sports industry went through a major reckoning in 2024 with match-fixing and improper gambling activities. 

Former NBA player Jontay Porter was banned for life by the league last April for several improper activities, including manipulating his own playing availability for betting purposes. Less than two months later, MLB went through a similar situation with infielder Tucupita Marcano, also banning him for life, and suspending several other players for a year.  

Meanwhile, Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, stole more than $16 million from the Dodgers superstar to help fund his illegal gambling debts. He pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud last June and is now awaiting sentencing.