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A proactive approach is needed to reduce the risk of match-fixing among women’s sport
International Betting Integrity Association, All-In Diversity Project, Entain Flutter, and Stats Perform have today released a groundbreaking study on women in sports, betting and sports. The study is entitled ‘Breaking Barricades: Assessing Women’s Sports, Betting, and Integrity Challenges.
The study was conducted by the German Sport University Cologne, and presented at iGaming Business Live in Amsterdam. The study, conducted by the German Sport University Cologne and launched at iGaming Business Live! It is the first study to examine the characteristics and size of the women’s betting market, and the vulnerability of women’s sports.
Khalid Ali, Chief Executive Officer of the IBIA said, “We’re about to witness one of the most attended and watched women’s World Cups in history. Where soccer leads, other women’s sport are quickly following.” The dramatic growth in women’s sport is an extremely positive development, both for fans and for sports. This creates significant and untapped sports betting opportunities. With increased growth, comes increased responsibility to ensure we are ahead of the game in terms of sports integrity and fighting match-fixing within women’s sport. “There is no place for complacency.”
The study confirms the growth of betting on women’s sports has mirrored that of women’s sports. Soccer leads the market in terms of betting on women’s sports, with an annual growth rate of around 20% since 2020. Tennis, basketball and cricket are next, with annual growth rates exceeding 10% between 2017 and 2022.
The report also analyzes the characteristics of female gamblers. In the past few years, female betting in women’s sport has increased consistently across the five sports studied, with growth rates up to 10% per year. The number of women who bet on women’s football has also more than doubled. Women bet more on women’s sport than men. This shows that there are still untapped opportunities.
Entain’s Corporate Affairs Group Director, Grainne HURST, stated that Entain was delighted to support and fund the publication of this study. This is a significant step in improving our understanding of the trends developing within women’s sports. We are proud of our partnership with SportsAid, and the Pitching In program. We will continue to work closely with organizations in order to promote fairness and honesty throughout all sports competitions.
Alex Rice, Stats Perform’s Chief Commercial Officer, stated that Stats Perform had a long history of investing in women’s sports, and helping rightsholders, teams, and athletes to maximize their potential on and off the field. Understanding women’s sport fans is crucial to achieve this. We’re proud to be a part of this important research.
The study concluded that while corruption is present in women’s sports, it is much lower than in male sports. The experience of the men’s sports has shown that criminals can defraud operators through sports betting by manipulating games and exploiting the vulnerabilities of athletes and sports.
The study includes a number of recommendations for strengthening the fight against match fixing in women’s sports, including:
- Enhancing cooperation and strengthening monitoring between sports governing body, betting operators, and law enforcement agencies.
- Develop tailored and targeted education and communication programs to educate athletes, coaches and staff about the dangers of match-fixing.
- Promoting fair pay and economic transparency for women’s sport to reduce corruption and match fixing.
Ian Devlin is the Sports Integrity manager for Flutter. He said: “We see the popularity of women’s sport continue to grow. Last summer’s European Championship was the largest women’s event by volume for Flutter and a pivotal moment for many European brands.” This has led to a greater demand for us to provide more sports and more markets related to women’s events, starting with the FIFA World Cup. As women’s sport continues to grow, the likelihood of individuals attempting to take advantage of sports-related corruption increases. Flutter takes this area very seriously. Our Betting Integrity Team works closely with sport’s governing bodies and trade associations, such as IBIA to ensure we and the markets that we offer uphold the highest level of sporting Integrity.”
Christina Thakor-Rankin is the co-founder of All-In Diversity. She said, “This study aims to start a dialogue with the betting sector on how they address women’s sport.” By understanding this rapidly changing landscape, we are in the best position to protect customers, sports betting operators and athletes.
A key step in the future is to expand data and do more research and analysis about women’s betting and sports. This will deepen our understanding of match-fixing dynamics and allow us to develop sports integrity approaches that are tailored to women’s sport.
