Sports data firm Sportradar and League of Legends developer Riot Games have announced a partnership to help safeguard match integrity.
Sportradar Integrity Services will monitor the global betting activity taking place around both domestic and international League of Legends esports competitions organised by Riot Games and report any potential integrity issues to the company.
Sportradar is also providing Riot with access to its Intelligence and Investigation Services unit.
The companies will work together to review the esports organiser’s in-house integrity policies, procedures and future educational programs for pro players.
“The competitive integrity of our sport is of the utmost importance for Riot Games. This partnership enables us to protect our players, teams and competitions and continue to deliver a best-in-class product to our fans.”
Doug Watson, Riot Games
“Through this partnership, Riot Games is bolstering its capabilities by implementing an effective and innovative integrity program,” said Andy Cunningham, Head of Integrity Services and League Relations, North America at Sportradar.
“With legal sports betting expected to grow over the next several years, especially in the US, we are encouraged by Riot’s proactivity, as it looks to maintain and further establish its leadership position in the esports space.”
Doug Watson, Head of Esports Insights at Riot Games, added: “The competitive integrity of our sport is of the utmost importance for Riot Games. As our sport continues to grow, it’s important that we monitor developing trends and ensure we have the necessary mechanisms in place to account for shifts in our industry.
“This partnership with Sportradar enables us to protect our players, teams, and competitions and continue to deliver a best-in-class product to our fans.”
Sportradar currently monitors more than 300,000 sporting matches around the world each year. It supports several sports bodies around the world including FIFA, the NBA, MLB, NHL and the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
