Compliance & Regulatory
Esports and match fixing – a tale of an unwanted marriage
The esports industry has gone through a meteoric development over the last years. As the industry is maturing betting on esports matches and tournament is on the rise globally. However, as in traditional sports, this progression goes hand in hand with integrity issues, such as match fixing. Although the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) was established in 2016 with the aim of promoting and facilitating competitive integrity in esports, external stakeholders in the gaming/gambling industry might be able to raise integrity standards further.
Recently Esports Legal News published an article on the allegations SBTC Esports is currently facing regarding, amongst other things, match fixing. Unfortunately there seems to be a wider trend of esports organizations with match fixing related issues, thereby scrutinizing the credibility of the industry. Lacking a centralized governing body, the esports industry has historically struggled with setting harmonized integrity standards preventing match fixing. To combat this issue the ESIC was founded in 2016 with the aim of raising integrity standards. However, amidst concerns regarding the effectiveness of the ESIC, external stakeholders in the sports betting industry may have the key to finding a durable solution.
Match fixing
Though it is a commonly used term in the (e)sports industry, there is no set definition of the term match fixing. In general it includes any act or omission through which the gameplay of an (e)sports event/match is manipulated. The most prominent manifestation is when a team or a player deliberately affects the final outcome of a match, i.e. by scoring an own goal during a football match. However, as betting operators offer bets on a wide array of events during a game, match fixing also happens in less visible ways. Seemingly insignificant events during a match can be fixed as well. This makes match fixing difficult to detect. Players are mostly induced to engage in match fixing by being offered financial games in return for manipulating the gameplay. Match fixing syndicates will offer substantial financial rewards in return for the game to be manipulated.
The current landscape – ESIC
The ESIC, a nonprofit organization focusing on the prevention and prosecution of cheating/match fixing in esports, has served as the industry’s central institution with regards to match fixing related issues. Since then it has sanctioned tens of esports players and coaches for infringement of its regulations. Though the initiative was initially applauded, the ESIC has been facing criticism lately. A lack of funding and concerns regarding the effectiveness have undermined the organization’s credibility. Moreover, the potency of the ESIC is limited as it is only competent to handle cases involving it’s member organizations. This has left stakeholders questioning whether the ESIC is the right institution to raise overall integrity standards.
Raising external integrity standards
Tackling match fixing and raising integrity standards is a clearly a tenacious operation, especially in the decentralized field of esports. Traditionally, eliminating any perverse incentives to engage in match fixing and offering victims a safe way to alert the authorities has proved to be an effective mechanism. Many traditional sports organizations have done this by setting minimum wage standards for athletes, thereby making them more resistant to the financial stimuluses to manipulate a match. Moreover, in football, for example, the players’ trade union FIFPRO offers an app through which players can report match fixing anonymously.
However, these measures are difficult to implement in a harmonized manner due to the decentralized nature of the esports industry. Whilst this organizational model makes the industry more versatile, it makes it harder to set centralized integrity standards. Nevertheless, external stakeholders in the betting industry may be able to offer a solution. The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) offers a monitoring and alert platform which is able to detect manipulations of sports games through data-driven solutions. Once a discrepancy is detected, all sports betting operators are notified and placed bets will be annulled. More than traditional sports, esports is a data-driven industry. Thereby identifying manipulation through data-driven solutions is an effective way to sniff-out manipulations. Annulling bets on games which may be fixed automatically decreases the profitability of match fixing, making it less favorable to engage in.
Therefore, the betting industry, as an external stakeholder, can play an important role in the combatting of match fixing and improving integrity standards. Currently there is only one esports-oriented company accredited by the IBIA, GRID Esports. GRID is a game data platform which collects esports related data for betting operators. Therefore, these betting operators can rely on the integrity of the data submitted by GRID. For now GRID is a lone wolf in the industry. Most betting operators are therefore still reliant on unaccredited data. Lacking a centralized governing body, the improvement of data integrity is a viable way to protect the integrity and secure the longevity of the esports industry. As esports is still maturing, it will take time before integrity standards will be harmonized across the board. However, using the data-driven prowess esports is a first step in the right direction.
