Contributed
In a recently held press event at the Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, dealing with the issue of integrity in sports betting, one key takeaway was – Big Brother is always watching. It was always contested that allowing for betting on sports would affect the integrity of the concerned games. However, with sports betting having been legalized in some states in the US, there is also the concern that anytime there is a new stream of revenue that opens up, someone or the other eventually shows up with the outstretched hand and their demands.
“Integrity” has been an axiom throughout the process of regulation in sports betting as several sports leagues have now demanded for a cut also known as “integrity fee”. However, not a single state that has legalized sports betting has allowed for a concession on such a front.
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Patrolling the borders of New Jersey
Signing up to access sports betting facilities in New Jersey entails that at any time when a user logs on, their geo-location detects where bets are being made. This is done to ensure that one does not use such facilities outside the boundaries of the state. Moreover, one has to keep re-proving that they are within the state limits at periodic intervals.
All the data of the new customers is also forwarded to the anti-terrorism task forces, to ensure that no breach occurs. As per the data of GeoComply a leading manufacturer of geographic location compliance technology, it has been observed that 44% of the traffic that comes for sports betting in the state comes from a two mile radius of the state borders. Further, 72% of the traffic comes from a radius of 10 miles. On the other hand, a great multitude of sports bettors also place punts on the internet, for example at William Hill, one of the oldest bookies in the business, which also has an online casino to its name now.
Facial recognition in casinos
New Jersey was the biggest winner of the Supreme Court judgment that removed the ban on sports betting. This implied that improved security was required. Many sports betting establishments have added an extra level of security that is- facial recognition, which many patrons are not even aware of. Cameras are present to detect any suspicious behaviour of the customers and anything recorded can be submitted to the relevant authorities for their perusal.
The federal law maintains that the highest bet that can be placed anonymously is to be capped at 3000 dollars. But this comes with the issue that someone could place a bet of 100 dollar at a time on several occasions to supersede such a law.
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Co-operation among rival casinos
While it is an open secret that rival casinos compete to attract customers, but when it comes to integrity in sports betting, there is collaboration amongst them. Such a communication even goes on to extend overseas. For example, there was a tennis match where regulators in Europe provided information to the American authorities when they suspected match-fixing.
The authorities have clarified that unless there is any suspicious behaviour on the part of the bettors, their information would be secured and classified. Such would prevent the occurrence of crimes such as money-laundering but also ensure that bettors are aware that they are being watched.