Although he was one of the young rising stars of the NFL, Calvin Ridley’s career was put on hold after a recent scandal. The NFL announced that Ridley will be suspended from playing for at least one year. The reasoning for his suspension was that the football player was found to have placed bets on American football games, including games in which Ridley’s team was playing. The series of bets were placed over a period of five days during November of last year.
While the scandal involves a US player who had placed bets on American football, it was a British gambling company that played a major role in exposing the professional NFL player. Genius Sports is one of the British companies that decided to cash in on the opportunity to get involved with US sports betting. Thanks to “integrity services” offered by Genius Sports, Ridley’s actions were easily tracked.
Genius Sports Banks on Regulated US Sports Betting
As the US sports betting market has grown exponentially and more states are working towards legalizing mobile sports betting, many international companies have shifted their focus towards the US market. Genius Sports is also one of the foreign businesses that have decided to benefit from the regulated sports betting sector in the US and try to recover from its not so good of a start.
Upon launching its operations as a public company, Genius Sports had its shares declining 74%. The net loss reported for 2021 amounted to $593, with company investments and the cost of going public being the main reasons for the huge loss. Genius Sports, however, decided to join a number of other companies and make a profit from the increasing interest in sports betting in the US.
Rather than offering American punters odds on NFL games and other sports, however, the London-based Genius Sports acts as a middleman, offering US sports and bookmakers the data and back-office services they need to offer punters odds. The shift towards the US betting market had Genius Sports’ revenue surge by 76% in 2021, with the company’s market value reaching $1.1 billion.
NFL Player Caught Making Bets Thanks to Genius Sports’ Integrity Services
One of the features incorporated in the operations of Genius Sports is known as ‘integrity services’ and its main goal is to help regulatory bodies to assess the risk of gambling. In addition to monitoring suspicious behaviours, organising educational workshops, and helping law enforcement, Genius Sports utilizes its integrity services to help the legalization of sports betting in more states in the US.
The integrity services of the company were also what helped the NFL to catch Ridley. This type of feature used by Genius Sports utilizes algorithms to track any unusual betting patterns. Meanwhile, any suspicious bets can also be tracked by information sharing and monitoring of insiders like Ridley. This may include a sportsbook being asked to share account details if the bettor is found to make suspicious wagers or Genius could be working closely on such cases with Interpol.
While Genius did not provide any comments on the case of Ridley, reports in the US inform that Ridley’s case was investigated after a Hard Rock signal was made, prompted by bets made on the company’s app. The said bets were traced back to Ridley, who at the time, was taking a break from playing to focus on his mental health.
- Author
Olivia Cole
