iGaming Business magazine In-Play Focus 2018 | Page 10

In-Play Focus 2018
“We won’t cover matches if we get the feeling we
can’t trust a source. We have a dedicated internal
fixtures team who are responsible for checking
the quality of all fixtures. The team investigates all
matches with a risk potential, and if there are any
suspicions, we simply won’t cover those games.
Quality measurements like these are important.”
Using some of the most advanced technology
in the world, together with robust quality-control
processes, Sportradar’s fixtures production has
earned ISO Certification. An ongoing commitment
to quality across all services, including the
management of scouts, fixtures and the gathering
of in-play data, is what assures clients ranging from
the biggest sporting federations to global betting
operators and media companies, as well as state
authorities and regulators.
With the data partnerships we have, the integrity
protection goes beyond the certainty of getting
fixtures direct from the official source,” says Berkant.
“With the International Tennis Federation (ITF),
for example, we actively monitor performances of
the chair umpires on a match-by-match basis, report
this to the ITF and, where there are any performance
issues, we simply don’t use the data for betting
coverage. Protecting our clients is the clear priority.
“With our advanced network-based technology,
we have a lot of tools available, such as GPS tracking.
We also make and store audio records of each
38 | iGamingBusiness | Issue 109 | March/April 2018
match in other sports to check that noise levels
are consistent with the match data.”
In reality, the quality-control process is end to
end, from Sportradar’s perspective. It starts from
the very beginning at the scout recruitment and
training phases, which need to be as rigorous as
possible to guarantee the integrity and reliability
of the data collected by the scouts.
“There are very strict requirements for those
who apply to become scouts,” explains Andrea
Perra, Sportradar’s associate director of Live
Data production.
“Ninety-nine per cent of all applicants fail to
get through the selection process, whether for
quality or integrity reasons. It’s important to be
very careful in selecting those who become part
of our network.
“And once on board, we have a rating system
in place that applies both to our scouts and the
creation of fixtures. This means even after a scout
gets through selection, we continue to monitor
them by giving them a rating according to their
ability. This provides us with a ranking of each
scout and ensures we can always select the best
scout for each match. It also acts as a natural
incentive system for our scouts, so they are always
pushed to give us the best performance because
they know they won’t get assigned to future
matches if they don’t.”
Berkant Elieyioglu is
managing director of
the Live Data division at
Sportradar, which focuses
on the rapid collection of
data from venues around
the globe for betting and
sports media products.
Andrea Perra is
associate director for
Live Data production
at Sportradar. His role
is to support the growth
of Sportradar’s Data
Scouts unit.