Riot Games taking steps to improve LoL’s competitive integrity

Riot Games has forged a strategic alliance with Sportradar, a leading sports data and analytics company, to implement comprehensive betting monitoring across all League of Legends competitive events worldwide.

This collaboration represents a significant escalation in Riot’s approach to competitive integrity, leveraging Sportradar’s extensive experience working with major sports organizations including the NBA, NFL, NHL, ITF, and NASCAR. The partnership extends Sportradar’s existing relationship with esports tournament organizer ESL, creating a unified integrity framework across multiple gaming ecosystems.

“As legal sports betting continues its rapid expansion, particularly within the United States market, we commend Riot’s forward-thinking approach to safeguarding their competitive ecosystem,” stated Andy Cunningham, Sportradar executive. “This proactive stance reinforces Riot’s leadership position within the rapidly evolving esports industry.”

The agreement with ESL demonstrates the system’s capabilities, allowing Sportradar to process and distribute real-time match data while employing sophisticated fraud detection mechanisms to monitor betting operators associated with ESL tournaments, ensuring unprecedented levels of transparency.

Esports betting has become an integral component of the competitive gaming ecosystem over recent years, with betting platforms emerging as some of the most prominent sponsors for both organizations and major events. The increasing prevalence of wagering on esports outcomes has simultaneously raised serious concerns about maintaining competitive integrity across tournaments.

Riot’s intervention follows a series of high-profile match-fixing controversies that disrupted the competitive landscape, resulting in disciplinary actions against multiple players and team management personnel. These incidents highlighted vulnerabilities in the existing oversight systems and demonstrated the urgent need for enhanced monitoring capabilities.

Common integrity risks include insider betting, where individuals with privileged information place wagers, and coordinated match manipulation schemes involving multiple participants. The global nature of esports betting creates additional complexity, requiring international cooperation and sophisticated tracking systems.

Match-fixing typically involves individuals placing wagers against one team in a competition and then actively working to influence the match outcome to guarantee successful bets. In response, professional leagues implement sophisticated monitoring of betting patterns surrounding individual matches to identify unusual activity that may indicate manipulation attempts.

Riot is conducting thorough due diligence to both detect potential match-fixing activities and reinforce preventive measures. The company recognizes that maintaining competitive integrity requires continuous improvement and adaptation to emerging threats within the betting ecosystem.

“Our partnership with Sportradar provides essential tools to safeguard our competitive ecosystem—protecting players, teams, and tournaments while delivering premium experiences for our global fanbase,” explained Doug Watson, Head of Esports Insights at Riot Games.

Effective detection relies on identifying betting anomalies such as unusually large wagers on underdogs, last-minute betting surges, or consistent patterns across multiple betting platforms. These red flags trigger deeper investigation into potential integrity breaches.

As a central component of the agreement, Riot Games will obtain access to Sportradar’s specialized Intelligence and Investigation Services Unit. Sportradar will conduct comprehensive evaluations of Riot’s internal policies and procedures to identify potential integrity vulnerabilities.

The technical implementation involves multi-layered monitoring systems that track betting markets across numerous jurisdictions, employing algorithmic analysis to detect suspicious patterns in real-time. The system compares current betting activity against historical data and established benchmarks to identify deviations that warrant investigation.

Successful implementation requires coordination between tournament organizers, team management, and regulatory bodies to establish clear reporting protocols and response procedures when potential integrity issues are identified.

Industry best practices suggest implementing player education programs, establishing confidential reporting channels, and developing rapid response teams to address integrity concerns as they emerge during tournaments.

No reproduction without permission：Game Guides Online » Riot Games taking steps to improve LoL’s competitive integrity How Riot Games partners with Sportradar to combat esports match-fixing through advanced betting monitoring