U.S. sports betting organisations behind formation of new integrity non-profit

U.S. sportsbook operators on Tuesday announced the formation of a new national non-profit organisation to help monitor integrity and fight fraud as the country’s new sports wagering market expands.

Titled Sports Wagering Integrity Monitoring Association (SWIMA), the new body will partner with state and tribal gaming regulators, law enforcement and other stakeholders, according to a report from the Reuters news agency.

The report notes that SWIMA It is the first such group in the United States and has been formed with the goal of ensuring “…a  safe and secure betting environment for consumers across the country,”

The orgnaisation has appointed George Rover, a former New Jersey assistant attorney general and gaming regulator, as SWIMA Chief Integrity Officer.

In a statement Tuesday Rover said the body is taking shape as more and more states are legalising, regulating and taxing sports betting after the U.S. Supreme Court in May overturned the restrictive federal PASPA legislation.

Sportsbooks, leagues and regulators already do their own fraud monitoring, looking for odd betting patterns, abnormalities, insider activity and other suspicious data, he noted.

SWIMA will let member sportsbook operators from any state submit information about suspicious wagers to a central hub and alert regulators in many states, not just their own.

“The key is to ensure that sportsbook operators are able to connect,” Rover told Reuters, saying that the organisation expects to be operational within the next ninety days.

Rover revealed that SWIMA received advice and assistance, and is modelled on, the European integrity group ESSA, and that SWIMA will share information to identify potential fraud with that body.

SWIMA’s board of trustees includes  Stephen Martino, MGM Resorts International’s chief compliance officer and a former state regulator in Maryland and Kansas, and former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones, now Caesars Entertainment Corp’s executive vice president of public policy and corporate responsibility.

So far, member operators, or companies with affiliated licensees, include MGM, Caesars, William Hill PLC, DraftKings and FanDuel Sports Betting Group, a unit of Paddy Power Betfair PLC .Also involved are 888 Holdings PLC, Bet365 Group Ltd., Golden Nugget Inc., Hard Rock International, Resorts Casino Hotel and Tropicana Atlantic City.

Sportsbook operators will fund the group, which will work with risk management experts and gaming regulators to identify suspicious activity and alert members.

Sara Slane, senior vice president of public affairs for the American Gaming Association, characterised SWIMA as “an important milestone” that shows “the industry’s commitment to upholding integrity across all facets of a legal, regulated sports betting market.”

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