Use and Misuse of Regulation in Fighting Betting Related Corruption in Sport – The German Example

Rebeggiani, Luca (2015): Use and Misuse of Regulation in Fighting Betting Related Corruption in Sport – The German Example.

Abstract

Betting related corruption in sports has increased considerably during the last years, heavily driven by the globalization and digitalization of the worldwide betting market. Using recent data by Sportradar, we examine the particular case of manipulation control in the context of betting regulation in Germany. Here, the legislator recently introduced the possibility for private betting companies to legally enter the sports betting market. However, after 3 years by now, none of the planned licenses has been granted to any company, leaving the whole market in a legally un-regulated “grey area”. Instead, further restrictions for many betting types are under discussion (e.g. the ban of almost all live bets), officially motivated by the aim of preventing betting related corruption. Our analysis yields the following results, whose validity is not restricted to Germany: 1) Market regulations causing the growth of illegal/informal/grey betting markets are counterpro-ductive. 2) The delegation of the supervision of betting markets (including fraud detection sys-tems) to an independent authority is recommended. The same applies to the sanctioning of sus-pected cheaters, which should not be left to the sport federations alone. 3) The government should play the central role in fighting betting related corruption. One fundamental tool for law enforcement is the creation of a legal basis for criminal prosecution. Such a sport-specific ele-ment of crime, labelled e.g. “sport fraud”, could be part of a legislation covering many types of sports manipulation, including doping.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Sports betting; sports economics; regulation; corruption
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D73 - Bureaucracy ; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations ; Corruption; L - Industrial Organization > L4 - Antitrust Issues and Policies > L43 - Legal Monopolies and Regulation or Deregulation; L - Industrial Organization > L8 - Industry Studies: Services > L83 - Sports ; Gambling ; Restaurants ; Recreation ; Tourism

References

ALBERS, N./BÖHM, D./REBEGGIANI, L. (2016): Ereigniswetten im Visier der Rechtsordnung, in: Zeitschrift für Wett- und Glücksspielrecht (forthcoming).

BECKER, T./ BARTH, D. (2012): Der deutsche Glücksspielmarkt: Eine Schätzung des nicht staatlich regulierten Marktvolumens, Newsletter 02/2012 of the Forschungsstelle Glücksspiel at the University of Hohenheim.

FEDERBET (ed.) (2015): Annual Fixed Matches. Report 2015, Brussels.

FORREST, D. (2013): Match Fixing: An Economics Perspective, in: M. Haberfeld/D. Sheehan (eds.): Match-Fixing in International Sports: Existing Processes, Law Enforcement, and Pre-vention Strategies, Springer, 2013, pp. 177-197.

FORREST, D. (2015): The big Good Friday football fix of 1915: Man Utd 2 – Liverpool 0, in: The Conversation, April 2, 2015.

FORREST, D./MCHALE, I./MCAULEY, K. (2008): Risks to the Integrity of Sports from Betting Corruption, Report for the Central Council for Physical Recreation, University of Salford.

GOLDMEDIA (ed.) (2010): Glücksspielmarkt Deutschland 2015, Berlin.

REBEGGIANI, L. (2010): Deutschland im Jahr Drei des GlüStV - Reformvorschläge zur Regu-lierung des deutschen Glücksspielmarktes, Report for the German Lotto Association (Deut-scher Lotto-Verband), Hannover.

REBEGGIANI, F./ REBEGGIANI, L. (2013): Which factors favor betting related cheating in sports? Some insights from political economy, in: M. Haberfeld/D. Sheehan (eds.): Match-Fixing in International Sports: Existing Processes, Law Enforcement, and Prevention Strate-gies, Springer, 2013, pp. 157-176.

SPORTRADAR (ed.) (2015): World Match Fixing – The Problem and the Solution, St. Gallen.

T.M.C. ASSER INSTITUTE (ed.) (2015): Die Wahrscheinlichkeiten von Spielmanipulation, Brus-sels.