LeoVegas joins International Betting Integrity Association
Stockholm-listed igaming operator LeoVegas Group has joined the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), the sports betting integrity monitoring body previously known as ESSA.
LeoVegas.com will immediately start providing information to the IBIA’s sports betting monitoring and alert system in order to help the IBIA find evidence of suspicious betting activity. The group’s other brands – Royal Panda, BetUK, Pixel.bet and 21.co.uk – will provide their own information in the future, though the IBIA did not reveal a timeline for this.
The operator was originally focused on casino games, but entered the sports betting vertical in 2016, using Kambi's sportsbook technology.
“LeoVegas is another growing internationally focused and multi-licensed company to join the association over the last six months,” Khalid Ali, chief executive of the IBIA, said. “I welcome the company’s investment in, and commitment to, betting integrity and encourage all responsible operators to join our collective effort.
“IBIA occupies a unique and unrivalled position in the global integrity discussion, with a clear focus on protecting its members’ businesses, the integrity of sports events and regulated markets from betting fraud.”
LeoVegas is the fifth sports betting operator to join the IBIA since the rebrand, with Bet on Alfa the most recent sign-up, in October. The IBIA was originally founded as the European Sports Security Association in 2005, before rebranding to just the acronym ESSA in 2013 and then changing its name again in June of this year due to an increasingly global focus.
“We are proud of the rapid expansion of LeoVegas and of our ongoing commitment to provide our customers with a safe and entertaining experience across all of our products,” Hans Uhrus, communications director for LeoVegas, said. “As regulatory developments in Holland, Germany and Brazil show, legislation is increasingly promoting membership of a betting integrity monitoring body to protect consumers and sports.
“IBIA is the gold standard in that field and our membership underlines our desire to provide our customers with a best-in-class service.”
Earlier this month, LeoVegas reported a year-on-year increase in both revenue and operating profit for the third quarter after experiencing growth across most of its core markets. Sports betting made up 9% of the operator’s €88.2m of gross gaming revenue.