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USL News Release, Thursday, April 7, 2016
World leader in detection and preventing of match fixing to monitor all USL matches
TAMPA, Fla. – The following is the USL’s discipline report for Week 2 of the 2016 season:
The United Soccer League (USL) has announced a partnership with Sportradar, the global leader in understanding and leveraging the power of sports data and digital content for its clients, to proactively safeguard the USL’s nearly 450 matches scheduled for the 2016 season.
Sportradar is the world leader in the detection and prevention of match manipulation and the company’s Fraud Detection System will monitor all regular season and postseason USL matches for any potential manipulations.
Sportradar’s Fraud Detection System monitors the top two divisions in each UEFA member country including the Premiership, Bundesliga, La Liga; AFC member countries, MLS and various other soccer and sports leagues worldwide.
“The USL has more than doubled in size in the last two years to 29 teams and has become the largest soccer division in the world, so our partnership with Sportradar is a natural next step in the evolution of our league,” said USL CEO Alec Papadakis. “We are excited about the USL’s future but we also recognize the importance in being vigilant and protecting our players and teams and the overall integrity of our League.”
Sportradar monitors over 200 soccer leagues and competitions globally and its Fraud Detection System offers the best overview of the global betting markets, ensuring that leagues and competitions can spot concerns while also sending a clear message of commitment to all supporters that the teams they support, the soccer they love is real and the competition is and will remain fierce.
“At Sportradar, we see match-fixing impacting numerous competitions at a range of levels each year,” said Andreas Krannich, Sportradar’s Managing Director of Security Services. “Some are caught unaware, assuming that fixers would never target their competitions. The USL will not be one of these. They have taken stock of global developments and taken a resolute stance. We applaud the USL’s proactivity and we look forward to working with them over the coming months to shore up their defenses.”
ABOUT THE USL: The USL is a vital part of soccer in the United States, on and off the field, and has more than doubled in size since 2014. The USL offers the highest level of competition below MLS on a national footprint with strong local ownership groups in major markets positioned for long-term success. With 29 teams in 19 American states and three Canadian provinces, the USL is the largest professional soccer league in the United States and Canada, and the world. The 2016 season marks the introduction of six teams – Bethlehem Steel FC, FC Cincinnati, Orlando City B, Rio Grande Valley FC, San Antonio FC and Swope Park Rangers KC. The USL’s teams are divided into two conferences – Eastern and Western – with each team playing 30 regular season games. In addition to league play, USL teams compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as well as various domestic and international exhibitions. The USL is the longest-standing professional affiliate member of U.S. Soccer. Every game of the 2016 USL season can be seen live, free and in HD on Match Center at www.USLSoccer.com, with updates from across the league also available on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
ABOUT SPORTRADAR: Sportradar is a global leader in understanding and leveraging the power of sports data and digital content for its clients around the world. The company’s Security Services operation provides the Fraud Detection System (FDS) to several federations, including the AFC, CONCACAF and UEFA. This unique system allows the Security Services team to monitor betting behaviour and patterns worldwide and to identify suspicious activities. Those findings prove invaluable for sports federations and law enforcement agencies that are looking to pinpoint match-fixers. The Security Services also include the Fraud Prevention Service (FPS) through which Sportradar offers education tools and services that have been delivered to leagues and clubs around the world. These have been show to increase awareness of illegal betting and match-fixing among those involved in sport. More than 600 businesses in over 80 countries rely on Sportradar’s data depth and quality services in their daily business. Headquartered in Switzerland, Sportradar has offices in 30 other cities and employs over 1,300 highly experienced staff worldwide. For more information about Sportradar, please visit: www.sportradar.com.
USL PR – John Griffin / Nicholas Murray / Charlie Corr – Tampa, FL – 813.963.3909
Sportradar AG – Alex Inglot – +44 203 695 22 14 a.inglot@sportradar.com