Americans bet about $165 billion a year, but here’s something Tim O’Brien worries about: When there’s billions of dollars on the line, how likely is it that your favorite sport is going to get corrupted? Gamblers and criminals have been trying to rig games since the Olympics first began – it still goes on all the time if you look for it. Enter SportRadar, where former intelligence operatives, police detectives, journalists, and computer geeks track 500,000 sporting matches around the world every year, on the hunt for potential fixes.
We first published this episode around the Super Bowl as part of a three-part series about the past, present, and future of the multi-billion-dollar sports betting boom, and its impact on games, fans, and society. You can also listen to the other two episodes in the series: about the rise of mobile betting and the future of tribal casinos. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.