A report compiled by Sportradar has suggested that match-fixing in esports is decreasing. The global sports monitoring company noted that 34 matches were flagged as suspicious in 2025, down from 41 the previous year.
Matches with suspicions of match-fixing made up just 0.03% of the 100,000 matches that Sportradar monitored last year. That is far less than many other sports, with soccer having the highest percentage of suspicious matches at 0.31%, followed by basketball at 0.29%.
Esports had one of the lowest rates, along with table tennis, at 0.03%. In its report, Sportradar noted, “The suspected match-fixing rate across all sports decreased marginally—from one in every 608 matches in 2024 to one in every 709— and over 99.5% of global sporting events remained free from suspicion.”
While esports experienced a decline in the number of matches flagged, basketball, tennis, table tennis, and cricket all saw increases. Sportradar said, “This broadening of activity highlights how match-fixing continues to expand across a wider range of competitions and disciplines.”
There were notable scandals in the NBA and NCAA basketball last year, leading to indictments against several players, coaches, and bettors.
Education Impact
While noting the overall decline in suspected match-fixing, Sportradar said, “global match-fixing is becoming less centralised but more complex.”
It added, “Improved enforcement and education are reducing incidents in established markets, while new patterns are exposed in emerging ones. Maintaining this momentum will require coordinated international vigilance and innovation across all stakeholders and sports.”
The company has partnered with Riot Games to deliver education programs to reduce match-fixing in esports. It partners with a range of organizations across different sports, tailoring its programs to each sport’s unique integrity risks.
It also collaborates with the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) to investigate any potential match-fixing cases. ESIC partnered with several new gambling companies to increase its monitoring of events, including crypto casinos Rollbit and, most recently, Stake.
Some Match-Fixing Cases From Last Year
Sportradar said there were 9 recorded sanctions in esports. That matches up with the number of players listed as sanctioned on ESIC’s site.
Three players were handed lifetime bans, including StarCraft II competitors Xue “Firefly” Tao and Jinhui “Jim” Cao. Their match-fixing dated back to 2024, when Jim allegedly paid Firefly to deliberately lose matches.
Other incidents from last year include the suspension of the Swedish CS2 team Northern Lights. ESIC suspended all five members of the team, with one player admitting the side had engaged in match-fixing.
Frank “fraaank” Issal stated, “We used to win/lose depending on what we had decided before the match.”
ESIC also suspended Team Senza (previously Rosy) over accusations of betting misconduct.
Association With Match-Fixing Can Derail Careers
In another case, Riot Games suspended Valorant player Seungmin “ban” Oh for engaging with individuals who proposed match manipulation.
This would not have been flagged in Sportradar’s report, as the player ultimately did not agree to fix any match. However, Riot said that merely entertaining proposals or engaging in discussions related to match-fixing constitutes a breach of its rules.
In another case, Counter-Strike Major finalist Nicholas “Keoz” Dgus accused his organization kONO.ECF of fabricating match-fixing allegations to avoid paying his salary.
The team denied it intentionally withheld payment, but did ask the player to take a polygraph test after accusations of match-fixing surfaced.