The Ultimate Fighting Championship has expanded its partnership with the U.S. Integrity to include using the company’s ProhiBet service.
ProhiBet will monitor prohibited bettor activity, and help safeguard sporting integrity for the mixed martial arts competition. The ProhiBet platform will help monitor those associated with UFC and thus prohibited from placing a wager.
This includes athletes, coaches, employees and officials. ProhiBet will also help monitor individuals on a state-by-state basis to ensure that all state regulation is adhered to given the increasingly complicated landscape in the United States.
UFC partnered with U.S. Integrity back in January, naming the company as its ‘official betting integrity service’. The company monitors betting patterns on a bout-by-bout basis and using data intelligence can flag unusual betting patterns and have operators pause betting pending investigation.
Riché T. McKnight, Executive Vice President & General Counsel of UFC commented: “One of the foundations of UFC’s success is our dedication to embracing regulation and compliance to promote safety and fairness in our sport.”
He continued: “Our collaboration with ProhiBet is another step towards strengthening our integrity controls by helping us to enforce our anti-gambling policy and support the integrity of our sport.”
Matt Heap, Managing Director of ProhiBet added: “We are thrilled to partner with UFC — the combination of ProhiBet’s state-of-the-art encrypted data transfer system and UFC’s dedication to upholding the integrity of sports will undoubtedly enhance the transparency and trustworthiness of sports betting activities.”
Following the Iowa State collegiate sports wagering scandal, there has been a noticeable push on enhancing integrity across multiple state regulators as well as sporting bodies. U.S. Integrity and ProhiBet recently announced partnerships with both the Big 12 Conference and Conference USA to broaden its remit on collegiate football.
Five athletes pleaded guilty to lesser charges of underage gambling in Iowa last week, including expected starting quarterback Hunter Dekkers. The NCAA has not yet announced a decision regarding the athletes’ future participation in college sports. Most of the 12 athletes facing allegations gambled underage by sharing accounts, often with family. The UFC’s partnership with ProhiBet is specifically designed to stop this type of behavior.