Wimbledon chiefs used undercover officers to spot and eject courtside betting gangs looking to gain an edge from inside the courts.
According to the Daily Mail, a source with knowledge of the situation said: “Wimbledon is a Fort Knox of propriety and fairness.
“We go to great lengths to stop people exploiting our sport in any way, including by taking advantage of any unavoidable technical issue to make money.
“It takes a great deal of time, effort and expertise to monitor courtsiders whose activities have increased rapidly with the rise in in-play gambling.
“Rather than simply betting on the outcome of individual matches or who will win the championships, syndicates now gamble the outcome of individual sets, games or even individual points.
“It obviously creates many more opportunities for people to make money by exploiting the system.”
What Is Courtsiding In Tennis?
By definition, courtsiding is the practice of transmitting information from sporting events for the purpose of gambling, or of placing bets directly from a sporting event.
Essentially, it involves exploiting the delay between umpires inputting scores and those scores appearing on live broadcasts. The practice has ballooned in popularity since the introduction of in-play betting with sports betting apps.
With bettors able to place live wagers on sets, games and even individual points, there can be a small window of opportunity. It is believed a number of organised crime and betting syndicates from all over the world send people to tennis events to try and make it pay.
Some have claimed to use result-pinging devices hidden in their shoes. In-play betting now makes up over 75% of all tennis wagers with online casinos and Wimbledon are fully aware of the threat.
Throughout the tournament, its Wi-Fi blocks access to gambling sites and there is also a no-fly zone in place to stop drones watching the action from above.
Additionally, Wimbledon employs a team of undercover spotters in the stands who are on constant lookout for courtsiders while sharing information with other tournaments as they recognise repeat offenders.
Is Courtsiding Legal?
It depends what country you’re in. In the UK, while you’ll be ejected and probably banned from an event for courtsiding, the Gambling Commission has confirmed the practice is not an illegal offence.
However, in Australia it is illegal and you could be slapped with a prison sentence of up to ten years. In January 2014, a man from the UK was arrested at the Australian Open and charged with courtsiding.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
