A fresh report has emerged alleging that the sports data and betting company Sportradar maintains business relationships with hundreds of illegal gambling operators, some of which appear to operate in Iran and Russian-occupied Crimea. The findings, compiled by the activist financial research firm Callisto Research, claim to have identified over 270 unlicensed betting companies offering services such as sports betting, virtual gaming, and cryptocurrency casinos that display Sportradar’s branding and tools.
Share price slump following allegations
Sportradar AG, which is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, saw its share price drop by as much as 30 percent on Wednesday following the publication of Callisto’s report. The stock eventually closed the day 23 percent lower than at the start of trading. Callisto Research has disclosed that it holds a short position in Sportradar stock, meaning it stands to profit if the share price falls.
Separately, another short seller, Muddy Waters, claimed on Wednesday that members of Sportradar’s sales team had indicated the company intended to target illegal markets. Short sellers often produce reports alleging business failings or misconduct in an attempt to trigger share price declines that they can trade on.
Sportradar’s integrity role and denials
Sportradar generates revenue through distribution deals that allow it to both serve and monitor the gambling industry. Its integrity arm oversees betting markets on behalf of major sports governing bodies and leagues, including Fifa, Uefa, Major League Baseball, and the NBA, alerting them to potential match-fixing or spot-fixing. Sportradar has been Fifa’s integrity partner since 2017, monitoring over 600,000 matches, with a contract extension until 2031 covering the next two men’s and women’s World Cups.
The company insists it works exclusively with licensed betting operators that pay taxes in their operating territories and provide customer protections, neither of which applies to black-market operators. The majority of unlicensed operators identified are based in the Caribbean island of Curaçao or Anjouan in the Indian Ocean.
A former Sportradar employee is quoted in the report as stating that deals with unlicensed operators account for approximately one-third of Sportradar’s revenue, which amounted to €1.2 billion last year. Sportradar has dismissed all allegations from Callisto and Muddy Waters, describing them as an attempt to disrupt its share price.
Company response
Sportradar declined to answer detailed questions from the Guardian but issued a statement asserting that it works exclusively with licensed operators and upholds the highest ethical standards. “A short report issued today contains factual inaccuracies about the company, and we unequivocally challenge these assertions,” the statement read. “The report demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of our business and the industry and was authored by a short seller trying to erode shareholder value and profit from stock disruption.”
A Sportradar source added that the company continuously audits sportsbooks for intellectual property infringement and scans the internet to capture and investigate breaches, taking immediate action when any contravention of its terms and conditions is detected.
Sanctions compliance concerns
Callisto’s report alleges that Sportradar and its betting arm, Betradar, have deals with hundreds of illegal operators, some of whom trade in countries sanctioned by the US. Any involvement with unlicensed operators in Iran and Russia could raise questions about whether Sportradar is complying with sanctions imposed by the US, the UK, and the European Union.
The report includes screenshots that appear to show Betradar virtual sports games on Berrybet and Betfido, Persian-language betting websites that allow users to deposit via Iranian payment providers. Berrybet also provides instructions on using an Iranian crypto exchange called Nobitex, which has been linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in a US Senate hearing.
Sportradar insists it complies with US sanctions that would prohibit dealing with the Iranian market. Its Code of Business Conduct and Ethics states that “any indication” of a connection to Iran should result in a commercial relationship being placed “on hold”.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in March 2022, Sportradar announced it was suspending all new investments and client relationships in Russia to ensure compliance with international sanctions. However, Callisto claims that several Russian-market platforms have been launched since that date that purport to use Sportradar products. Examples include Drexel Casino, launched last year on the Russian black market, which claims to operate Nsoft slot games developed by Sportradar’s wholly owned Bosnian games studio Nsoft. Additionally, 2xWinner was launched last year offering Betradar virtual sports games, and Lep Casino was set up in 2024, appearing to offer Nsoft-developed games. The website of Bet-M, a Russian sportsbook launched in 2025 that previously held the name SportradarLLC, also appears to display a Sportradar domain among its sources of information.
Links to UK illegal casinos
Callisto has also uncovered evidence appearing to show Sportradar content visible across multiple brands operated by Santeda International, a secretive company that, as the Guardian reported earlier this month, is fuelling the rise of illegal casinos in the UK. Santeda’s unlicensed casino products include Rolletto, Velobet, Goldenbet, and Mystake, which show signs of Betradar branding. The Betradar games are identifiable by the company logo and distinctive game-specific icons, while Roletto’s apparent use of Sportradar’s widgets to provide customers with sports data is evident from Roletto’s source code. Sportradar’s website states that operators wishing to use its widgets require Sportradar’s approval of the domain involved.
Callisto’s report states that it has shared information with multiple North American and European gambling regulators, including the UK Gambling Commission, three of whom have already begun an assessment of its findings regarding Sportradar.
