Vince McMahon’s XFL Inks Bet-Monitoring Deal With Genius Sports

(Bloomberg) -- Vince McMahon’s XFL has signed a multiyear deal with Genius Sports that’s designed to protect the fledgling football league from improper sports betting.

London-based Genius Sports, which has similar partnerships with golf’s PGA Tour and soccer’s English Premier League, will help the XFL build a so-called integrity program to guard against fixed games. As part of that, Genius, owned by private equity firm Apax Partners, will offer around-the-clock monitoring of pregame and live betting markets to detect unusual activity.

The eight-team XFL begins play in February, shortly after the NFL’s Super Bowl, with a championship game in late April. The parties didn’t disclose terms of the monitoring deal.

Less than two years after the Supreme Court lifted a ban on sports betting, 19 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws that allow it. Gambling experts say the U.S. will soon become the biggest legal sports-betting market in the world.

The XFL will play during a relatively slow time in U.S. pro sports, with only the NBA and NHL regular seasons in action. Football has long been the most bet-on U.S. sport. According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, football accounts for about 34% of all sports betting within the state. The board doesn’t separate professional and college football, although the NFL is the most visible and valuable U.S. sports league.

During the XFL’s centralized training camp this month, Genius will conduct betting-focused educational workshops with players, coaches and game officials.

The venture is McMahon’s second attempt at football. The original XFL, backed by his World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and NBC, folded after one season in 2001. McMahon, the flamboyant chairman and founder of WWE, is funding the new league personally.

The XFL put most of its teams in NFL cities, including the home of the New York Giants and Jets, whose New Jersey stadium is in a state where betting on sports is legal.

--With assistance from Eben Novy-Williams.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III, Rob Golum

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