Sports technology giant Sportradar has issued a comprehensive rebuttal against two high-profile short-seller reports that allege the company maintains significant exposure to unregulated gambling markets.
The firm, which recently expanded its B2B footprint with the launch of Playradar, “unequivocally challenges” the findings published by Muddy Waters and Callisto, labeling them as calculated attempts to manipulate market value.
Undercover Allegations at ICE Barcelona
The most provocative claim came from Muddy Waters, which alleged that its investigators, posing as representatives of a start-up Asian sportsbook, met with Sportradar sales staff at the ICE Barcelona conference.
The report claims that despite being “repeatedly and explicitly” told that the target markets were Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and China (where gambling is largely prohibited), Sportradar staff allegedly “walked us through product offerings tailored to each illegal market, bragged that Sportradar ‘serves everyone’ and offered to introduce us to the Yabo Group.”
The Callisto Findings: A “Misleading” Image
Simultaneously, Callisto published a report suggesting that Sportradar’s reputation as a “force against illegal gambling” is fundamentally flawed.
Through an examination of hundreds of platforms, Callisto claimed to find evidence that over 270 individual platforms, more than a third of Sportradar’s reported client base, are using its products while operating without any license in prohibited jurisdictions.
Verbatim Corporate Rebuttal
In a formal response, Sportradar issued a rebuttal and defended its compliance protocols and ethical standards in their entirety:
“These reports demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of our business and the industry and were authored by short sellers trying to erode shareholder value and profit from stock disruption. Sportradar works exclusively with licensed operators, follows strict global compliance and due diligence standards, and we stand by our independently audited financial statements, risk disclosures and information provided to investors and regulators. We conduct our business with the highest ethical standards consistent with Sportradar’s policies and applicable laws and regulations.”
The conflict highlights the intensifying scrutiny on data providers in the global iGaming ecosystem, where the line between service provision and market enabling is increasingly being tested by financial activists.
