The Tennis Racket
January 17, 2016 4:07 PM Subscribe
The Tennis Racket -- an investigation by the BBC and Buzzfeed into match fixing at the highest levels of professional tennis.
If I was a reporter I would fabricate a story about corruption in tennis if there wasn't any to be found just so I could use that title.
posted by Space Coyote at 4:37 PM on January 17, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by Space Coyote at 4:37 PM on January 17, 2016 [16 favorites]
...except it's not the reporters who write the title; often not even the editors, some media (print, web and TV) hire people specifically the write headlines. I once applied for the job and learned I was overqualified.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:59 PM on January 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:59 PM on January 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
The closer you can get to a game where one person can decide the match without any help, the riskier a bet is, corruption or no. Why anyone would bet on tennis ... or boxing/MMA/sumo ... or is beyond me.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:00 PM on January 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:00 PM on January 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
gifs truly are the future of 21st century journalism
posted by BungaDunga at 5:37 PM on January 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 5:37 PM on January 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
an investigation by the BBC and Buzzfeed
Well that's not a sentence I ever thought I'd read.
posted by ZaphodB at 5:49 PM on January 17, 2016 [20 favorites]
Well that's not a sentence I ever thought I'd read.
posted by ZaphodB at 5:49 PM on January 17, 2016 [20 favorites]
Weirdly Buzzfeed is turning into real journalism at roughly the same rate as all of the real news sites are turning into Buzzfeed. Soon we'll be getting our facts from Buzzfeed and our GIF-laced lists of "20 dogs caught acting like cats" from CNN.
posted by mmoncur at 6:18 PM on January 17, 2016 [13 favorites]
posted by mmoncur at 6:18 PM on January 17, 2016 [13 favorites]
Anyone who follows famous wouldn't be surprised to hear this. Verdasco, fognini, tursonov are obvious ones. Dolgopolov gets mentioned but he plays so inconsistent normally it would be hard to say. I think sthakovsky has had a few dodgy games but i hate him so much for his homophobia it may be blinding me...
posted by smoke at 6:56 PM on January 17, 2016
posted by smoke at 6:56 PM on January 17, 2016
Buzzfeed is pretty incredible. I love the face I get for telling people that I think Buzzfeed is pretty incredible because they seem to know them just for the listicles and awful quizzes.
But they're so much more. They have a really interesting book section (if you get past the listicles) and the editor has what he's called a "Bambi Rule." So, say something nice or nothing at all. They also sponsor a ton of AMAZING longform journalism pieces and, , here, you go. (this linked article is not on the big stories page which is interesting). (They also hired Ze Frank to do stuff which is a little sad because I really miss his videos).
This piece was fascinating. I don't watch tennis and I know no one who does but it was intriguing all the way through.
posted by Neronomius at 7:01 PM on January 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
But they're so much more. They have a really interesting book section (if you get past the listicles) and the editor has what he's called a "Bambi Rule." So, say something nice or nothing at all. They also sponsor a ton of AMAZING longform journalism pieces and, , here, you go. (this linked article is not on the big stories page which is interesting). (They also hired Ze Frank to do stuff which is a little sad because I really miss his videos).
This piece was fascinating. I don't watch tennis and I know no one who does but it was intriguing all the way through.
posted by Neronomius at 7:01 PM on January 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
Buzzfeed's foreign investigative journalism, especially in the post Soviet states, is among the best in the world. They are far better than Vice, but also all the traditional players. They bought/woo'd some very good people.
Their longform stuff is frequently great as well.
posted by k8t at 8:23 PM on January 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Their longform stuff is frequently great as well.
posted by k8t at 8:23 PM on January 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
This is great work, but I don't understand why they haven't named names. If they are just reporting what is in the reports then that should protect them from lawsuit I would think?
posted by imabanana at 10:12 PM on January 17, 2016
posted by imabanana at 10:12 PM on January 17, 2016
This is fascinating. I assume Betfair etc are still coming out ahead in the tennis market, but I wonder by how much? What would it take for them to just leave the market/stop allowing bets on tennis? Can they blacklist specific players, and refuse to take bets on them? They seem a lot more motivated to fix this than the tennis federation.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 10:33 PM on January 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by the agents of KAOS at 10:33 PM on January 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Bets are voided on suspicious matches with incongruous amounts of betting. Unfortunately, this only seems to happen when the cartels leak. By keeping quiet and not betting too much they can get off Scot free.
The atps hasty response today - utter denial - was pathetic. There is an undeniable issue here, and all they can do is mewl is about needing evidence. Well what have you done to get it, chaps? Nothing. They don't want to know about it.
There are also issues with betting sponsorships. If tennis gets a reputation for being crooked, no one will want to bet on it, and those companies are, sadly, paying a lot of sponsorship money currently.
posted by smoke at 1:22 AM on January 18, 2016
The atps hasty response today - utter denial - was pathetic. There is an undeniable issue here, and all they can do is mewl is about needing evidence. Well what have you done to get it, chaps? Nothing. They don't want to know about it.
There are also issues with betting sponsorships. If tennis gets a reputation for being crooked, no one will want to bet on it, and those companies are, sadly, paying a lot of sponsorship money currently.
posted by smoke at 1:22 AM on January 18, 2016
I'm having a quarrel with the wife where she says statistics is not sufficient proof. Ever since Levitt and Dubner I think it is and should be taken by the courts as such. Once the method is explained, it is clear.
In the Sumo scandal, as soon as the match fixing accusations were published in Freakonomics, the probabilities returned to normal. Why, you would think?
posted by Laotic at 4:08 AM on January 18, 2016
In the Sumo scandal, as soon as the match fixing accusations were published in Freakonomics, the probabilities returned to normal. Why, you would think?
posted by Laotic at 4:08 AM on January 18, 2016
Ever since Levitt and Dubner I think it is and should be taken by the courts as such.
While I agree that stats are the ways to suss these out, in this case, they're the very definition of circumstantial evidence. You'd need multiple layers of corroborating evidence -- multiple matches, evidence of communication, etc.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:28 AM on January 18, 2016
While I agree that stats are the ways to suss these out, in this case, they're the very definition of circumstantial evidence. You'd need multiple layers of corroborating evidence -- multiple matches, evidence of communication, etc.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:28 AM on January 18, 2016
Deadspin: Novak Djokovic Says He Was Offered $200,000 To Throw A Match
posted by Chrysostom at 11:20 AM on January 18, 2016
posted by Chrysostom at 11:20 AM on January 18, 2016
Love how Deadspin (and everyone else) is making such a big deal out of that, when really Djokovich has been talking about that match since 2007.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 11:40 AM on January 18, 2016
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 11:40 AM on January 18, 2016
"Tennis Integrity Unit"
It would indeed be a crime if this was not snapped up as a band name and/or sock puppet username.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:23 PM on January 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
It would indeed be a crime if this was not snapped up as a band name and/or sock puppet username.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:23 PM on January 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
Players were widely rumoured to be “tanking” – deliberately forfeiting matches by not giving their best efforts – when they were tired or carrying minor injuries and wanted to preserve their energy for more important tournaments.That's an issue, I think, with professional sporting tours that run almost the entire year, where the distribution of income is heavily skewed towards the top end, but the competition still requires old mid-ranking pros and newcomers to show up at the Tashkent Masters or wherever in November. (Golf has a similar calendar, but it doesn't have head-to-head competition.) There's a lot of gruelling but unmemorable tennis being played, where a wodge of cash to take half a week off is a very inviting deal, and that's where the dodgy money will go.
posted by holgate at 4:39 AM on January 19, 2016
538: Why Betting Data Alone Can't Identify Match Fixers In Tennis
posted by Chrysostom at 7:18 AM on January 22, 2016
posted by Chrysostom at 7:18 AM on January 22, 2016
The Guardian has been on the case as well, apparently umpires have been suspended for courtsiding at the behest of betting syndicates. The International Tennis Federation didn't tell the press because 'its Code of Conduct did not require officials sanctioned to be named'.
posted by asok at 1:32 AM on February 10, 2016
posted by asok at 1:32 AM on February 10, 2016
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joeDavydenkoposted by sammyo at 4:21 PM on January 17, 2016 [1 favorite]