Short seller reports on Sportradar expose gaps in India’s illegal betting crackdown

Sportradar Group AG, the Swiss-headquartered sports data and integrity company listed on the Nasdaq, faces serious allegations. Short sellers Callisto Research and Muddy Waters Research have accused the firm of knowingly enabling illegal online gambling in India and several other jurisdictions through its technology infrastructure, data feeds, and commercial partnerships.

The report comes at a time when the Indian government has notified the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025. The report is based on an extensive investigation that includes an undercover sting operation at the ICE 2026 gaming conference in Barcelona, in-code forensic analysis of dozens of sportsbook websites, and interviews with fifteen current and former Sportradar employees across multiple geographies. 

Its findings carry significant implications for Indian regulators and enforcement agencies, particularly as it identifies multiple operators actively servicing Indian users using Sportradar’s data and odds infrastructure, despite online sportsbooks being explicitly illegal in the country.

India has remained a prohibited market for online sports betting at the national level, and since 2022, the government has blocked over 1,500 offshore gambling websites and applications. Yet, the report suggests that these enforcement actions have not prevented continued access to such platforms, many of which appear to rely on Sportradar’s backend systems.

In a press statement, Sportradar stated, "Short reports issued today contain several factual inaccuracies about Sportradar, and we unequivocally challenge these assertions. 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." 

It should be noted that Sportradar has previously been associated with International Cricket Council, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to safeguard the integrity of both the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women’s Premier League (WPL).

India Named as a Target Market at ICE 2026

A key component of the investigation involved undercover interactions with Sportradar’s sales team at the ICE 2026 conference in Barcelona. Investigators posing as founders of a start-up sportsbook explicitly stated that they intended to target markets such as Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and China, all of which ban online gambling. According to the report, the sales team not only entertained these plans but also demonstrated readiness to support India as a market, despite its similarly illegal status.

The report claims that a company executive outlined product offerings tailored to these restricted markets and stated that Sportradar “serves everyone,” even offering introductions to known black-market operators. The white-label sportsbook platform demonstrated at the event was configured in simplified Chinese, with Thai and Vietnamese language support expected to go live by mid-2026. Muddy Waters further states that its forensic evidence identifies India, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and China as active jurisdictions where Sportradar-linked operations are present.

Stake.com: A Top Customer Operating in India

Among the most significant India-specific findings is the role of Stake.com, an Australian-owned crypto sportsbook disclosed by Sportradar as a top-five customer during its 2025 Investor Day. A former employee cited in the report estimates that Stake generated between €25 million and €30 million annually for Sportradar, potentially making it one of the company’s largest global clients.

The report alleges that Stake continues to operate in India with a localized interface and accepts deposits in Indian rupees, a clear violation of Indian law. While the platform has geo-fenced itself in Australia, where it faces regulatory restrictions, it has not implemented similar measures in India. The report argues that this reflects a deliberate business decision rather than a technical limitation, enabled in part by Sportradar’s ongoing provision of data and services.

Dafabet: Banned in India, Still Linked to Sportradar

Dafabet emerges as another major India-linked operator in the report. According to a former Sportradar sales executive, Dafabet generated approximately €10 million annually for the company, accounting for around 10 percent of its Asian revenues and making it potentially its largest client in the region. Investigators identified a dedicated India-facing clone site, sports.indiadafa.com, which shares a unique 32-character client identification code with Dafabet’s primary platform, confirming a direct technological link to Sportradar.

This India-facing platform carries Sportradar and Betradar branding within its backend code and is accessible in multiple Asian languages. Its terms of use explicitly acknowledge gaming licence laws, suggesting awareness of regulatory violations. Dafabet had already been flagged by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2022 for routing illegal betting proceeds through disguised transactions such as online footwear sales. It was subsequently banned by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 2023. Despite this, the report claims Sportradar continued servicing the operator, with in-code evidence post-dating enforcement actions.

According to a former employee cited in the report, internal responses to controversies involving clients were often limited unless there was direct reputational damage to Sportradar itself, raising questions about compliance oversight.

India Touted as High-Growth Despite Prohibition

The report highlights what it describes as a contradiction in Sportradar’s public disclosures. In 2022, the company reported 275 percent growth in India, even as CEO Carsten Koerl publicly described grey and black markets as “totally irresponsible.” The same earnings presentation also cited 265 percent growth in Brazil.

Despite the prohibition on gambling and betting in India alongwith state-level legislations, the report alleges that Sportradar continued to expand its presence in the market through operator partnerships.

In a separate exchange cited in the report, the company’s investor relations team reportedly stated that risk disclosures related to legally uncertain markets had been removed because India had prohibited sports betting. Muddy Waters challenges this position, arguing that prohibition does not eliminate risk if revenues from illegal activity persist.

Fonbet and Leon.bet: Mirror Sites and India Access

Additional operators identified include Fonbet, a Russian sportsbook, and Leon.bet, both of which are described as having India-facing operations. A former Sportradar sales executive told investigators that Fonbet operated a site called Batery, which allegedly contained Betradar javascript linking it to Sportradar systems. Fonbet was estimated to generate around €20 million annually for the company.

Leon.bet, meanwhile, was found to be accessible across India and other Asian markets through mirror domains such as leonbet11.in. The report notes that this site shares the same Sportradar client identification code as the main platform, confirming a direct relationship. Investigators were able to register accounts, deposit funds, and place bets on the platform.

The report also highlights that these operators often lack licences from major regulatory jurisdictions such as the UK or Malta, underscoring their offshore and unregulated nature.

1xBet Case Highlights Enforcement Gaps

The report references 1xBet as a particularly significant case. Banned across multiple jurisdictions including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine, the operator has nevertheless targeted Indian users.

Four former Sportradar employees confirmed its association with the company, estimating that it generated between €25 million and €35 million annually in fees, making it one of Sportradar’s largest global clients.

In India, enforcement actions by the Enforcement Directorate have led to the attachment of Rs 18 crore in assets linked to 1xBet, with total seizures reportedly reaching Rs 37 crore. These actions demonstrate that Indian authorities are capable of pursuing financial enforcement against illegal betting networks, though the report suggests upstream service providers remain largely outside the scope of such action.

How the Technology Supply Chain Enables Access

A central theme of the report is the technical architecture that enables illegal betting platforms to operate in India. Sportradar supplies data and services not only to direct clients but also to API providers, resellers, and white-label platforms. These intermediaries, which account for an estimated 20 percent of the company’s revenue, can extend access to smaller, unlicensed operators targeting restricted markets.

According to the investigation, many of these intermediaries do not require proof of licensing or regulatory compliance from their customers. This creates what the report describes as a “backdoor” into Sportradar’s data ecosystem, allowing offshore operators to access live odds, match trackers, and streaming services without a direct contractual relationship with Sportradar.

This layered structure makes it difficult to trace accountability and complicates enforcement, particularly in markets like India where operators frequently shift domains and infrastructure.

What This Means for India

For Indian regulators, the findings raise several urgent concerns. First, blocking websites has had limited effectiveness, as operators routinely launch mirror sites under new domain names. Second, while agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation have taken action against illegal operators, the report raises the question of whether upstream technology providers should also come under scrutiny.

Third, the report underscores how illegal platforms actively target Indian users through localized interfaces, rupee deposit systems, and dedicated India-facing domains. This suggests a level of market-specific strategy rather than incidental access.

Finally, as global regulators increasingly examine the role of business-to-business suppliers in enabling offshore gambling, India may also need to expand its regulatory approach. A comprehensive framework could require oversight not only of consumer-facing operators but also of the technology providers and data ecosystems that support them.

With India continuing to be one of the largest illegal online gambling markets globally, the allegations against Sportradar are likely to intensify regulatory attention on both international service providers and the broader digital betting infrastructure.