The question in a fantasy sports player’s mind today is “Am I playing on a platform which offers fair gameplay”?

Fantasy sports users pay an entrance fee, assemble teams and win based on players performance in real games. Points are managed by the fantasy team’s manager and a league commissioner is responsible for managing the overall league. The losers blame bad luck for their loss however challenges could also be the reason losers lose their stake.

Unsuspecting bettors are duped as mostly online challenges leave no trace and authorities are completely unaware about their occurrence. The integrity of fantasy sports has concerned stakeholders from a couple of years. New York Times published an article in Oct 2015 where a DraftKings employee was found guilty of releasing data and using it for an unfair advantage.

Common challenge types in fantasy sports

Sock Puppet challenges: Involves usage of fake identities to artificially inflate liquidity in fantasy sports. These fictitious identities are usually made by site owners to give a false impression of high activity and unsuspecting bettors bet against made-up users. This helps the site owners in a dual way:

1. They show high activity on their site/platform.
2. Winning pool money is under their direct control and it operates as per their whims and fancies.

Pump and Dump challenges: Fabricated facts to give the false appearance of credibility and profitability of a fantasy sports league. This task is accomplished by computer-controlled bots. False news such as key player injury, false weather forecasts contribute to value fluctuation due to mass incorrect information dissemination.

Data Scout challenges: Data scout is a filter through which all information related to the sport must pass, data scouts login information in real-time on the site from the actual location. They act as the only link between the game and the virtual world. There have been instances where data scouts are manipulated and insiders place a bet on an event that has already happened.

Ghost Games: These challenges are based on the concept that information flow can be manipulated and/ or controlled. In such challenges, data scouts are asked to make a dummy game and enter it in the system. Though such challenges are rare, they have caused severe losses to bettors in the past in one-off exhibition events during offseasons and semi-pro leagues.

Who is responsible for challenges in fantasy sports?

Employees with access to data, player information, bettor information are in a position to easily manipulate the odds in their favour. As they are virtually no fraud control mechanism evidence of misuse can hardly be gathered.

The vulnerability of the fantasy sports industry

Unprotected bet deposits

Unprotected bonus funds

Funds susceptible to unauthorized withdrawals

Inability to access funds if needed

Unfair information circulation

Usage of software scripts to automate tasks

Opaque system

Unprotected user information

Mutable contests

Users want an informed choice option which is secure and transparent in fantasy sports.

The fantasy sports industry is striving to protect the integrity and boost the credibility and it has been suggested that it should be more streamlined. This is on the cards but as speculations are it may take a few years to bring it into practice.

Is there any technology which can ensure that users enjoy a fair play experience until such regulations are in place?

Yes, Blockchain.

What is Blockchain Technology?

The blockchain is a cutting edge technology which makes fantasy sports more transparent and accountable. It will help track fraudulent entries, verify the authenticity of bets and make fantasy sports tamperproof.

Blockchain removes the problem of trust issues by enhancing transparency in the fantasy sports industry. Blockchain uses a decentralized system based on co-ordinated independent nodes, thereby not giving any particular person a centralized advantage in the process. A network of nodes verifies the information by consensus ruling out the possibility of undetected fraud. Blockchain also allows users to be connected to a global network thereby boosting the transparency of the gaming industry.

Blockchain technology will help to identify and assess malicious patterns. Tracking of all operations would be easier due to immutable data records. Blockchain will also be a channel of verifiable randomness in fantasy sports.

Benefits of Blockchain Technology

Here are some of the benefits of blockchain technology that you should know before implementing it in your software solutions:

Security: Blockchain is considered to be highly secure because of its decentralised networks and co-ordinated nodes that don’t allow a single person to be responsible.

Fraud Control: Since the data is stored in the form of numbers, it can’t be easily hacked. Also, the data can be easily recovered anytime. 

Access Levels: This allows users permission to access each node and thus permitting the authority to anyone on the network. 

These are the major benefits of using blockchain technology. 

Proven Use cases of Blockchain across Industries

Well, of course blockchain has many benefits and here are some user-compelling use cases of blockchain.

Supply Chain Management

Problems that supply chain management firms face is transparency. It is challenging for the supply chain managers to ensure product authenticity as consumers receive counterfeit products sometimes. Blockchain is a proper solution when it comes to the transparency of the product and its authenticity through it’s decentralized networks. Blockchain helps in tracking information about the product based on different filters including the product from the state of the product to its location, time and much more. 

Digital Identity

In today’s world digital identity has become very crucial for one’s safety. Blockchain helps in maintaining an online record of information owing to an individual or a company. Users are allowed to store their personal information in an encrypted digital hub. Blockchain helps users in controlling their online data and the consent in which it is being used. 

Healthcare

Healthcare is a sector that needs a lot of improvement and blockchain technology can be an ultimate remedy for the same. The major challenges healthcare systems face is that patients don’t have their previous health histories which makes it challenging for doctors to rightly treat the patients. With blockchain, it will have all individuals’ health record maintained in a digital network to make healthcare better. It will also enhance the supply chain in healthcare as a lot of fake medicines are circulated due to which people have been suffering. So, blockchain can be a good cure in the problems of the healthcare system.  

So, these are the major sectors where blockchain have been doing miracles and there’s a lot to come. 

Blockchain use cases in iGaming 

Let’s dig deep into blockchain sports:

Sports Betting Blockchain

Blockchain plays an important role in sports betting. Wagers are the ones who are mostly benefited with this. Blockchain saves the database which is authenticated by the user and anyone on the network. Private sportsbooks usually don’t provide the data when it comes to reporting an incident thus creating trouble for the wagers and bookmakers. Blockchain will eradicate this problem but keep it all transparent for everyone. 

Casino

Similarly, for casino gaming, blockchain proves to be an asset as the transactions and user identities are all saved on the blockchain. This ensures a higher level of security to both the casino owner and the people.

Blockchain Fantasy Sports 

Blockchain has already been implemented by many crypto fantasy sports platforms and fantasy crypto apps so as to maintain the integrity of the game. Keeping information on the blockchain ensures that there is complete transparency and user experience fair gameplay from all the aspects of fantasy sports. 

Blockchain Implementation for Fantasy Sports Platform

Fantasy sports modules can be linked with smart contracts which will help in fair execution of the processes like scoring rules, winner determination and much more. This ensures that the scoring parameters cannot be tempered by anyone in the future, not even by the fantasy sports platform operator himself. 

All the financial transactions like entry fees and winnings withdrawal can be done using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. This helps in reducing challenges, immediate settlements, drastically lower fees. The biggest benefit of implementing cryptocurrency is that it opens your fantasy sports platforms to the world as cryptocurrency is free from any government oversight and is not bound by the exchange rates, interest rates, transactions charges or other charges of any country. So, it can be used at international level transactions with ease.   

Blockchain has also tapped into market intelligence and is now being used to provide users with correct game-based information based on “Proof-of-Skill” consensus algorithm. To sum up integration blockchain technology with fantasy sports will help in maintaining transparency and security of the industry in a decentralized manner along with providing the users with a fair game experience.

About GammaStack

GammaStack is known for delivering blockchain-based iGaming solutions. We build solutions that are secured and robust and fits the industry needs. Our solution engineers develop state-of-the-art features that enable users to have a safe gaming experience. With our 8+ years of iGaming experience, we have helped growing startups and well-established businesses to thrive hard and climb the ladders of success.