Northwoods League Looks to Sports Betting, Fantasy & In-App Gaming in 2021
Largest North American Baseball League Announces Collaboration with U.S. Integrity
Battle Creek, MI. – In anticipation of its 28th season of baseball, the summer-collegiate Northwoods League has partnered with U.S. Integrity as it seeks to gain approval for regulated wagering in multiple Midwestern states. USI is assisting in the wagering approval process and will monitor all Northwoods League games for potentially nefarious betting-related behavior from match-fixing to game manipulation. In addition to pursuing options for legal, regulated sports betting, the Northwoods League is also looking to engage its fans via a fantasy baseball game and a free-to-play prediction game embedded in the league’s phone app.
“In the past two years, legal regulated sports betting has taken off in 25+ U.S. states,” said Matthew Holt, CEO of U.S. Integrity. “Baseball fans are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to get more engaged in their local teams, and all the Northwoods League’s mobile innovations do that.”
“We are very well positioned to pursue this endeavor with our video and technological capabilities,” said Northwoods League Chairman, Dick Radatz, Jr. “U.S. Integrity has taken a year long process and reduced it to a matter of months. We are looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership.”
In the Midwest, betting on sports is legal in Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. Fantasy sports are legal in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and North Dakota.
“Whether you are playing fantasy or betting on games, adult fans are 8x more likely to watch a game if they have some sort of wager on the event. We are helping to position the league from a data and integrity perspective, and we look forward to Opening Day on Memorial Day,” said Holt.
U.S. Integrity is North America’s leading 24/7 monitoring service, providing the highest level of protection against betting-related fraud and corruption. USI’s goal is to ensure that every sporting competition is fair and transparent. The company partners with some of the largest professional sports leagues and collegiate conferences in the U.S., as well as licensed sports-betting operators and regulators, to ensure sports betting integrity in every play, every game, every sport.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 245 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (MIL). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
