Why Sky Bet was right to stand its ground over Harry Maguire tackles

Subjectivity is a key element of any fan’s enjoyment of their sport. Despite constant efforts to erode subjectivity, it is still what makes the workplace chats on a Monday morning so varied. Some of the more recent efforts to remove subjective opinion include goal-line technology and, more contemporary, VAR. While goal-line technology has been largely welcomed into the professional game, thanks to its complete lack of subjectivity and rapid response times, VAR has only moved the subjectivity to a neutral destination, where hopefully calm and common sense prevail.

This has, arguably, led to even greater debate as people’s interpretations of the rules differ. Essentially, thanks to improvements in technology, football has slowly introduced new adjudication methods into its sport, all with the purpose of making the game fairer.

Betting firms have done a similar thing, new deep data, granular statistics, allied with back-end technology improvements, have allowed operators to increase the array of markets available, not just for each match, but for each player too. While these offer a fantastic level of game involvement for the punter, they can also cause an element of discourse if the fine print isn’t fully understood.

Sky Bet are the latest firm at the centre of a Twitter firestorm after Sunday’s Man Utd v Chelsea game. Utd’s big money signing, Harry Maguire, was the feature of one of the firm’s incredibly popular “Super Boosts”. In seasons past, trying to find an angle at which to create interest in a centre-back would have been pretty futile. Thanks to the sterling work of data providers, even defenders can now be shown to be attractive betting propositions. By “Super Boosting” the price of him making 2+ successful tackles, the firm helped lock in interest and turnover.

️ Bet require tackles?

️ Remember, the tackled player must clearly be in possession of the ball before the tackle is made. If he isn't in possession when the defender wins possession, it would be an interception.

Opta rules > https://t.co/u0LEw1udtw

Good luck. pic.twitter.com/AvGGeYRw3r

— Sky Bet Help (@SkyBetHelp) August 11, 2019

The resulting clamour of discontent for Harry Maguire being awarded zero tackles in a game, which saw him provide seven clearances and four interceptions, has seen the firm at the centre of the worst of social media’s snowball effect. I haven’t seen many people angrily tweeting the Premier League, where the official player stats are on display. Of course, the official league site won’t have taken bets on the statistics, and nothing causes more anguish than the thought of being hit in the pocket.

That said, it is critically important that a firm like Sky Bet adhere to their own rules, which in turn mirror the rules of the official data providers. In this case, they clearly state;

“A tackle is defined as where a player connects with the ball in a ground challenge where he successfully takes the ball away from the player in possession. The tackled player must clearly be in possession of the ball before the tackle is made. It is not a tackle, when a player cuts out a pass by any means.”

The video clips that are being sent to the Sky Bet customer service team show the player completing clearances or interceptions. In each instance the opposition player did not have full possession of the ball, and although this is subjective too, it certainly appears to be correct to my eye. There is debate as to whether tackles, interceptions and clearances should all be bundled together and priced accordingly, though I know that the official providers tend to dictate, certainly in-play, as to which specific statistical markets can be used, and in what way they are to be used.

Sky should stand their ground here. The reason they use Opta is that everyone has heard of them and their data collecting methods are sound.

— Richard (@gamray) August 11, 2019

There are lessons to be learnt here, of course. I’m sure Sky Bet will be the first to recognise that they need to educate the punters as to the different definitions. Bringing the definitions to the front and centre of promotions like this will ease the strain on the customer service desks post-match, while hopefully tempering some of the social media-led vitriol. Some may question the validity of offering a “Super Boost” on a market that has the potential to confuse, but I’d suggest that Sky Bet were right to use the stat to promote the game, and that the next phase of punter education has to begin somewhere. I am sure we will see far more visible rules over stat definitions in future and that has to be a good thing.

Jeevan Jeyaratnam is a senior trader and compiler at player pricing firm Abelson Odds