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Tennis chiefs are putting bookmakers ahead of fans by deliberately delaying live scores on their websites to help raise almost £1 billion through data deals.

Sportsmail can reveal that both the ATP and WTA are short-changing supporters by signing controversial contracts which a match-fixing investigation three years ago warned could lead to an increase in corruption.

Under the terms of contracts with data companies agreed between the ATP and IMG, and the WTA and StatsPerform, websites owned or funded by bookmakers are permitted to publish live scores ahead of sport’s official channels in the hope fans will be drawn to them and then be tempted to gamble.

An analysis of last week’s warm-up tournaments for the Australian Open shows that the official ATP and WTA websites are often up to 30 seconds or several points behind commercial operations such as flashscore.co.uk, which is funded by leading online bookies Betfair and bet365.

Sportsmail has learned that this is a deliberate policy, with both sports organisations agreeing to a delay in publishing scores on their official sites in order to facilitate premium content for bookmakers.

As our screen grabs illustrate, the delay leads to tennis fans receiving an inferior service compared to betting customers.

In the quarter-finals of the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne last week, the WTA site was showing Serena Williams serving at 40-30 in the second game of the first set. At the same time, visitors to Flashscore were informed Tsvetana Pironkova was leading 30-0 in the third game.

The tennis authorities were advised to stop selling ‘live-score’ data three years ago by an Independent Review Panel into match-fixing chaired by Adam Lewis QC, which warned of a ‘tsunami’ of corruption at the lower levels of the sport, but have continued to do so.

The ATP signed a 10-year deal with IMG worth £750 million to distribute their data last year, and the WTA have just begun a six-year partnership with StatsPerform as their official data supplier worth around £200 million.

Both companies have sold the information on to third-party clients, including a global network of over 500 bookmakers.

In a statement released to Sportsmail the WTA admitted that their ‘real-time’ score service is delayed to give priority to betting operators without providing an explanation. The issue does not affect Grand Slams such as the Australian Open, as those tournaments are run independently of regular Tour events.

In last week’s Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne, fans following on the WTA website, which boasts of live updates (seen right), were told Serena Williams was serving at 40-30 in the second game of the first set.

But those following the match at the same time on flashscore.co.uk, which is funded by bookmakers and features their branding (seen left), knew she had already won that game and Tsvetana Pironkova was leading 30-0 in the next one, three points later.

“WTA has licenced its live data to StatsPerform to ensure those fans who choose to bet on tennis legally have access to real-time, official WTA scores through licensed betting operators and platform providers,” said a WTA spokesperson.

“We are working on improving the speed of the data on WTA platforms as it is a priority for us.”

Tennis chiefs’ treatment of fans was widely criticised last December when a live-scoring app provided by the ATP and WTA was scrapped at short notice.

The ATP have since launched a new live-score app, but the WTA have yet to do so, leading to complaints from fans and players, including former Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki.

“Since the WTA will no longer have an app, where do people check live scores and tournaments?” Wozniacki wrote on Twitter.

“I like to watch tennis so it would be nice to know what tournaments are happening.”

American player Madison Keys simply tweeted: ‘Booooooooooo’ in response to the joint ATP/WTA announcement.

Wozniacki’s post was supported by replies from many fans furious with the service provided by an organisation supposedly tasked with promoting the most lucrative women’s professional sport.

To compound the issue, subscribers to the cancelled app were advised to go to the WTA website to follow live scores instead, without being informed about the built-in delay. In a joint statement released on December 23, the ATP and WTA said the removal of the app was down to “changes in their data feed”.

Under their deals with IMG and StatsPerform, live updates of ATP and WTA scores are sent directly from the umpire’s chair via a tablet to the data companies, who manage the live-score feed on the official websites as well as selling it on to third parties. Rather than publishing the scores simultaneously, however, the ATP and WTA both agreed to the delay, which is not disclosed on their sites.

“There’s a deliberate delay built in and a clause in the contract stipulating that the scores cannot be published contemporaneously,” a source with knowledge of the deals told Sportsmail. “There is a significant commercial value to having the fastest data, particularly for bookmakers.”

Industry experts have told Sportsmail that the disparity between the ‘live’ scoring on official sources and third-party sites could lead to tennis fans being short-changed if they chose to bet using official data. However, most seasoned punters will use the betting sites.

Tennis generates the third most betting revenue in the UK after horse racing and football and the huge number of matches taking place worldwide makes it vulnerable to corruption, with the Tennis Integrity Agency receiving 77 match alerts regarding suspicious betting activity last year despite a five-month shutdown.

An official report in 2018, the ‘Independent Review of Integrity in Tennis’ said the sport was a ‘fertile breeding ground’ for corruption.

Among several recommendations, it called on the authorities to stop the sale of live scoring data as it exacerbated the potential for corruption by providing more markets.

In a joint statement then ATP chairman Chris Kermode and current WTA chief Steve Simon announced their ‘agreement in principle’ with the package of measures and recommendations proposed by the review panel, but both bodies have continued to sell their data for huge sums. – Mail Online