The NHL, the premier professional sports hockey league in the world, will use the FDS to monitor global gaming activity and trends across 550 operators and bookmakers in a bid to detect any potential manipulation of matches.

Sportradar, who are also the exclusive third-party provider of real-time game data in the NHL, will be tasked with overseeing all regular and post season matches.

They will then report and flag any possible fraudulent behaviour to the NHL.

“While we have the utmost confidence in the integrity of our sports and our games, Sportradar’s Fraud Detection System provides an additional layer of security and protection,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.

The company are also reportedly in discussions with the National Basketball Association (NBA) about a future partnership.

According to Bloomberg, Sportradar and the NBA are negotiating over a contract which could be worth as much as $250 million (£189 million/€222 million) over a six-year period.

Sportradar have continually expanded in recent years and now work with several federations and leagues, including UEFA, CONCACAF, the International Ice Hockey Federation, Major League Soccer and the International Basketball Federation.

They also have partnerships with the International Tennis Federation and the Italian Rugby Federation, aimed at tackling match fixing, which can often be a problem in sports where prize money is relatively low.

“Our award-winning FDS monitors over 100,000 matches across 12 sports around the world each year and we are delighted the NHL has chosen this system, that oversees all relevant operators and markets, to bolster its integrity defences,” Sportradar managing director Andreas Krannich added.