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The Structural Features of Sports and Race Betting Inducements: Issues for Harm Minimisation and Consumer Protection

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Abstract

Minimal research has been published about inducements for sports and race betting, despite their ready availability and aggressive advertising. This paper aimed to document the range and structural features of these inducements, and analyse their alignment with the harm minimisation and consumer protection goals of responsible gambling. A scan of all inducements offered on the websites of 30 major race and sports betting brands located 223 separate inducements which we categorised into 15 generic types, all offering financial incentives to purchase. These comprised sign-up offers, refer-a-friend offers, happy hours, mobile betting bonuses, multi-bet offers, refund/stake-back offers, matching stakes/deposits, winnings paid for ‘close calls’, bonus or better odds, bonus or better winnings, competitions, reduced commission, free bets to selected punters, cash rebates and other free bets. All inducements were subject to numerous terms and conditions which were complex, difficult to find, and obscured by legalistic language. Play-through conditions of bonus bets were particularly difficult to interpret and failed basic requirements for informed choice. Website advertisements for inducements were prominently promoted but few contained a responsible gambling message. The results were analysed to generate 12 research propositions considered worthy of empirical research to inform much needed regulatory reform in this area.

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Notes

  1. All monetary values are reported in AUD. Values provided on the websites in other currencies were converted to AUD at the rates published by the Reserve Bank of Australia on 29 May 2015.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. No Grant Number assigned.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Human, Health and Social Sciences, CQUniversity, Locked Bag 3333, Bundaberg, QLD, Australia

    Nerilee Hing

  2. ORC International, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Kerry Sproston

  3. ORC International, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Kate Brook

  4. Wesley Community Legal Service, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Richard Brading

Authors
  1. Nerilee Hing
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  2. Kerry Sproston
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  3. Kate Brook
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  4. Richard Brading
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Correspondence to Nerilee Hing.

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Conflict of interest

Author A has received consultancy funds from Echo Entertainment and Sportsbet and an honorarium from Singapore Pools for membership of its International Advisory Committee. Authors B, C and D each declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Hing, N., Sproston, K., Brook, K. et al. The Structural Features of Sports and Race Betting Inducements: Issues for Harm Minimisation and Consumer Protection. J Gambl Stud 33, 685–704 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-016-9642-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-016-9642-6

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