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Bet Anywhere, Anytime: An Analysis of Internet Sports Bettors’ Responses to Gambling Promotions During Sports Broadcasts by Problem Gambling Severity

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Abstract

Promotions for online sports betting during televised sports broadcasts are regularly viewed by millions of Australians, raising concerns about their impacts on vulnerable groups including at-risk and problem gamblers. This study examined whether responses to these promotions varied with problem gambling severity amongst 455 Australian Internet sports bettors participating in an online survey. Results indicated that young male Internet sports bettors are especially vulnerable to gambling problems, particularly if they hold positive attitudes to gambling sponsors who embed promotions into sports broadcasts and to the promotional techniques they use and this heightens the risk that alluring messages contribute to excessive gambling. As problem gambling severity increased, so too did recognition that these promotions have impacted negatively on their sports betting behaviour. Because a plethora of sports betting brands and promotions are now heavily integrated into sports coverage, social marketing efforts are needed to offset their persuasive appeal and counter the positive attitudes towards them that appear linked to excessive gambling amongst Internet sports bettors.

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Dr. Elian Fink who assisted with data preparation.

Funding

This study was funded by the Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney General (Responsible Gambling Research Grant, no number assigned).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, University Drive, Bundaberg, QLD, 4670, Australia

    Nerilee Hing & Alex Myles Thomas Russell

  2. Centre for Gambling Education and Research, Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia

    Matthew Lamont

  3. Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, Latrobe University, Melbourne, Australia

    Peter Vitartas

Authors
  1. Nerilee Hing
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  2. Alex Myles Thomas Russell
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  3. Matthew Lamont
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  4. Peter Vitartas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nerilee Hing.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare no conflict of interest in relation to this manuscript. Authors A and B have received consultancy funds from gambling industry operators and research funds from governments. Authors C and D have received research funds from governments.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Hing, N., Russell, A.M.T., Lamont, M. et al. Bet Anywhere, Anytime: An Analysis of Internet Sports Bettors’ Responses to Gambling Promotions During Sports Broadcasts by Problem Gambling Severity. J Gambl Stud 33, 1051–1065 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9671-9

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