tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/sports-betting-6670/articles
Sports betting – The Conversation
2024-03-22T12:31:14Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/226092
2024-03-22T12:31:14Z
2024-03-22T12:31:14Z
Why March Madness is a special time of year for state budgets
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582647/original/file-20240318-24-4tudw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C6%2C4390%2C3045&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Feeling lucky?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SportsBetting-ThingstoKnow/d07b68af393548588b8a646d5cdd79e9/photo?Query=sports%20betting&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1985&currentItemNo=2">Wayne Parry/AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>March Madness – the time when the <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/watch?cid=ncaa_mml_nav_men">best men’s</a> and <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/womens-di-championship?mml=1&cid=ncaa_mml_nav_women">women’s college</a> basketball teams challenge each other – is a made-for-television spectacle <a href="https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2023/04/ncaa-national-championship-ratings-record-low-uconn-sdsu-cbs-mens/">watched by millions</a>. While <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-03-08/march-madness-history-comprehensive-guide-mens-tournament">March Madness has been around for decades</a>, one of the tournament’s biggest changes happened in 2018, when the <a href="https://www.archerlaw.com/en/news-resources/client-advisories/landmark-u-s-supreme-court-decision-paves-the-way-for-legalized-sports-betting">Supreme Court struck down the ban on sports betting</a>. </p>
<p>Since then, legal sports betting has skyrocketed. Americans <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/resources/aga-commercial-gaming-revenue-tracker/">made US$120 billion of legal sports bets</a> in 2023, according to the American Gaming Association, which promotes gambling. In 2024, <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/39730969/estimate-projects-272b-wagers-ncaa-basketball-tournaments">the group predicts</a> Americans will place <a href="https://www.vox.com/2024/3/18/24102300/march-madness-sports-betting">$2.7 billion of legal bets</a> on March Madness alone.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bu.edu/questrom/profile/jay-zagorsky/">I am</a> a <a href="https://www.bu.edu/questrom/">business school</a> professor fascinated by <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-march-madness-and-the-nonprofit-that-manages-the-mayhem-93202">March Madness</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/market-for-illegal-sports-betting-in-us-is-not-really-a-150-billion-business-96618">sports betting</a>. Studying sports betting has shown me <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-gambling-be-the-secret-to-saving-when-rates-are-so-low-57961">how valuable it is</a> for states short on cash. Unfortunately, it also has significant drawbacks, especially for <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/help-by-state/">gambling addicts</a> and their families. </p>
<h2>Why lawmakers love sports betting</h2>
<p>As of March 2024, <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/">38 states allow</a> some form of sports gambling, and six more are debating the issue. State lawmakers are interested in sports gambling because they have a fiscal problem. State spending over time has <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/state-and-local-direct-general-expenditures">increased in both absolute</a> and <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/state-and-local-direct-general-expenditures-capita">per-person terms</a> after <a href="http://businessmacroeconomics.com">adjusting for inflation</a>.</p>
<p>While state spending is increasing, state revenue from so-called “sin taxes” has flatlined after adjusting for inflation. <a href="https://www.lung.org/research/trends-in-lung-disease/tobacco-trends-brief/overall-tobacco-trends">People are smoking</a> and <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/353858/alcohol-consumption-low-end-recent-readings.aspx">drinking less</a>, reducing <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/state-and-local-tobacco-tax-revenue">revenue from cigarette</a> and <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/state-and-local-alcohol-tax-revenue">alcohol taxes</a>. Even <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/lottery-revenue">lottery revenue has flattened out</a> after growing strongly for decades.</p>
<p>Increased spending combined with a reluctance to raise taxes has led to a push to find new sources of revenue. That <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/are-states-betting-sin-murky-future-state-taxation">makes sports betting an appealing</a> option to politicians.</p>
<h2>The statehouse always wins</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/march-madness-basketball-sports-betting-rcna143773">Billions of dollars are wagered</a> on sports each year. More than 90% of the money bet goes to paying out winning gamblers. Gambling operators keep the rest, which they share with the states. The percentage kept, called the hold rate, has been <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/111012/analysis-2023-us-sports-betting-hold-trend/">steadily climbing over time</a>, with 2023’s <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/CY-2024_CGRT_v2.pdf">national average at 9.1%</a> of the money bet.</p>
<p>State governments now collect <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/02/legal-sports-betting.html">about half a billion dollars each quarter</a>, or about $2 billion a year, from sports gambling. That’s roughly one-fifth of that 9.1%.</p>
<p>If gamblers bet around $3 billion on March Madness, then states will pocket over $50 million dollars in extra revenue just from a three-week basketball tournament.</p>
<h2>The ugly side of sports betting</h2>
<p>Gambling is wonderful for state revenues and <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/39563784/sports-betting-industry-posts-record-11b-2023-revenue">gaming-company profits</a>. However, it has <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/gambling-addiction-million-white-paper-b2322452.html">a dark side</a>: While many people enjoy gambling, <a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-americans-are-problem-gamblers-so-why-do-so-few-people-ever-seek-treatment-197861">millions of Americans have a gambling problem</a>. </p>
<p>Studies suggest <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-014-9471-4">between 1% and 2%</a> of adults fall into this category. In Massachusetts, where I teach, a 2018 survey found that about 2% of adults were already problem gamblers, and <a href="https://www.umass.edu/seigma/sites/default/files/Seigma-GamblingHarm-Fact-Sheet-F2-2018%20copy.pdf">a further 8% were at risk</a>.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, the number of calls to the <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/about-the-national-problem-gambling-helpline/">National Problem Gambling Helpline</a> lasting more than a minute <a href="https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/national.council.on.problem.gambling.ncpg/viz/NationalProblemGamblingHelplineDashboard-IncomingTraffic/IncomingTraffic">has increased sharply in recent years</a>. While this doesn’t mean that problem gambling has become more common – among other issues, correlation isn’t causation – the increase very closely matches the <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/general/news/u-s-sports-betting-here-is-where-all-50-states-currently-stand-on-legalizing-online-sports-betting-sites/">steady rollout of online sports betting</a> across the U.S.</p>
<h2>Two possible policy solutions</h2>
<p>Betting on sports was illegal before 2018. <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/illegal-sports-betting/">This forced gamblers</a> to either bet with a bookie or an offshore site. Betting with a bookie before 2018 was a relatively slow process. Gamblers typically needed to pay for their bets upfront with cash and ran the risk their bookie would be arrested or shut down.</p>
<p>Today, <a href="https://theconversation.com/sports-betting-how-in-play-betting-features-could-be-leading-to-harmful-gambling-new-research-177872">in-play or live betting</a> is legal and almost instantaneous. Bettors sitting on their couches at home can make multiple types of bets, such as which <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/mavericks/news/bad-beat-kristap-porzingis-missed-layup-cost-a-man-76000-dallas-mavericks">player will make the first shot</a> in a basketball game. In business terms, sports gambling went from extreme friction to a completely <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2019/06/09/are-you-providing-a-frictionless-customer-experience">frictionless experience</a>.</p>
<p>To reduce the harms of sports betting, I propose two ways to reinject friction into the system. The first is to prevent <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/sports-betting/">credit cards from being used for online gambling</a>. While not every state and bank allows credit cards to fund a sports betting account, many do. Those credit cards that allow it often treat gambling payments as a <a href="https://www.citizensbank.com/learning/what-is-a-cash-advance.aspx">cash advance, which is very costly</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news/article/gambling-on-credit-cards-to-be-banned-from-april-2020">U.K. banned credit cards for remote gambling</a> in 2020, noting that people who used credit cards to gamble were <a href="https://consult.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/author/consultation-on-gambling-with-credit-cards/supporting_documents/Print%25252520the%25252520whole%25252520consultation%25252520%25252520gambling%25252520with%25252520credit%25252520cards.pdf">disproportionately likely to be problem gamblers</a>. <a href="https://ministers.dss.gov.au/media-releases/13411">Australia has also banned</a> online bets made with credit cards. A few U.S. states, <a href="https://www.wfmj.com/story/50551277/pa-lawmakers-introduce-bill-limiting-payment-options-for-online-gambling">such as Massachusetts and Tennessee</a>, have also instituted these sorts of bans, but most have not.</p>
<p>The second idea, which I prefer, is to <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-case-for-cash-a-counterpoint-to-cashless/id1464022779?i=1000634760222">revert to common practice before 2018</a> of using cash to bet. The idea is simple. Anyone with an online gambling account would need to prefund their account with cash. Winners would never have to stop gambling.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bags of cash and printout of a March Madness schedule are seen on a police evidence table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In this 2006 file photo, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office presents evidence used to arrest 10 men in a sports betting ring. New Yorkers can now legally bet on March Madness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-brooklyn-district-attorneys-office-presents-evidence-news-photo/526086920">Ramin Talaie/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Losers, however, would be forced to temporarily stop betting when their account runs out of money. Needing to take a break to go to a bank or simply pull money out of your wallet and hand it to someone would give people a chance to think about what they’re doing instead of being stuck in the <a href="https://dolby.io/blog/revolutionizing-microbetting-in-sports-with-real-time-streaming/">moment of a bet-bet-bet mindset</a>.</p>
<p>In theory, people could deposit cash into their accounts at any of the <a href="https://www.naspl.org/faq">roughly 223,000 locations across the country that sell lottery tickets</a>. To implement this idea, however, the federal government would need to change a law. <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-44">Since 1955</a>, it has imposed a <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-44/subpart-C/section-44.4411-1">special yearly tax of $50 on each person</a> who accepts bets for profit. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-44/subpart-B/section-44.4402-1">The law</a> <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopice99.pdf">exempts charities and state lotteries</a>. This tax doesn’t raise much revenue already, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes393019.htm">since so few people are subject</a> to it. It also reduces employment, as well as gambling companies’ interest in allowing in-person prefunding of accounts.</p>
<p>If you’re watching March Madness and betting on the tournament, I hope you win. But even if you don’t, at least your state government will.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
When the US Supreme Court legalized sports betting, states were quick to get in on the action. But as lawmakers grow reliant on taxes from betting, what do they owe problem gamblers?
Jay L. Zagorsky, Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy and Law, Boston University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/220641
2024-02-09T13:33:00Z
2024-02-09T13:33:00Z
Ads, food and gambling galore − 5 essential reads for the Super Bowl
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574506/original/file-20240208-18-ge9cxl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=203%2C54%2C4074%2C2881&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Christian McCaffrey and the San Francisco 49ers will try to stop the Kansas City Chiefs from winning their third Super Bowl in five years.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/christian-mccaffrey-of-the-san-francisco-49ers-rushes-news-photo/1976854646?adppopup=true">Michael Zagaris/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Sunday in Las Vegas, the Kansas City Chiefs will be looking to win their second straight Lombardi Trophy, while a San Francisco 49ers victory would give the team its first Super Bowl <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXIX">since 1995</a>, when <a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/Y/YounSt00.htm">Steve Young</a> was under center.</p>
<p>I didn’t get a pass to media day, so I didn’t get a chance to ask Chiefs head coach Andy Reid about how he tends to <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nfl/article-12961001/Chiefs-coach-Andy-Reid-mustache-FREEZES.html">his mustache</a>.</p>
<p>But my colleagues and I were able to ask an all-pro lineup of scholars to write about a range of football-related topics, from the partisan food divide to the numbers behind the biggest gambling bonanza in league history.</p>
<h2>1. Flag, you’re it</h2>
<p>The Pro Bowl, the NFL’s version of the all-star game, usually gets scant attention. That’s because it happens the weekend before the Super Bowl – absent many of the stars playing in the big game – and the players seem most concerned about avoiding injuries, not winning the game.</p>
<p>A year ago, league officials decided to shake up the annual showcase. It would no longer be a tackle football game. <a href="https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-announces-the-pro-bowl-games-to-replace-tackle-game-with-flag-football-skill">It would be a flag football match</a>. The thinking went that if the league’s stars didn’t have to tackle one another, they might play harder, be more likely to showcase their athleticism and, importantly, have more fun. </p>
<p>As West Virginia University sociologist Josh Woods explains, <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-flag-football-one-day-leapfrog-tackle-football-in-popularity-222349">the NFL’s promotion of flag football is a big deal</a>, particularly for an emerging sport that’s somewhat obscure outside of Florida, Georgia and New York, where roughly 80% of high school flag football players live. Its inclusion in the 2028 Summer Olympics will only further bolster its profile.</p>
<p>But Woods points to a gender divide and a political divide that could end up clouding the sport’s future.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/could-flag-football-one-day-leapfrog-tackle-football-in-popularity-222349">Could flag football one day leapfrog tackle football in popularity?</a>
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<img alt="Young man runs holding a football and waving his finger mid-stride." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574505/original/file-20240208-24-e030ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574505/original/file-20240208-24-e030ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574505/original/file-20240208-24-e030ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574505/original/file-20240208-24-e030ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574505/original/file-20240208-24-e030ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574505/original/file-20240208-24-e030ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574505/original/file-20240208-24-e030ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill runs for a touchdown in the first quarter of the 2024 NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando, Fla.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tyreek-hill-of-the-miami-dolphins-and-afc-reacts-as-he-runs-news-photo/1985984027?adppopup=true">Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>2. X’s, O’s and Z’s</h2>
<p>In 2011, former NFL cornerback Sam Shields was a rookie playing for a Green Bay Packers team that had made the Super Bowl. The night before the big game, he tossed and turned.</p>
<p>“I had stomach aches, using the bathroom, but I didn’t have to use it,” <a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/31/super-bowl-2019-nfl-players-sleep-rams-patriots-atlanta">he told Sports Illustrated in 2019</a>. “It felt like Christmas too, when Christmas is the next day you can’t sleep.”</p>
<p>I’ve wondered whether I would get a wink of shut-eye if I were scheduled to pitch in the World Series. Something tells me I’d be a lot like Shields. And as if the Chiefs and 49ers players and coaches aren’t feeling enough pressure, it turns out that getting a good night’s sleep is one of the most important things an athlete can do before a big game, meet or match.</p>
<p>University of Pittsburgh sleep medicine specialist Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse highlights reams of studies showing how <a href="https://theconversation.com/sleep-can-give-athletes-an-edge-over-competitors-but-few-recognize-how-fundamental-sleep-is-to-performance-221403">a poor night’s sleep can effect performance and decision-making</a> while making you more likely to get injured.</p>
<p>In fact, she writes, “Sleep deficits have been linked to decreased performance in every cognitive measure.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sleep-can-give-athletes-an-edge-over-competitors-but-few-recognize-how-fundamental-sleep-is-to-performance-221403">Sleep can give athletes an edge over competitors − but few recognize how fundamental sleep is to performance</a>
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<h2>3. Going all in on gambling</h2>
<p>Did you bet on the 49ers to cover the spread? Perhaps you’re <a href="https://www.wikihow.com/Play-Football-Squares">playing squares</a>. Or maybe you’re betting on Reba McEntire’s national anthem <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/2024-super-bowl-lviii-odds-how-long-will-reba-mcentires-national-anthem-be">to last longer than 90.5 seconds</a>.</p>
<p>If you’ve wagered on some aspect of the big game, you’re one of roughly 67 million American adults who have done the same, according to a Morning Consult survey conducted in early February. That would make another new record, shattering 2023’s record, which shattered the mark from 2022. The country’s gambling mania has been aided, in part, by the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/supreme-court-sports-betting-new-jersey.html">overturned a federal ban on sports betting</a>. </p>
<p>Gambling and the Super Bowl have always gone hand in hand. To University of Iowa sports media scholar Tom Oates, what makes the developments of the past few years so remarkable is <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-super-bowl-gets-the-vegas-treatment-with-1-in-4-american-adults-expected-to-gamble-on-the-big-game-222370">the NFL’s stunning reversal on its own attitudes toward betting</a>.</p>
<p>Gone are the quaint days of league officials lobbying Congress to put restrictions and guardrails in place. The NFL has gone all in on its embrace of gambling, <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-inks-nearly-1-billion-212312677.html?_fsig=UXLu7VdB0Sg8Wcfmd7USNw--%7EA">forging billion-dollar partnerships</a> with the country’s top sportsbooks.</p>
<p>“But this infusion of extra cash comes with a substantial social cost,” Oates writes. “Gambling addictions are at an all-time high, likely spurred by the ease with which people can place bets from their phones.” </p>
<p>So if you want to get in on the action, gamble responsibly and don’t let your emotions get the best of you. </p>
<p>That being said, a little birdie told me that Reba <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=696443244813036">can really hold her notes</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-super-bowl-gets-the-vegas-treatment-with-1-in-4-american-adults-expected-to-gamble-on-the-big-game-222370">The Super Bowl gets the Vegas treatment, with 1 in 4 American adults expected to gamble on the big game</a>
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<img alt="Woman with red hair and silver dress holds microphone and smiles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574593/original/file-20240209-31-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574593/original/file-20240209-31-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574593/original/file-20240209-31-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574593/original/file-20240209-31-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574593/original/file-20240209-31-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574593/original/file-20240209-31-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574593/original/file-20240209-31-9fdvn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Country music singer Reba McEntire will be singing the national anthem at Super Bowl LVIII.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/reba-mcentire-performs-at-madison-square-garden-on-april-15-news-photo/1482508270?adppopup=true">Theo Wargo/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>4. At least they aren’t serving donkey meat</h2>
<p><a href="https://jacobin.com/2022/01/hyper-politics-annie-ernaux-moralism-identity-media-individualization">Everything is politicized</a>, so the lament goes. And even the Super Bowl – <a href="https://thedaily.case.edu/the-super-bowl-is-a-cultural-moment-but-why/">one of the few communal events left</a> in a polarized, atomized nation – can’t avoid the creep of partisanship. </p>
<p>In recent years, some of the country’s most iconic food brands – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/bud-light-boycott.html">Bud Light</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/business/goya-boycott.html">Goya</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/papa-johns-cuts-ties-with-the-nfl-after-national-anthem-protests-2018-2">Papa John’s</a>, <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/02/23/coca-cola-diversity-training-urged-workers-to-be-less-white/">Coca-Cola</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/5/31/23742373/chick-fil-a-boycott-controversy-conservative-backlash">Chick-fil-A</a> – have been excoriated by partisans on both sides of the aisle. </p>
<p>So food spreads can color every Super Bowl party with a tinge of “red team,” “blue team.”</p>
<p>“What you serve at your Super Bowl party, or what the host serves at the event you attend, can now be interpreted, or twisted, through a partisan lens,” write political scientists Joshua J. Dyck and Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz.</p>
<p>One possible way to bridge the divide: Unite in a bipartisan celebration of Taylor Swift. Actually, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-taylor-swift-is-an-antihero-to-the-gop-but-democrats-should-know-all-too-well-that-her-endorsement-wont-mean-its-all-over-now-222437">scratch that</a>. </p>
<p>Maybe you could just serve salmon – a food that, according to Dyck and Pearson-Merkowitz’s research, is “resistant to partisan cues.”</p>
<p>Grim times, indeed.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/super-bowl-party-foods-can-deliver-political-bite-choose-wisely-222687">Super Bowl party foods can deliver political bite – choose wisely</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. ByeDaddy</h2>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/super-bowl-poll-commercials-halftime-1f65969d3ec56a5c3eca3ba386428d6a">According to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll</a>, 22% of Americans planning to watch the Super Bowl are most excited about the commercials.</p>
<p>That’s one reason companies are willing to fork over so much cash for a coveted slot – as much as US$7 million for a 30-second spot. </p>
<p>However, as Auburn University scholars Linda Ferrell and O.C. Ferrell point out, many regulars on the airwaves of the Super Bowl, such as GoDaddy and Ford, are <a href="https://theconversation.com/super-bowl-ads-its-getting-harder-for-commercials-to-score-with-consumers-222269">missing from this year’s lineup</a>.</p>
<p>What gives?</p>
<p>“Gen Z, in particular, is not impressed by Super Bowl ads,” they write, “and complicating the matter is their lack of interest in broadcast TV.”</p>
<p>So as a millennial who’s spent years listening to how <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/millennials-are-killing">my generation has killed</a> everything from paper napkins to mayonnaise, I take great pleasure in typing: Gen Z killed the Super Bowl ad.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/super-bowl-ads-its-getting-harder-for-commercials-to-score-with-consumers-222269">Super Bowl ads: It's getting harder for commercials to score with consumers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220641/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Oh, yeah, and there’s a game, too.
Nick Lehr, Arts + Culture Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222370
2024-02-08T13:39:16Z
2024-02-08T13:39:16Z
The Super Bowl gets the Vegas treatment, with 1 in 4 American adults expected to gamble on the big game
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573295/original/file-20240204-21-h057fn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=499%2C7%2C3408%2C2468&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Billions of dollars are being bet on the matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/signage-for-super-bowl-lviii-is-displayed-on-a-pedestrian-news-photo/1974137455?adppopup=true">Ethan Miller/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573875/original/file-20240206-22-1s0mgu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573875/original/file-20240206-22-1s0mgu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573875/original/file-20240206-22-1s0mgu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573875/original/file-20240206-22-1s0mgu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573875/original/file-20240206-22-1s0mgu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573875/original/file-20240206-22-1s0mgu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573875/original/file-20240206-22-1s0mgu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>A record 67.8 million American adults are expected to bet US$23.1 billion on Super Bowl LVIII, <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/new/record-68-million-americans-to-wager-23-1b-on-super-bowl-lviii/">according to a new survey conducted by Morning Consult for the American Gaming Association</a>. The estimated number of bettors has increased 35% from the previous Super Bowl, while the total amount being bet is estimated to have shot up from $16 billion in 2023. </p>
<p>Both figures would represent records – fitting for a Super Bowl held in Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the U.S.</p>
<p>For the NFL, partnering with sportsbooks <a href="https://www.espn.com/sports-betting/story/_/id/38338437/nearly-735m-american-adults-bet-nfl-season-survey-says">has been a boon for business</a>. The relationship appears to be a natural one: Though sports betting was illegal in most of the country until 2018, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gambling-built-baseball-and-then-almost-destroyed-it-123254">it’s always been a part of sports fandom</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tcvNTxMAAAAJ&hl=en">But as a sports media scholar</a>, I find the league’s embrace of gambling so striking because for most of its history, the NFL had pushed the government for stricter regulations, not more lenient ones.</p>
<p>Particularly in its early days, the NFL wanted to avoid the stain of bookies, bets, fixed games and the gambling crises <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gambling-built-baseball-and-then-almost-destroyed-it-123254">that had befallen other professional sports leagues</a>.</p>
<h2>Staunch opposition</h2>
<p>In 1963, just as the NFL was starting to become profitable <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_on_television_in_the_1960s">thanks to broadcasting deals</a>, a gambling scandal threatened the league’s growing popularity. </p>
<p>Commissioner Pete Rozelle <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1963/04/18/archives/football-stars-banned-for-bets-hornung-and-karras-are-suspended-by.html">suspended two of the league’s stars</a>, the Green Bay Packers’ <a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/H/HornPa00.htm">Paul Hornung</a> and <a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/K/KarrAl00.htm">Alex Karras</a> of the Detroit Lions, for a full season after both players admitted to placing bets on NFL games.</p>
<p>“This sport has grown so quickly and gained so much of the approval of the American public,” <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/mike-freeman/2021/08/31/nfl-sportsbook-deals-decades-long-hypocrisy-gambling/5655252001/">Rozelle told Sports Illustrated at the time</a>, “that the only way it can be hurt is through gambling.” </p>
<p>But football and gambling eventually resumed their delicate dance. In 1976, CBS hired bookmaker and newspaper columnist James “Jimmy the Greek” Snyder <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/03/archives/a-star-is-born-by-8-points-sports-of-the-times.html">to join the cast of its flagship pregame program</a>, “The NFL Today.” CBS Sports president Bob Wussler knew that millions of viewers wanted to know the betting lines for upcoming games. It was Snyder’s job to communicate them. </p>
<p>The NFL’s leadership, however, remained adamantly opposed to its broadcasting partners explicitly encouraging gambling. So Snyder communicated the lines by predicting the final score, <a href="https://read.dukeupress.edu/radical-history-review/article/2016/125/159/22306/Race-Economics-and-the-Shifting-Politics-of-Sport">thereby allowing careful listeners to learn a point spread</a>. The routine lasted until 1988, when Snyder suggested that slavery had made Black players better athletes. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/01/17/jimmy-the-greek-fired-by-cbs-for-his-remarks/27536e46-3031-40c2-bb2b-f912ec518f80/">He was fired the next day</a>.</p>
<p>In 1992, the NFL and other major sports leagues <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/474/text">lobbied for the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act</a>, which would severely restrict sports gambling, allowing it only in Nevada, Oregon, Delaware and Montana. Rozelle’s successor, Paul Tagliabue, testified in favor of the bill, telling Congress: “We do not want our games to be used as bait to sell gambling. We have to make it clear to the athletes, the fans and the public, gambling is not a part of sport, period.” The measure passed.</p>
<p>In 2017, current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reiterated the league’s stance. Speaking in the wake of the owners’ decision to allow the Oakland Raiders to relocate to Las Vegas, <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/goodell">he insisted</a>: “We still strongly oppose … legalized sports gambling. The integrity of our game is No. 1. We will not compromise on that.”</p>
<h2>More money, more problems?</h2>
<p>Everything changed a year later, when the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2018/05/14/supreme-court-sports-betting-paspa-law-new-jersey/440710002/">declared the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act unconstitutional</a>, which left the decision to allow sports gambling to the states. Since then, <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/general/news/u-s-sports-betting-here-is-where-all-50-states-currently-stand-on-legalizing-online-sports-betting-sites/">more than 30 states have legalized sports gambling</a>.</p>
<p>Despite its historical opposition to sports gambling, the NFL moved quickly to take advantage of the new legal landscape.</p>
<p>In 2021, <a href="https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/nfl-sports-betting-sponsorship-betmgm-pointsbet-wynnbet-tv-advertising/?zephr_sso_ott=6Qvsdy">the league announced seven companies</a>, including BetMGM, Draft Kings and Caesars, as the league’s official gambling partners. Two years later, ESPN, one of the league’s major partners – <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/espn-nfl-journalism/">and one in which the league may soon buy a stake</a> – announced the formation of <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/38897700/what-espn-bet-how-do-use-where-legal">ESPN BET</a>, a sportsbook partnership with Penn Entertainment. ESPN immediately began promoting its new venture on its television and web platforms. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Caesar's Palace video screen advertising Super Bowl matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573296/original/file-20240204-19-nqnfp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573296/original/file-20240204-19-nqnfp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573296/original/file-20240204-19-nqnfp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573296/original/file-20240204-19-nqnfp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573296/original/file-20240204-19-nqnfp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573296/original/file-20240204-19-nqnfp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573296/original/file-20240204-19-nqnfp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gambling and football have become two peas in a pod.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-marquee-at-caesars-palace-displays-super-bowl-lviii-news-photo/1984286077?adppopup=true">Ethan Miller/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By embracing sports gambling, the NFL has unleashed new profit streams. Even casual fans can’t miss the surge in gambling advertisements that now air during the games, all of which buttress the value of media rights. Meanwhile, the NFL’s official sportsbook partners will fork over <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-inks-nearly-1-billion-212312677.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACW45R03fmohhc_B1ZlWpY7_zcvqe5EV5sh9G1SgB7Vt_g9Xpu0ghK4RC7rVNpXCRtLUe0jtLvMKCSXNafnOuM4ZlKFd1nD9s2zqyLhninUA3cFZQRqqA6ZAwHrOYhC27SJZ3rV7SjQLXzycbVwXxSCqKsLek1dHNpXL6ZzSro4t">more than $1 billion</a> to the league over the course of the five-year contract. </p>
<p>But this infusion of extra cash comes with a substantial social cost. Gambling addictions <a href="https://money.com/gambling-addiction-all-time-high/">are at an all-time high</a>, likely spurred by the ease with which people can place bets from their phones. <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-treat-people-with-gambling-disorder-and-im-starting-to-see-more-and-more-young-men-who-are-betting-on-sports-198285">Young men seem to be especially vulnerable</a>.</p>
<p>Ten NFL players <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nfl-gambling-suspensions-0c31c118f637efa159fad75e7b949418">have been suspended for gambling on sports</a> since 2022. Several former athletes have come forward <a href="https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/calvin-ridley-nfl-football-jacksonville-jaguars">to share stories of their struggles with sports betting</a>.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the league continues to promote gambling sites to its fan base. The gambling prohibitions for players have not substantially changed, but the environment in which they work and live <a href="https://www.mlive.com/sports/2024/01/nfl-wide-receiver-accused-of-making-thousands-of-illegal-bets-while-starring-at-lsu.html">has made the temptation far more difficult to avoid</a>.</p>
<p>Goodell has cast the league’s partnerships with sportsbooks as a no-brainer for the bottom line: “We have to be in that space,” <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/goodell">he plainly stated in a September 2023 interview</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the potential costs – for the league and for its fans – are a bit harder to see, at least right away. But to anti-gambling advocates, they’re no less pernicious.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Oates does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
What makes the NFL’s embrace of gambling so striking is that for most of its history, the league had pushed the government for stricter regulations – not more lenient ones.
Thomas Oates, Associate Professor of Sport Media, University of Iowa
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/204434
2023-11-16T13:20:24Z
2023-11-16T13:20:24Z
Colleges face gambling addiction among students as sports betting spreads
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549155/original/file-20230919-23-xg2xb1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=144%2C202%2C4672%2C3408&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Around 6% of college students have a gambling problem. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/photo/stadium-crowd-cheering-one-man-looking-at-mobile-royalty-free-image/200244684-001?phrase=students+watching+college+football+on+their+phones&adppopup=true">John Rowley/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Three out of four college students have <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/files/NPGAWcollegefactsheet.pdf">gambled in the past year</a>, whether legally or illegally, according to the <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/">National Council on Problem Gambling</a>.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/faq/">estimated 2% to 3% of U.S. adults</a> have a gambling problem. The portion of college students with a problem, however, is potentially twice that number – <a href="https://www.beforeyoubet.org/college-students-gambling/">up to 6%</a>.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://sites.miamioh.edu/jason-w-osborne/">educational psychologist</a> who follows gambling in America, I foresee the potential for gambling on campus to become an even bigger problem. <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-boon-for-sports-fandom-or-a-looming-mental-health-crisis-5-essential-reads-on-the-effects-of-legal-sports-betting-199657">Sports betting continues to expand</a>, including on college campuses, since a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/14/politics/sports-betting-ncaa-supreme-court/index.html">2018 Supreme Court ruling allowing states to make it legal</a>.</p>
<p>As a faculty fellow at an <a href="https://miamioh.edu/aspire/muirgls/index.html">institute that promotes responsible gaming</a>, I know that colleges can take steps to curtail problem gambling among students. It is all the more urgent given that adolescents in general, including college students, are often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.05.003">uniquely susceptible to gambling problems</a>, both because of their exposure to video games – which often have hallmarks of gambling behavior – and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106386">stress and anxiety of college life</a>, which can lead to using gambling as a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-3588.2004.00092.x">coping strategy</a>.</p>
<h2>The spread of legal sports betting</h2>
<p>As of November 2023, <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/sportsbetting-bill-tracker/">sports betting is legal</a> in some form in 38 states and Washington, D.C. Further, 26 states allow sports betting online. Bills have been introduced – and some recently passed – in more states. These states include <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/vermont/">Vermont</a>, <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/missouri/">Missouri</a> and <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/nc/">North Carolina</a>. Thanks to technology, sports betting is now accessible beyond casinos. Anyone can access it online and on their smartphone.</p>
<p>More than <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/sports-betting/revenue/">US$268 billion has been gambled legally</a> on sports betting between June 2018 and November 2023. Revenue in all U.S. gaming sectors has increased significantly, with sports betting growing the fastest, at <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/the-explosive-growth-of-sports-betting/">an estimated 75% annually</a>. It has generated about <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/sports-betting/revenue/">$3.9 billion in tax revenue</a> to date.</p>
<p>Sports betting is also becoming more accessible on college campuses. A New York Times investigation found that sports betting companies and universities have essentially <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/business/caesars-sports-betting-universities-colleges.html">“Caesarized” college life</a>. That is to say, they’ve made campuses resemble elements of the world famous casinos by introducing online gambling to students.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">College betting scandals shine light on campus wagering.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These profits have driven increased advertising. Some estimate that total advertising through all media channels could <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2022/09/15/sports-betting-is-revving-up-ad-spending-for-fourth-quarter/?sh=64c692c05dff">approach $3 billion annually</a>. This includes social media platforms like TikTok, where young adults are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/14/sportsbet-is-targeting-young-women-on-tiktok-to-diversify-male-client-base-experts-say">more likely to see ads for gambling</a>. A study in the United Kingdom found that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40429-022-00457-0">72% of 18- to 24-year-olds</a> have seen gambling ads through social media. </p>
<p>While advertisers reportedly focus on young adults of legal age, research suggests that children under 18 are also being <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.11.019">exposed to advertising</a> related to gambling. The intensity of advertising activity on social media has raised concerns and brought scrutiny. Earlier this year, for example, prosecutors in the <a href="https://www.masslive.com/politics/2023/03/are-you-and-your-kids-overwhelmed-by-mass-sports-betting-ads-youre-not-alone.html">Massachusetts attorney general’s office</a> expressed concern that sports betting and other gambling might spread quickly through college campuses as a result of advertising. </p>
<h2>Why college students are at greater risk of gambling addiction</h2>
<p>Gambling addiction affects people from all backgrounds and across all ages, but it is an even bigger threat to college students. Adolescents of college age are uniquely likely to engage in impulsive or risky behaviors because of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20442">variety of developmental factors</a>, leaving them more susceptible to take bigger risks and experience adverse consequences.</p>
<p>It’s no secret that drinking alcohol is prevalent on college campuses, and this can increase the likelihood of other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813125-1.00054-4">risk-taking behaviors such as gambling</a>. Like other addictive behaviors, gambling can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.12378">stimulate the reward centers of the brain</a>, which makes it more difficult to stop even if someone is building up losses. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of friends watch a game on a phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549159/original/file-20230919-27-9yeabv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sports betting has become more accessible on college campuses with the rise of gambling apps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/photo/group-of-friends-watching-their-favorite-match-on-a-royalty-free-image/964387178?phrase=students+gambling&adppopup=true">GCShutter/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What colleges and universities can do to help</h2>
<p>If you’re worried a student in your life might have a gambling problem, the Mayo Clinic describes <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/compulsive-gambling/symptoms-causes/syc-20355178">signs to look for</a>. These include restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop or reduce gambling, gambling more when feeling distressed, and lying to hide gambling or financial losses from it. Gamblers Anonymous provides a <a href="http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga/content/20-questions">20-question, self-diagnostic questionnaire</a> to help people identify problems or compulsive gambling.</p>
<p>For more resources, organizations like the <a href="https://www.gatewayfoundation.org/addiction-blog/how-to-help-someone-that-has-gambling-problem/">Gateway Foundation</a> offer information and support to help someone with a gambling problem. Immediate help is available at the national problem gambling helpline, <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/national-helpline-1-800-522-4700/">1-800-GAMBLER</a>. The National Council on Problem Gaming has <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/help-by-state/">lists of resources within each state</a> that can provide more local support and assistance. </p>
<p>At the Miami University Institute for Responsible Gaming, Lottery and Sport, my colleagues and I are working to ensure that the recent dramatic expansion of legalized gaming is matched by effective guidance for policymakers and leaders within higher education. Many institutions, like the <a href="https://dos.uoregon.edu/gambling-support">University of Oregon</a>, have begun to acknowledge that widespread legalized sports betting and gambling can affect their students. A comprehensive and coordinated approach is required to protect them from harm. </p>
<p>There are resources available to help institutions, such as the “get set before you bet” initiative adopted by the <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/health/blog/gambling">University of Colorado, Boulder</a> and others. This gives students practical tips to follow if they are going to gamble, such as setting time and money limits before they start.</p>
<p>Colleges and universities could do even more. According to the <a href="https://www.icrg.org/cg-information/task-force-on-college-gambling-policies-and-recommendations">International Center for Responsible Gaming</a>, institutions can address gambling risks to students by:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Ensuring there are clear policies on gambling and making sure they align with alcohol policies. <a href="https://www.ue.org/risk-management/health-and-well-being/student-gambling-policies/">United Educators</a> provides examples of how institutions can create effective policies and support student wellness, like <a href="https://ogc.asu.edu/gambling-raffles">Arizona State’s policy</a>. Theirs prohibits legal and illegal gambling at any event related to ASU and reinforces that alcohol possession, consumption or inebriation is illegal for all students under 21.</p></li>
<li><p>Promoting awareness of addiction as a mental health disorder and making resources for getting help available to students.</p></li>
<li><p>Ensuring those who work in campus counseling and health services are familiar with gambling addiction and prepared to support students struggling with addiction or problem behavior. Providers should also be aware that multiple addictions can be present, enhancing the challenges to management and recovery.</p></li>
<li><p>Surveying student attitudes toward gambling to track changes in attitudes, behaviors and norms.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>With various sports championships, including in baseball, football and college basketball, taking place throughout the academic year, there’s no shortage of occasions for universities to check in with students about sports betting on campus. Gambling addiction is treatable, but preventing it from the start is the best solution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204434/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason W. Osborne works for Miami University</span></em></p>
The rise of sports betting has made gambling addiction a bigger issue on college campuses, but there are steps universities can take to address it.
Jason W. Osborne, Professor of Statistics, Miami University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/212748
2023-09-25T12:30:23Z
2023-09-25T12:30:23Z
How AI and AR could increase the risk of problem gambling for online sports betting
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548329/original/file-20230914-4201-fye76e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C10%2C950%2C655&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-using-online-sports-betting-services-1118068061">Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sometimes <a href="https://features.propublica.org/the-bad-bet/video-gambling-addiction-illinois/">referred to</a> as the “<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2005.00962.x?casa_token=PmOh6ayRJSIAAAAA:1nk6oodUvcH1n6R44hO0y_9jAnAcT63AALXLrhjxBrBmjZl68msFlJPS40LbDMJqUeJRlM5bMBX86w">crack cocaine of gambling</a>”, electronic gaming machines (EGMs) such as slot machines allow bets to be placed as quickly as <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1173441/Online_Slots_Stake_Limit_Impact_Assessment.pdf">once every 2.5 seconds</a>, delivering a <a href="https://researchmgt.monash.edu/ws/portalfiles/portal/41513137/40136523_oa.pdf">rapid and immersive</a> gambling experience. Similar features are now being used to transform online sports betting, significantly increasing the risk of problem gambling.</p>
<p>Sports betting is one the UK’s <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/publication/statistics-on-participation-and-problem-gambling-for-the-year-to-march-2023">most popular</a> forms of gambling. Traditionally, people have placed sports bets in the same way they play the national lottery: betting on the final result of a match or race during the week and often waiting until the weekend to discover the outcome of the event. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16066359.2023.2241350">our recent research</a> indicates that the online environment has massively transformed sports betting. It has now become instantly accessible, offering a multitude of features and betting options that pose a significantly greater risk of addiction than in the past. </p>
<p>And with technology rapidly advancing, the future of sports betting could be even more worrying as gambling companies look to artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) to enhance their offerings.</p>
<p>More harmful sports betting has been linked to <a href="https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/10/3/article-p371.xml">new features</a> that are similar to those found in EGMs. Countless “in-play” and “micro” sports bets can now be placed on the shortest intervals within a sporting event, such as a bet on the next free kick in football. Although not quite as fast as EGMs, the increased speed at which in-play sports bets can now be placed is linked to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-018-9810-y">problem gambling</a>. </p>
<p>Another similarity between EGMs and online sports betting involves “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-017-9688-0">losses disguised as wins</a>”. This is when a player receives a payout that is less than their original wager but is still celebrated with visual and auditory feedback, making it <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-022-10184-w">feel like a win</a>. </p>
<p>The “cash-out” feature also allows players to settle bets early, often for less than the original stake, to minimise potential losses. This is particularly profitable for bookmakers when large sums are involved and could also disguise overall losses as wins. Using the cash-out feature is also associated with <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-018-9876-x">problem gambling</a>.</p>
<h2>Sports betting in the near future</h2>
<p>It’s possible to see how sports betting products that incorporate AI and AR could evolve before they are commercially available by analysing patents. This is a useful strategy for researchers like us because potential areas of harm can be identified before new products hit the market. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16066359.2023.2241350">Our recent research</a> identified three patents that aim to add <a href="http://pire.fiu.edu/publications/Augmented.pdf">augmented reality</a> (AR) to the sports betting experience. AR typically uses goggles or mobile phones to overlap computer-generated imagery onto a player’s view of the real world. Big tech firms such as Apple (Apple Vision) and Samsung (Galaxy Glass) are currently racing to assimilate augmented reality into many aspects of our daily lives, with the potential for very positive results such as when used to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13304-018-0567-8">provide information to surgeons during operations</a>, for example, or to maintenance staff <a href="https://www.inc.com/james-paine/10-real-use-cases-for-augmented-reality.html">fixing complex equipment</a>.</p>
<p>But integrating AR with sports betting could have disastrous consequences. In a sports betting context, this would probably involve aiming the goggles or phone at a live sporting event both on TV or at the stadium and having <a href="https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/e4/5d/82/6fde65850e9db0/US20220092913A1.pdf">real-time betting opportunities</a> shown in your field of vision as the event unfolds. Research shows <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-021-10027-0">immersion</a> is pivotal in fuelling problematic gambling behaviour and disengaging from an AR sports betting session could be very challenging. </p>
<p>We also identified three patents that seek to introduce competitive in-play sports bets between players rather than against bookmakers. These patents involve people <a href="https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/96/b7/ac/3bc9d46fea2f89/US10198910.pdf">joining online tournaments</a>, and competing for rewards based on entry fees and wager pools. Leaderboards track bettor rankings, and players can communicate with each other in a similar fashion to poker. </p>
<p>However, introducing such competition in online sports betting might exacerbate “<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0264000">tilting</a>” – when a person makes poor betting decisions in response to loss or pressure. This may be made worse when gamblers can chat and taunt each other. The companies involved in the above patents did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>Bookmakers are <a href="https://boardroom.tv/artificial-intelligence-sports-betting-ai-technology/#:%7E:text=The%20core%20of%20sports%20betting,both%20bettors%20and%20sportsbooks%20alike.">already using AI</a> to improve predictions and odds-setting processes. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-sets-out-ai-safety-summit-ambitions">UK government</a> is aware of the risks associated with AI, but regulating this rapidly growing technology will continue to be challenging. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man standing up and using a virtual reality headset and handheld controls in a living room." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548334/original/file-20230914-25-uovgko.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Augmented and virtual reality headsets and goggles offer an immersive experience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-using-virtual-reality-headset-metaverse-2301455323">Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Regulation and policy</h2>
<p>Gambling regulation is notorious for its lack of foresight. The 2005 Gambling Act was only <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-stakes-gambling-reform-for-the-digital-age/high-stakes-gambling-reform-for-the-digital-age">revised this year</a> to recognise the growth of online gambling, which has existed for nearly 20 years. So while more forward-looking regulation and policy is needed to protect consumers from the harmful evolution of sports betting, the uncertainty and complexity surrounding new sports betting technologies only adds to the challenge of regulating this industry.</p>
<p>But there are current harms that researchers and policymakers do understand. Our research shows that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.16028">reducing the speed and ease</a> of online sports betting makes most sense. </p>
<p>Regulatory measures should not impede the freedoms of those who do gamble safely, however. Australia provides a good example: regulations there allow in-play bets, but legally require them to be made <a href="https://theconversation.com/40-years-of-legal-sports-betting-in-australia-points-to-risks-for-us-gamblers-and-tips-for-regulators-194993#:%7E:text=In%20Australia%2C%20live%20sports%20betting%20can%20be%20done%2C%20but%20not%20online.%20They%20must%20be%20placed%20by%20telephone%20call%20or%20at%20a%20venue%2C%20such%20as%20a%20bar%2C%20casino%20or%20betting%20shop%2C%20which%20is%20a%20storefront%20where%20people%20can%20place%20bets.">via telephone call</a> rather than instantly via apps or websites. This provides friction for the good of public health, rather than complete restriction. </p>
<p>Thanks to new technology such as AI and AR, this industry is already evolving at a faster pace than regulation can keep up with. As a result, sports betting could be dominated by a growing web of harms that are currently unforeseen and difficult to comprehend.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212748/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Newall is a member of the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling – an advisory group of the Gambling Commission in Great Britain, and in 2020 was a special advisor to the House of Lords Select Committee Enquiry on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry. In the last three years, Philip Newall has contributed to research projects funded by the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling, Clean Up Gambling, Gambling Research Australia, NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. Philip Newall has received travel and accommodation funding from Alberta Gambling Research Institute, and received open access fee funding from Gambling Research Exchange Ontario. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>In the last three years, Jamie Torrance has received: PhD funding from GambleAware, Open access publication funding from Gambling Research Exchange Ontario (GREO), Paid consultancy fees from Channel 4, Conference travel and accommodation funding from the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling (AFSG), and an exploratory research grant from the ASFG and GREO.</span></em></p>
Artificial intelligence and augmented reality tools are upping the stakes when it comes to online sports betting.
Philip Newall, Lecturer in the School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol
Jamie Torrance, Lecturer and Researcher in Psychology, University of Chester
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/208749
2023-06-30T04:58:56Z
2023-06-30T04:58:56Z
Australia has a strong hand to tackle gambling harm. Will it go all in or fold?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534967/original/file-20230630-25-kpnylj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C979%2C5973%2C3000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A ban on all gambling advertising within three years has attracted the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/28/ads-for-online-gambling-should-be-banned-in-australia-within-three-years-inquiry-recommends">most attention</a> of the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/Onlinegamblingimpacts/Report/List_of_recommendations">31 recommendations</a> made by the Australian parliamentary inquiry into online gambling, which reported this week.</p>
<p>But equally significant are the recommendations to adopt public health principles to prevent gambling harm, to appoint a national online regulator, and for Australian to lead the development of international agreements that “aim to reduce gambling harm and protect public policy and research from gambling industry interference”.</p>
<p>If implemented, the recommendations will advance gambling regulation by several orders of magnitude. </p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10389-020-01437-2">Preventing harm</a> is a better goal than the current practice of ignoring harms until they become overwhelming. Building a fence at the top of the cliff, rather than providing a fleet of ambulances at the bottom, seems sensible. </p>
<p>Many countries are grappling with regulating unlicensed <a href="https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/publications/blocking-measures-against-offshore-online-gambling-a-scoping-revi">online gambling operators</a> registered in places like Curaçao and the Isle of Man. The only way to effectively address this is via <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/pompidou/-/the-recording-of-the-webinar-on-behavioural-addictions-facilitated-by-information-and-communication-technologies-risks-and-perspectives-is-now-availab">international agreements</a>. </p>
<p>And as with many other harmful commodity industries, gambling operators <a href="https://www.lisbonaddictions.eu/lisbon-addictions-2022/presentations/5-ways-gambling-industry-pursues-influence-policymakers">advance their interests</a> through political influence. They have enthusiastically utilised the tactics honed by the tobacco industry – <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03137.x">lobbying</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-14/how-the-gambling-industry-cashed-in-on-political-donations/100509026">political donations</a> and influencing <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7434195/">research outcomes</a> through funding. </p>
<p>All these aspects need addressing. For example, the inquiry recommends imposing a levy on the gambling industry to fund research. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/place-your-bets-will-banning-illegal-offshore-sites-really-help-kick-our-gambling-habit-126838">Place your bets: will banning illegal offshore sites really help kick our gambling habit?</a>
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<hr>
<h2>Phasing out advertising</h2>
<p>The proposals to prohibit all inducements to gamble come in four phases.</p>
<p>The first would ban all social media and online advertising. Radio advertising during school drop-off times would also be prohibited.</p>
<p>In the second phase, broadcast advertising for an hour either side of sporting broadcasts would be banned (as Opposition Leader <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/13/peter-dutton-cranks-up-pressure-on-labor-to-further-restrict-gambling-ads">Peter Dutton has argued for</a>). </p>
<p>The third stage would prohibit all broadcast advertising for gambling between 6am and 10pm.</p>
<p>Finally, three years on, all gambling advertising would be gone from our screens.</p>
<p>Not many people will miss it. A 2022 survey by the <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/polling-research-give-junk-food-gambling-ads-the-punt/">Australia Institute</a> found 70% support for such restrictions. The evidence suggests this would be beneficial to young people, since exposure to advertising increases the likelihood of gambling as adults, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/27/children-more-likely-to-become-gamblers-due-to-high-volume-of-betting-ads">with significant harm</a> for some.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-is-being-used-to-normalise-gambling-we-should-treat-the-problem-just-like-smoking-205843">Sport is being used to normalise gambling. We should treat the problem just like smoking</a>
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<hr>
<h2>Important precedents</h2>
<p>The recommendations would set important precedents that can be readily applied to other forms of gambling. These include the principle of establishing a public health-oriented harm prevention policy, a national regulatory system, and enhancing consumer protections to potentially include a universal pre-commitment system. </p>
<p>If online gambling can be better regulated – and it can – why not casinos and pokies? Casino inquiries in <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/papers/Pages/tabled-paper-details.aspx?pk=79129">New South Wales</a>, <a href="https://www.rccol.vic.gov.au/">Victoria</a>, <a href="https://www.justice.qld.gov.au/initiatives/external-review-qld-operations-star-entertainment-group">Queensland</a> and <a href="https://www.wa.gov.au/government/publications/perth-casino-royal-commission-final-report">Western Australia</a> have certainly demonstrated the need. So has the <a href="https://www.crimecommission.nsw.gov.au/inquiry-into-money-laundering-in-pubs-and-clubs">NSW Crime Commission</a>’s 2022 inquiry into money laundering in pubs and clubs. Notably, poker machines are estimated to be responsible for <a href="https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/12/1/article-p182.xml">51% to 57% of the total problems</a> arising from gambling. Race and sports wagering account for 20%.</p>
<h2>Industry will resist</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/gambling-ads-ban-called-an-over-reach-/102538120">online gambling industry</a> will do all it can to thwart these initiatives, along with <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/wagering-tv-bodies-slam-proposed-gambling-ads-ban-afl-wary-of-impact-20230628-p5dk4j.html">broadcasters</a> and some <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/scourge-of-the-gambling-epidemic-teal-mp-attacks-afl-over-gambling-ads-20230302-p5coym.html">sports</a> businesses. </p>
<p>Certainly Australia’s unenviable record of being world leaders in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-20/australians-worlds-biggest-gambling-losers/10495566">gambling losses</a> will be threatened if the recommendations are implemented. </p>
<p>The report <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/Onlinegamblingimpacts/Report/Chapter_2_-_A_national_strategy_on_online_gambling_harm_reduction">acknowledges</a> wagering service providers have “successfully framed the issue of gambling harm around personal responsibility while diminishing industry and government responsibility”. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is too much potential for the gambling industry to be involved in the development of gambling regulation and policy in Australia. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Submissions from the gambling industry reflected this. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://responsiblewagering.com.au/">Responsible Wagering Australia</a>, which represents wagering companies such as Bet365, Betfair, Entain, Sportsbet, Pointsbet and Unibet, suggested the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/Onlinegamblingimpacts/Submissions">industry was focused on limiting harm</a>, and mindful of the risks of “problem gambling”. </p>
<p>Indeed, the inquiry’s original terms of reference were about “online gambling and its impacts on problem gamblers”. </p>
<p>The committee changed this to the “impacts on those experiencing gambling harm”. Its report reflects this change, and the majority of submissions and evidence given in <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/Onlinegamblingimpacts/Report/B_Public_hearings">13 public hearings</a> overwhelmingly in favour of improved regulation of online gambling product</p>
<p>In the report’s forward, chair Peta Murphy writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am proud to say this Committee has delivered a unanimous report that says, ‘enough is enough’. </p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-is-being-used-to-normalise-gambling-we-should-treat-the-problem-just-like-smoking-205843">Sport is being used to normalise gambling. We should treat the problem just like smoking</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Gambling harm imposes <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/the-social-cost-of-gambling-to-victoria-121/">enormous costs</a> on the community, and on those affected, including families. Examples of these effects are prominent in the committee’s report. Many are harrowing.</p>
<p>There is some way to go before Australia joins Italy, Spain, Belgium and The Netherlands in taking action against gambling interests. But delay means more harm to more people. </p>
<p>The Australian government now has an excellent road map to demonstrate its commitment to the health and wellbeing of Australians. Adopting the inquiry’s recommendations should be a high priority.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208749/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone has received funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the (former) Victorian Gambling Research Panel, and the South Australian Independent Gambling Authority (the funds for which were derived from hypothecation of gambling tax revenue to research purposes), from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government and the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, and from non-government organisations for research into multiple aspects of poker machine gambling, including regulatory reform, existing harm minimisation practices, and technical characteristics of gambling forms. He has received travel and co-operation grants from the Alberta Problem Gambling Research Institute, the Finnish Institute for Public Health, the Finnish Alcohol Research Foundation, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Committee, the Turkish Red Crescent Society, and the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand. He was a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded project researching mechanisms of influence on government by the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries. He has undertaken consultancy research for local governments and non-government organisations in Australia and the UK seeking to restrict or reduce the concentration of poker machines and gambling impacts, and was a member of the Australian government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling in 2010-11. He is a member of the Lancet Public Health Commission into gambling, and of the World Health Organisation expert group on gambling and gambling harm. He made a submission to and appeared before the HoR Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm.</span></em></p>
If implemented, the recommendations of Australia’s online gambling inquiry will advance regulation by several orders of magnitude.
Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/205843
2023-05-19T02:54:21Z
2023-05-19T02:54:21Z
Sport is being used to normalise gambling. We should treat the problem just like smoking
<p>Turn on the TV and you’re <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/extent-of-and-children-and-young-peoples-exposure-to-gambling-advertising-in-sport-and-non-sport-tv-679/">four times more likely</a> to see a gambling ad during a sports broadcast than during other programming.</p>
<p>The number of gambling ads on TV has grown from <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/extent-of-and-children-and-young-peoples-exposure-to-gambling-advertising-in-sport-and-non-sport-tv-679/">374 a day</a> in 2016 to <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media/948-gambling-ads-daily-on-victorian-free-to-air-tv-in-2021/">948 in 2021</a>. The Australian Football League and National Rubgy League have an “official wagering partner”, whose logo is displayed prominently. Individual clubs have sponsorship deals with gambling companies, displaying their logos on team jerseys.</p>
<p>It’s something Prime Minister Anthony Albanese agrees is “<a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/politicians-say-tv-gambling-ads-are-problematic-but-banning-them-will-do-little-experts-say/j4aapxz57">annoying</a>”, after Opposition leader Peter Dutton <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/13/peter-dutton-cranks-up-pressure-on-labor-to-further-restrict-gambling-ads#:%7E:text=%E2%80%9CI%20announce%20that%20a%20Coalition,to%20get%20it%20implemented%20now.%E2%80%9D">proposed a ban</a> on gambling ads an hour before and after sports matches. </p>
<p>At present, <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/gambling-ads-during-live-sport-broadcast-tv-and-radio">a voluntary code governs</a> when these <a href="https://www.freetv.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Free_TV_Commercial_Television_Industry_Code_of_Practice_2018.pdf">ads can be shown</a>. Generally this means they are not allowed until after 8:30pm. But as any parent will tell you, this won’t stop <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/extent-of-and-children-and-young-peoples-exposure-to-gambling-advertising-in-sport-and-non-sport-tv-679/">sports-mad kids</a> seeing them. </p>
<p>Children are regularly, and heavily, exposed to these ads. Parents are alarmed at the changing way their children view sport. It’s not just about the game, or the players, or the teams any more. Now children recite <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/child-and-parent-recall-of-gambling-sponsorship-in-australian-sport-67/">bookmaker brands</a> and the odds as they discuss the weekend’s sport.</p>
<h2>Normalising harmful behaviour</h2>
<p>As with cigarette marketing in decades past, sports sponsorship and advertising has been the primary mechanism for the aggressive “normalisation” of gambling. It presents betting on your team (especially with your mates) as the mark of a dedicated supporter.</p>
<p>Associating a product with a popular pastime, and with sporting or other heroes, is a clear tactic of harmful commodity industries from tobacco, to alcohol, fast food, and gambling. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/news-and-media-releases/articles/study-shows-betting-ads-influencing-childrens-attitudes-to-gambling">Alarming evidence</a> is emerging that shows how young people are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/27/children-more-likely-to-become-gamblers-due-to-high-volume-of-betting-ads">influenced by this marketing</a>. This includes evidence that <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-03/2302-overview_gambling-participation-harm-views.pdf">young people’s exposure to gambling ads</a> is linked to gambling activity as adults.</p>
<p>Gambling ads are effective in persuading people to make specific bets, and to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-11/sports-betting-online-group-chats-young-people-gambling-research/101945456">encourage their friends</a> to sign up.</p>
<p>Young men are particularly susceptible. More than 70% of <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/research/research-snapshots/gambling-participation-and-experience-harm-australia">male punters aged 18 to 35</a> are at risk of harm, according to the Australian Institute of Family Studies. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Proportion of Australian adults who gambled and were classified as being at risk of gambling harm in past 12 months." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526973/original/file-20230518-29-bqho0n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526973/original/file-20230518-29-bqho0n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526973/original/file-20230518-29-bqho0n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526973/original/file-20230518-29-bqho0n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=254&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526973/original/file-20230518-29-bqho0n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526973/original/file-20230518-29-bqho0n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526973/original/file-20230518-29-bqho0n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Proportion of Australian adults who gambled and were classified as being at risk of gambling harm in the past 12 months.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://aifs.gov.au/research/research-snapshots/gambling-participation-and-experience-harm-australia">AIFS</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<h2>What other countries are doing</h2>
<p>These concerns have now lead to multiple countries prohibiting gambling ads altogether. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sportcal.com/betting/sports-betting-advertising-restrictions-planned-in-netherlands/">The Netherlands</a> will ban all TV, radio, print and billboard gambling ads from July, with strict conditions on online advertising. A ban on club sponsorship will come into effect in 2025. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belgium-bans-gambling-advertising-july-1-2023-03-09/">Belgium</a> is going further, ban gambling ads online as well from July. It will ban advertising in stadiums from 2025, and sponsoring of sports clubs in 2028.</p>
<p><a href="https://euroweeklynews.com/2021/08/31/spain-ban-gambling-advertising/">Spain</a> imposed a blanket ban on gambling advertising in 2021, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/gambling-act-review-how-eu-countries-are-tightening-restrictions-on-ads-and-why-the-uk-should-too-199354">Italy</a> in 2019.</p>
<p>In the UK, the Premier League last month agreed to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/apr/13/premier-league-clubs-ban-gambling-sponsors-on-front-of-shirts-from-2026-27">ban bookies’ logos</a> from player match shirts, though critics argue this barely addresses <a href="https://theconversation.com/premier-leagues-front-of-shirt-gambling-ad-ban-is-a-flawed-approach-australia-should-learn-from-it-204105">the scale of the problem</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/premier-leagues-front-of-shirt-gambling-ad-ban-is-a-flawed-approach-australia-should-learn-from-it-204105">Premier League’s front-of-shirt gambling ad ban is a flawed approach. Australia should learn from it</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<h2>How to denormalise harmful behaviour</h2>
<p>“Denormalisation” was a key strategy of <a href="https://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-5-uptake/5-24-denormalising-smoking">tobacco control efforts</a> in Australia. These are now seen as a massive public health success, with smoking and associated disease rates dropping dramatically. </p>
<p>There are at least two aspects to denormalising harmful products. </p>
<p>The first is to reduce the avenues through which the product can be promoted. With <a href="https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/tobacco-control-toc%7Etimeline#:%7E:text=1976%20%2D%20bans%20on%20all%20cigarette,increase%20in%20the%20tobacco%20excise.">tobacco</a> this includes even regulating the packaging. For gambling, getting rid of all forms of gambling promotion during sporting events is the obvious first step.</p>
<p>It’s also important to have counter-marketing. When Victoria banned tobacco sponsorship in 1987, it established the <a href="https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/about-us/our-history#:%7E:text=We%20were%20established%20by%20the,of%20sport%20and%20the%20arts.">Victorian Health Promotion Foundation </a>, funded by tobacco taxes, initially to support teams that had lost sponsorship. </p>
<p>If gambling ads were banned, it would be logical to replace at least some of the bookies’ ads with messaging that helps people avoid a gambling habit, or get help if they already have an issue.</p>
<h2>What needs to be done</h2>
<p>If the current <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/onlinegambling">parliamentary inquiry into online gambling</a> makes recommendations in line with submissions from concerned citizens and non-government organisations, we can expect an extension of current restrictions. This should include banning ads in line with Peter Dutton’s suggestions.</p>
<p>It would also make sense to go further than just more restrictions on broadcast ads, to include online and social media promotion. </p>
<p>Even though gambling companies spend most of their marketing dollars on television, use of <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/the-receptivity-of-young-people-to-gambling-marketing-strategies-on-social-media-platforms-1155/">social media</a> is increasing, with alcohol and gambling ads that deliberately <a href="https://fare.org.au/facebook-and-instagram-are-bombarding-young-people-with-targeted-alcohol-gambling-and-unhealthy-food-ads/#:%7E:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20observed%20that%20alcohol%2C%20unhealthy,points%20collected%20about%20each%20child.%E2%80%9D">target young people</a>. This is despite platforms like Facebook saying it <a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/345214789920228?id=434838534925385">doesn’t allow targeting</a> for online gambling and gaming ads to people under the age of 18.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-odds-youll-gamble-on-the-grand-final-are-high-when-punting-is-woven-into-our-very-social-fabric-124157">The odds you’ll gamble on the Grand Final are high when punting is woven into our very social fabric</a>
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<p>A program of successive marketing restrictions, moving towards total prohibition, can give the broadcast industry, and the sporting codes, time to line up new sponsors. </p>
<p>There is a need for national uniformity, with a national regulator to replace current clunky arrangements. And only the federal government has any hope of making social media adhere to regulation. </p>
<p>We gained enormous benefits from removing tobacco advertising from our TV screens and billboards. We have the opportunity to protect a new generation from further serious, avoidable gambling harm. </p>
<p>No one can say Australian sport is worse off without tobacco ads.</p>
<p>Providing a clear timeline for the end of gambling ads will give our professional sports organisations the incentive they need to find an ethical solution that avoids entrapping a new generation in gambling harm.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205843/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Foundation, the (former) Victorian Gambling Research Panel, and the South Australian Independent Gambling Authority (the funds for which were derived from hypothecation of gambling tax revenue to research purposes), from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government and the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, and from non-government organisations for research into multiple aspects of poker machine gambling, including regulatory reform, existing harm minimisation practices, and technical characteristics of gambling forms. He has received travel and co-operation grants from the Alberta Problem Gambling Research Institute, the Finnish Institute for Public Health, the Finnish Alcohol Research Foundation, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Committee, the Turkish Red Crescent Society, and the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand. He was a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded project researching mechanisms of influence on government by the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries. He has undertaken consultancy research for local governments and non-government organisations in Australia and the UK seeking to restrict or reduce the concentration of poker machines and gambling impacts, and was a member of the Australian government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling in 2010-11. He is a member of the Lancet Public Health Commission into gambling, and of the World Health Organisation expert group on gambling and gambling harm.</span></em></p>
No one can say Australian sport is worse off without tobacco ads. We can protect a new generation of young sports fans from harm by following other nations’ lead – and phasing out gambling ads.
Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199110
2023-05-11T12:11:38Z
2023-05-11T12:11:38Z
Grattan on Friday: Peter Dutton warns of threat to ‘working poor’ in budget reply lacking a big picture
<p>Peter Dutton needed to sketch a big picture in his Thursday night budget reply – to look like an alternative prime minister. He failed to do so. </p>
<p>With the Liberals rating parlously among those aged under 40, Dutton should have been speaking especially to these voters. But his address was more of the same from a Coalition that’s unable to refresh and regroup. </p>
<p>The bar was always going to be too high for Dutton. This week’s budget, whatever criticisms can be made of it and however things work out in the months ahead, has been an elusive target for the Liberals. </p>
<p>Dutton pointed to the formidable issues Australia is grappling with – very high inflation, a housing and rental crisis, crippling power bills, millions of people having gone backwards. </p>
<p>But he lacked prescriptions, let alone ones that were any more convincing than the government’s are. </p>
<p>He risked the government’s accusation of “punching down”, dividing those on welfare (who have benefitted from the budget) and working people on low wages. The cost-of-living relief “is targeted at Australians on welfare but at the expense of the many including Labor’s working poor”. The budget “hurts working Australians”, he declared; “worse, it risks creating a generation of working poor Australians”. </p>
<p>Dutton ticked off on budget items the Coalition agrees with or doesn’t oppose. But he left up in the air the fate of the $40 a fortnight rise in JobSeeker, arguing it would be better to raise the amount the unemployed could earn, rather than increasing the base rate. Interviewed later, he would not confirm the Coalition would support the $40 increase, but it is hard to see it opposing it when push comes to shove. Nevertheless, he has left himself vulnerable to obvious attack. </p>
<p>Dutton homed in on concern, which is likely to grow, about the looming large net migration influx (much of it a post pandemic “catch up”). Labor’s “big Australia approach” would worsen Australia’s cost-of-living and inflation problems, he said. </p>
<p>“Over five years, net overseas migration will see our population increase by 1.5 million people,” he said. “It’s the biggest migration surge in our country’s history and it’s occurring amidst a housing and rental crisis.”</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-day-after-the-night-before-chalmers-and-taylor-on-the-budget-205431">The day after the night before - Chalmers and Taylor on the budget</a>
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<p>Yet Dutton did not say what his alternative would be – his statement a Coalition government would “sensibly manage migration” is a declaration of intent, not a policy. </p>
<p>He had plenty of familiar Coalition lines and sentiments. “Under a Coalition government I lead, your taxes will always be lower.” “Taxation is the killer of aspiration.” “Labor recklessly spends, carelessly cuts and inadequately saves.” </p>
<p>But his policy offerings were small beer: a ban on sports betting ads during the broadcasting of games; commitments on health; imposing a greater onus on big digital companies to stop scams and financial fraud; the restoration of the cashless debit card. A personal priority was a promise to double the size of the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation.</p>
<p>What was missing was any ambitious initiative on a central issue. While it’s still relatively early in the term, and Anthony Albanese showed the benefit of holding policy back, Dutton is in a different situation. </p>
<p>He is confronting a popular government, not one on the slide. And voters won’t be attracted to an opposition that can’t project what it stands for, or whose values are seeming out of sync with the times. </p>
<p>Notably, Dutton as yet is giving no commitment on one significant tax measure in the budget – the changes to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, due to yield $2.4 billion over the forward estimates. The government hopes for opposition support, rather than a haggle with the Greens, whose leader Adam Bandt on Thursday said his party would, if it had the opportunity, fight to make the companies “pay their fair share of tax”. </p>
<p>The Greens’ aggressive response to the budget has underscored the challenge ahead for Labor from an increasingly assertive electoral competitor.</p>
<p>This came in a week when the broader hostility between Greens and Labor exploded in the Senate. </p>
<p>The Greens sided with the Coalition to prevent the government bringing to a vote on Thursday legislation for its $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, the interest on which would finance social and affordable houses. </p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-the-budget-does-not-make-further-interest-rate-rises-more-likely-205391">No, the budget does not make further interest rate rises more likely</a>
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<p>Senate leader Penny Wong lashed out at Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather (who last year won the Queensland seat of Griffith from Labor), accusing him of “prioritising media attention from stunts and obstruction over housing for women and kids fleeing domestic violence”.</p>
<p>“This man’s ego matters more than housing for women fleeing domestic violence and older women at risk of homelessness. What sort of party are you?” she said.</p>
<p>The Greens and Coalition also teamed up to ensure a longer Senate inquiry on family law legislation. </p>
<p>In response to the budget, predictably the Greens have delivered biting assessments, declaring it hasn’t gone far enough to help the needy. </p>
<p>Ahead of next year’s budget, this pressure from the left will just intensify. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/budget-2023-at-a-glance-major-measures-cuts-and-spends-205211">Budget 2023 at a glance: major measures, cuts and spends</a>
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<p>The government’s economic inclusion advisory group, which was a major player in forcing the budget’s across-the-board (modest) rise in JobSeeker will produce another pre-budget report. That will inevitably urge further rises in welfare payments. </p>
<p>Assuming the government fell short of meeting the full recommendations, this would be manna for the Greens. And there’ll be a fresh round in the argument over the Stage 3 tax cuts. If these are not recalibrated, the Greens will have more ammunition. </p>
<p>Framing the 2024 budget, the government could be pulled between delivering more on welfare, keeping its promises on the tax cuts and, with an eye to the election due by May 2025, doing something substantial for middle Australia. </p>
<p>The last election, which added three more seats to the Greens’ lower house representation, bringing them to four, and boosted their Senate numbers from nine to 12 (now 11 with Lidia Thorpe’s defection), was a sharp reminder to Labor that the threat to it from the left is on the march. </p>
<p>It’s perhaps telling that budget week has seen the government rather complacent in the face of a weak opposition, but agitated by the minor party.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199110/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The bar was always too hard for Dutton. This week’s budget, whatever criticisms can be made of it, has been an elusive target for the Liberals
Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/204105
2023-04-28T05:40:50Z
2023-04-28T05:40:50Z
Premier League’s front-of-shirt gambling ad ban is a flawed approach. Australia should learn from it
<p>“Excellent decision.”</p>
<p>This was the reaction from English football great Gary Lineker to the <a href="https://twitter.com/premierleague/status/1646469550106345472?s=20">announcement that the English Premier League</a> has agreed to voluntarily “withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of their matchday shirts”. </p>
<p>The league announced its decision after an “extensive consultation” with the UK government about its review of gambling legislation. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1646471488688599040"}"></div></p>
<p>This decision was held up by the government as a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-stakes-gambling-reform-for-the-digital-age/high-stakes-gambling-reform-for-the-digital-age">key strategy</a> to reduce children’s incidental exposure to gambling logos while watching football, in the UK’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/gambling-reform-in-the-digital-age">gambling white paper</a> released Thursday.</p>
<p>The white paper also identified the front-of-shirt ban as part of an effort to move towards “socially responsible” sports sponsorship. </p>
<p>Some UK campaigners cautiously welcomed the decision, saying it was an important admission from the Premier League that <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1646783724405530628?s=20">gambling advertising is harmful</a>.</p>
<p>In Australia, some gambling reform groups said the measure was <a href="https://twitter.com/ReformGambling/status/1646770316545343488?s=20">great news</a>, and that Australian sporting codes should do the same.</p>
<p>However, in the following days, extensive criticism of the deal emerged. <a href="https://twitter.com/felly500/status/1646869806547718147?s=20">Public health experts</a> and other stakeholders argued the measure was more about public relations than harm prevention. </p>
<p>Experts argued the ban would do little to tackle the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9c3713ab-4317-4205-96ce-1075ecc5f865?accessToken=zwAF-dLxW63YkdOcNxOrQxdCBdOWzhB17MX4ZQ.MEUCIFx5oi98ZhAh3FTD_BpyqM1tP72rNMeLJwnbD1kGhrbZAiEA2RJOC47Nt7PmRTa3Fn39YPJ5JU94qGDsv2vsfHF87OU&sharetype=gift&token=000a957f-9f7e-432f-ad15-915115b38fb2">entrenched relationship between the gambling industry and sport</a>, and could even be a step backwards. </p>
<p>Many were concerned the measure deflected from the urgent need for comprehensive restrictions on gambling marketing – a measure widely supported to prevent the normalisation of gambling for children.</p>
<p>And the UK white paper did little to implement the comprehensive restrictions needed to <a href="http://www.adph.org.uk/2023/04/wpresponse/">reduce children’s daily exposure to gambling promotions</a>.</p>
<h2>A flawed approach</h2>
<p>At the heart of the criticisms were that the decision, as well as related measures, did very little to address the proliferation of gambling marketing in sport. </p>
<p>The agreement:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>only removes a small part of marketing on the front of matchday shirts. This leaves the door open for gambling branding to remain on other parts of the uniform, and on other kits</p></li>
<li><p>doesn’t address marketing or branding around sporting grounds</p></li>
<li><p>will not be implemented until the end of the 2025-26 season – hardly a sign of an urgent imperative to reduce the marketing of a harmful product</p></li>
<li><p>includes a promise to establish a “new code for responsible gambling sponsorship”</p></li>
<li><p>and seemingly <a href="https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/38/2/daac194/7080461">ignores the evidence</a> that voluntary codes serve primarily to <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p161.full">protect the interests of advertisers</a>, not the community.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The flaws with the Premier League’s decision highlight the significant problems with allowing those with vested interests to make decisions about what they’re prepared to engage in (or not) to protect the health of the public. </p>
<p>History shows <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)62089-3/fulltext">these types of initiatives are rarely effective</a> in reducing marketing for these products, or in <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(19)32540-1/fulltext?fbclid=IwAR2TJ3MJNaZuL9d4g2DWxu04mVxFGzJahxBR4BTHk332kdkZ_LfAdHETaJs">protecting children</a>. </p>
<p>Far from signalling progress, they serve to delay regulation that would protect public health. Voluntary measures and self-regulation are convenient for governments that don’t want to regulate a powerful industry. They form part of the narrative for government that “something is being done”.</p>
<h2>Vested interests</h2>
<p>In Australia, sporting organisations have a significant vested interest in making money from gambling products, sponsorships and promotions. Some, including the AFL, also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/04/afl-receives-cut-of-gambling-turnover-outside-sponsorship-inquiry-hears">receive a cut of gambling turnover on matches</a>. </p>
<p>Peak sporting bodies <a href="https://www.compps.com.au/index.html">claim</a> sport delivers “long-term social, health, community and economic benefits”. While this is clearly true in many cases, it’s inconsistent with the stance many Australian sporting codes have taken on gambling. This is especially so given the <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/gambling-victoria/gambling-harm-victoria/types-harm-gambling/">irrefutable links</a> between gambling and some of Australia’s most pressing health and social problems, including homelessness, family violence, criminality and mental health issues.</p>
<p>Instead of taking a strong stand to restrict gambling marketing, some sporting codes have continued to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hpja.721">normalise the promotion of gambling products</a>. We saw this all too clearly in the recent <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=COMMITTEES;id=committees%2Fcommrep%2F26412%2F0004;query=Id%3A%22committees%2Fcommrep%2F26412%2F0000%22">testimonies of the chief executives of the AFL and NRL</a> to the current Australian Parliamentary Inquiry into Online Gambling. </p>
<p>The AFL and NRL chiefs, Gillon McLachlan and Andrew Abdo, did acknowledge concerns about gambling marketing, and said responsibility to the community was taken “seriously”. But both spoke repeatedly about the need for regulatory “balance” in relation to gambling. </p>
<p>McLachlan added: “I don’t believe that brand advertising per se is too much.”</p>
<p>But our research tells a different story. </p>
<h2>Normalising gambling for kids</h2>
<p>Children as young as eight have <a href="https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/38/2/daac194/7080461">awareness and recall of gambling brands and promotions</a>. They can name multiple gambling brands, describe the advertising in detail, and even tell us what colours certain gambling companies are. Young people tell us that much of this awareness comes from seeing gambling marketing in sport. </p>
<p>The gambling industry is also becoming more creative in linking gambling with sport. This includes promotions on <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-tv-to-tiktok-young-people-are-exposed-to-gambling-promotions-everywhere-200067">platforms such as TikTok</a>. Sportsbet chief executive Barni Evans justified these promotions by <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=COMMITTEES;id=committees%2Fcommrep%2F26412%2F0005;query=Id%3A%22committees%2Fcommrep%2F26412%2F0000%22">telling</a> the parliamentary inquiry “we only work with partners such as TikTok who have reliable and robust age-gating technology”. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1629036740626493440"}"></div></p>
<h2>Learning from tobacco control</h2>
<p>Government action is clearly the most effective intervention in curbing marketing for harmful products. That’s why governments took decisions about advertising and sponsorship away from the tobacco industry. </p>
<p>Sporting organisations also resisted restrictions on tobacco advertising and sponsorship (with many of the same arguments now used in defence of gambling promotions).</p>
<p>But history shows us that <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-push-to-end-tobacco-advertising-in-the-1970s-could-be-used-to-curb-gambling-ads-today-200915">legislated bans</a> on tobacco advertising through sport made a huge difference to <a href="https://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-11-advertising/11-1-the-merits-of-banning-tobacco-advertising">preventing young people from being exposed</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="VicHealth anti-smoking campaign poster." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523379/original/file-20230428-22-27pgvp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523379/original/file-20230428-22-27pgvp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523379/original/file-20230428-22-27pgvp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523379/original/file-20230428-22-27pgvp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523379/original/file-20230428-22-27pgvp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523379/original/file-20230428-22-27pgvp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523379/original/file-20230428-22-27pgvp.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Strong action was taken by governments on tobacco sponsorship in sport.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/VicHealth-30th-anniversary.pdf">© Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gambling-needs-tobacco-like-regulation-in-sports-advertising-and-sponsorship-123106">Gambling needs tobacco-like regulation in sports advertising and sponsorship</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>An opportunity for change</h2>
<p>The Australian parliamentary inquiry into online gambling is looking at how to best respond to gambling marketing. It’s important we don’t follow the ineffective voluntary approach to marketing restrictions that the UK is taking. </p>
<p>As public pressure for action grows, we’re likely to see vested interests offering further minor concessions that have little impact on their advertising or their capacity to target young people.</p>
<p>We need strong action by governments, not small steps that <a href="https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-018-0254-6">lead nowhere</a>. Gambling and sporting bodies should play no part in decisions about keeping young people and the community safe from this predatory industry.</p>
<p>And their predatory ads should be removed completely from the sporting arena, not just the front of matchday shirts in the English Premier League.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204105/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samantha Thomas has received funding for gambling research from the Australian Research Council, Healthway, the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, and the NSW Office for Gambing. She is currently the Editor in Chief of Health Promotion International, an Oxford University Press Journal. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Hannah Pitt has received funding for gambling research from the Australian Research Council, the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the NSW Office for Responsible Gambling, VicHealth and Deakin University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Simone McCarthy has been employed on research projects that are funded by the Australian Research Council and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.</span></em></p>
It’s important Australia doesn’t follow the ineffective voluntary approach to gambling marketing that the UK is taking.
Samantha Thomas, Professor of Public Health, Deakin University
Hannah Pitt, VicHealth Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Deakin University
Simone McCarthy, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Deakin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/200143
2023-03-10T13:39:57Z
2023-03-10T13:39:57Z
As March Madness looms, growth in legalized sports betting may pose a threat to college athletes
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514515/original/file-20230309-121-7lawh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C14%2C4977%2C2679&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Americans are expected to bet $167 billion on sports in 2029.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/businessman-holding-large-amount-of-bills-at-soccer-royalty-free-image/1166524604?phrase=sports%20betting&adppopup=true">Sutad Watthanakul via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/bracketiq/2023-02-07/what-march-madness-ncaa-tournament-explained">March Madness</a> begins on <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-03-02/2023-march-madness-mens-ncaa-tournament-schedule-dates-times">March 14, 2023</a>, it’s a sure bet that millions of Americans will be making wagers on the annual college basketball tournament.</p>
<p>The American Gaming Association estimates that in 2022, 45 million people – or more than 17% of American adults – <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/resources/march-madness-2022/">planned to wager US$3.1 billion</a> on the NCAA tournament. That makes it one of the nation’s most popular sports betting events, alongside contests such as <a href="https://www.olbg.com/us/blogs/biggest-sports-betting-events">the Kentucky Derby and the Super Bowl</a>. By at least one estimate, March Madness is the <a href="https://www.goldengatecasino.com/blog/biggest-sporting-events-betting/">most popular betting target of all</a>. </p>
<p>While people have been <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-march-madness-gambling/">betting on March Madness for years</a>, one difference now is that betting on college sports is legal in many states. This is largely due to a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/14/politics/sports-betting-ncaa-supreme-court/index.html">cleared the way</a> for each state to decide whether to permit people to gamble on sporting events. Prior to the ruling, legal sports betting was only allowed in Nevada. </p>
<p>Since the ruling, sports betting has grown dramatically. Currently, <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/general/news/u-s-sports-betting-heres-where-all-50-states-stand-on-legalizing-sports-gambling-usa-mobile-bets/">36 states allow</a> some form of legalized sports betting. And now, Georgia, Maine and Kentucky are <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/general/news/u-s-sports-betting-heres-where-all-50-states-stand-on-legalizing-sports-gambling-american-mobile-bets/">proposing legislation to make sports betting legal</a>.</p>
<p>About two weeks after sports betting became <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/">legal in Ohio on Jan. 1, 2023</a>, someone, disappointed by an unexpected <a href="https://www.si.com/college/2023/01/18/dayton-basketball-coach-anthony-grant-slams-gamblers-who-threaten-players">loss of the University of Dayton men’s basketball team</a> to Virginia Commonwealth University, <a href="https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/college/othercolleges/2023/01/18/dayton-coach-anthony-grant-sickened-by-sports-gambling-related-threats-directed-at-flyers-players/69817189007/">made threats</a> and <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/dayton-coach-anthony-grant-points-to-gambling-while-sharing-threatening-voicemail-he-received-225615341.html#:%7E:text=Grant%20erupted%20on%20certain%20Dayton,1.">left disparaging messages</a> against Dayton <a href="https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2023/01/19/-how-sports-betting-effects-college-athletes">athletes and the coaching staff</a>. </p>
<p>The Ohio case is by no means isolated. In 2019, a Babson College student who was a “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/30/sports-gambling-college-addison-chois-racist-death-threats-athletes/1284309001/">prolific sports gambler</a>” was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/california-man-sentenced-sending-death-threats-dozens-professional-and-college-athletes">sentenced to 18 months in prison</a> for sending death threats to at least 45 professional and collegiate athletes in 2017.</p>
<p>Faculty members of <a href="https://miamioh.edu/aspire/muirgls/index.html">Miami University’s Institute for Responsible Gaming, Lottery, and Sports</a> are concerned that the increasing prevalence of sports betting could potentially lead to more such incidents, putting more athletes in danger of threats from disgruntled gamblers who blame them for their gambling losses.</p>
<p>The anticipated growth in sports gambling is quite sizable. Analysts estimate the market in the U.S. may reach <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/07/14/2479929/0/en/Sports-Betting-Market-Size-Is-Likely-to-Experience-a-Tremendous-Growth-of-USD-167-66-billion-by-2029-registering-a-CAGR-of-10-26-by-Size-and-Share-Industry-Growth-Regional-Outlook-.html">over US$167 billion by 2029</a>.</p>
<h2>Gambling makes inroads into colleges</h2>
<p>Concerns over college athletes being targeted by upset gamblers are not new. <a href="https://www.si.com/betting/2021/08/09/gambling-issue-the-athletes">Players</a> and <a href="https://www.covers.com/industry/massachusetts-player-union-athlete-protection-sports-betting-january-2023">sports organizations</a> have expressed worry that expanded gambling could lead to harassment and compromise their safety. Such concerns led the nation’s major sports organizations – MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and NCAA – to <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/8243013/ncaa-4-pro-leagues-sue-new-jersey-sports-betting">sue New Jersey in 2012</a> over a plan to initiate legal sports betting in that state. They argued that sports betting would make the public think that games were being thrown. Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled that it was <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/14/politics/sports-betting-ncaa-supreme-court/index.html">up to states to decide</a> if they wanted to permit legal gambling.</p>
<p>Sports betting has also made inroads into America’s college campuses. Some universities, such as Louisiana State University and Michigan State University, have <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/sports-betting-on-college-campuses-what-to-know">signed multimillion-dollar deals with casinos or gaming companies</a> to promote gambling on campus.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514531/original/file-20230309-26-vkd0po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A girl looks excitedly at her cell phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514531/original/file-20230309-26-vkd0po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514531/original/file-20230309-26-vkd0po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514531/original/file-20230309-26-vkd0po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514531/original/file-20230309-26-vkd0po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514531/original/file-20230309-26-vkd0po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514531/original/file-20230309-26-vkd0po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514531/original/file-20230309-26-vkd0po.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sports betting has made inroads into colleges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/studio-portrait-of-happy-girl-reading-message-with-royalty-free-image/1371177390?phrase=college%20students%20betting%20on%20sports&adppopup=true">Wpadington via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Athletic conferences are also cashing in on the data related to these games and events. For instance, the Mid-Atlantic Conference <a href="https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2022/03/09/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/MAC-Genius.aspx">signed a lucrative five-year deal</a> in 2022 to provide real-time statistical event data to gambling companies, which then leverage the data to create real-time wager opportunities during sporting events.</p>
<p>As sports betting comes to colleges and universities, it means the schools will inevitably have to deal with some of the <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-sports-overlooked-gambling-issue-improprieties-being-ignored-as-betting-soars-nationwide/#:%7E:text=The%20NCAA%20continues%20to%20prohibit,some%20time%20to%20be%20refined.">negative aspects of gambling</a>. This potentially includes more than just gambling addiction. It could also involve the potential for student-athletes and coaches to become targets of threats, intimidation or bribes to influence the outcome of events.</p>
<p>The risk for addiction on campus is real. According to the National Council on Problem Gambling, over 2 million adults in the U.S. <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/faq/">have a “serious” gambling problem</a>, and another 4 million to 6 million may have mild to moderate problems. One report estimates that <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/sports-betting-on-college-campuses-what-to-know">6% of college students have a serious gambling problem</a>.</p>
<h2>What can be done</h2>
<p>Colleges and universities don’t have to sit idly by as gambling grows.</p>
<p>Two faculty fellows at Miami University’s <a href="https://miamioh.edu/aspire/muirgls/index.html">Institute for Responsible Gaming, Lottery, and Sport</a> – former Ohio State Senator William Coley and Sharon Custer – recommend that regulators and policymakers work with colleges and universities to reduce the potential harm from the growth in legal gaming. Specifically, they recommend that each state regulatory authority:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Develop plans to coordinate between different governmental agencies to ensure that individuals found guilty of violations are sanctioned in other jurisdictions.</p></li>
<li><p>Dedicate some of the revenue from gaming to develop educational materials and support services for athletes and those around them.</p></li>
<li><p>Create anonymous tip lines to report threats, intimidation or influence, and fund an independent entity to respond to these reports.</p></li>
<li><p>Assess and protect athlete privacy. For instance, schools might decline to publish contact information for student-athletes and coaches in public directories.</p></li>
<li><p>Train athletes and those around them on basic privacy management. For instance, schools might advise athletes to not post on public social media outlets, especially if the post gives away their physical location.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The NCAA or athletic conferences could lead the development of resources, policies and sanctions that serve to educate, protect and support student-athletes and others around them who work at the schools for which they play. This will require significant investment to be comprehensive and effective.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200143/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason W. Osborne is affiliated with Miami University</span></em></p>
As sports betting becomes more prevalent, so do the risks to college athletes, gaming experts argue.
Jason W. Osborne, Professor of Statistics, Institute for Responsible Gaming, Lottery, and Sport, Miami University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/200915
2023-03-05T19:20:16Z
2023-03-05T19:20:16Z
How the push to end tobacco advertising in the 1970s could be used to curb gambling ads today
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513337/original/file-20230303-22-gxmkp6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Smith/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you think you are seeing a lot more gambling ads on television and online platforms, you are not imagining it. They are so common that <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/high-profile-players-refuse-to-play-ball-on-afl-betting-ads-20230228-p5cobo.html">high-profile AFL players have refused</a> to participate in sponsored gambling. </p>
<p>Online gambling companies are ploughing huge amounts of money into advertising, and for good reason. The ads work. While fewer people are gambling overall, online gambling is a booming industry.</p>
<p>There are uncanny parallels between the public health challenges posed by gambling advertising today and tobacco advertising 50 years ago. In 1970, a tobacco ad ran on Australian television every eight to 14 minutes. These ads portrayed smoking as cool and adult, and often relied on celebrity endorsements. They worked, driving a new generation of youth into smoking amid predictions of a dramatic increase in the future cancer burden.</p>
<p>Like the tobacco industry in earlier decades, online gambling advertising targets young people. Advertisements that use laconic, blokey humour and carefully selected celebrities like former American basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal and American actor Mark Wahlberg are skilfully designed to appeal to 18-to-24-year-old men. <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-netball-australia-eyes-betting-sponsorship-women-and-girls-are-at-increased-risk-of-gambling-harm-185407">Young women also represent a growing customer base</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513338/original/file-20230303-18-7b1r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513338/original/file-20230303-18-7b1r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513338/original/file-20230303-18-7b1r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513338/original/file-20230303-18-7b1r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513338/original/file-20230303-18-7b1r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513338/original/file-20230303-18-7b1r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513338/original/file-20230303-18-7b1r25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Most Australian children aged eight to 16 think gambling is a normal part of sport.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Worryingly, <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-tv-to-tiktok-young-people-are-exposed-to-gambling-promotions-everywhere-200067">research</a> has shown children as young as 11 are susceptible to the marketing and sales tactics of betting agencies, and that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1753-6405.12564">75% of 8-to-16-year-olds</a> think gambling is just a normal or common part of sport.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-netball-australia-eyes-betting-sponsorship-women-and-girls-are-at-increased-risk-of-gambling-harm-185407">As Netball Australia eyes betting sponsorship, women and girls are at increased risk of gambling harm</a>
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<p>As with Commonwealth governments in the 1960s when faced with tobacco advertising, today’s politicians have tinkered around the edges of gambling advertising reform, but shied away from decisive action. </p>
<p>In 2018, the Turnbull government <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-06/gambling-ads-during-live-sporting-events-to-be-banned/8502524">banned</a> gambling ads before 8.30pm on live sports events. But gambling companies <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-netball-australia-eyes-betting-sponsorship-women-and-girls-are-at-increased-risk-of-gambling-harm-185407">easily circumvent</a> these laws. They simply flood the half-time break and post-match coverage with ads. <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/articles/2022-10/seven-and-nine-breach-gambling-advertising-rules">They have even breached the law</a>. </p>
<p>Streaming services remain completely unregulated, and ads are ubiquitous on platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.</p>
<p>Gambling companies, like tobacco companies before them, proclaim their own efforts at self-regulation by providing embedded warnings that champion “<a href="https://helpcentre.sportsbet.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/115004973288-Responsible-Gambling">responsible gambling</a>”. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-netball-australia-eyes-betting-sponsorship-women-and-girls-are-at-increased-risk-of-gambling-harm-185407">As Netball Australia eyes betting sponsorship, women and girls are at increased risk of gambling harm</a>
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<p>Yet phrases used in their ads, such as “bet responsibly, no matter who you bet with”, have no demonstrable effect on dangerous gambling behaviours. Punters simply ignore warnings against excessive or problem gambling. They <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35413823/">buy into</a> the responsible gambling trope and believe they have control.</p>
<p>As with the link between smoking and lung cancer, the harms associated with gambling are well established. Apart from the massive financial losses – an estimated <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/communities-and-vulnerable-people-programs-services/gambling">$25 billion</a> in 2018-19 – there are cascading physical and mental health impacts. These include suicide, incapacity to work or study, damage to close relationships and, in some cases, a resort to criminal behaviour.</p>
<p>In 1970, a large majority of the Australian public (74%) disliked cigarette ads and wanted them banned. The figure is similar for gambling advertising today. In a 2022 survey, <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Polling-Advertising-on-TV-Web-1.pdf">71%</a> agreed these ads should be banned.</p>
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<p>In the face of such a compelling case for action, why won’t governments act? Back in the 1970s, the tobacco industry and the television and radio stations on which they advertised (to the tune of $125 million a year in today’s money) were powerful lobby groups that reached into the heart of government. </p>
<p>While health experts and organisations like the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria (now Cancer Council of Victoria) advocated for reform, tobacco growers, cigarette companies, the media and those politicians beholden to these interests pushed back.</p>
<p>In a familiar pattern, the online gambling industry <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/dark-money-and-gambling-companies-flood-political-donations-20230210-p5cjgs.html">exerts its influence increasingly</a> in the political arena. Sportsbet, for example, donated <a href="https://transparency.aec.gov.au/AnnualDonor/ReturnDetail?returnId=65646">$313,424 to political parties in 2022</a>, spreading its contributions between the Coalition and the ALP. </p>
<p>It <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/michelle-rowland-s-8960-rockpool-election-eve-fundraising-dinner-paid-for-by-sportsbet-20230206-p5ci49.html">donated $19,000 in 2022</a> to the election campaign of the now Communications Minister Michelle Rowland, whose portfolio includes advertising regulation. Given that gambling companies provide a <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/gambling-victoria/gambling-advertising/">significant and expanding source of revenue</a> for both conventional and new media companies, they form a powerful coalition of self-interest.</p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-tv-to-tiktok-young-people-are-exposed-to-gambling-promotions-everywhere-200067">From TV to TikTok, young people are exposed to gambling promotions everywhere</a>
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<p>So, how did the anti-tobacco lobby burst through a similar impasse 50 years ago? And can we transfer these lessons to the present?</p>
<p>The Victorian Anti-Cancer Council, then led by Dr Nigel Gray, and other cancer control bodies led a sustained program of non-partisan, evidence-based advocacy to government about the health effects of smoking, and the links between advertising and youth smoking uptake.</p>
<p>But the act that finally embarrassed the government into action was a series of 26 anti-tobacco ads starring celebrity actors Warren Mitchell and Miriam Karlin from the UK and Australian Fred Parslow. Conceived by Gray, his director of public education, David Hill, and advertising creative John Bevins, the ads lampooned tobacco advertising with satire. </p>
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<p>For instance, they contrasted the illusion of the international jet-setting lifestyle portrayed in the adverts with the realities of lung cancer and repulsive coughing. An important feature of the campaign was the inclusion of one “straight” educational advertisement on the dangers of smoking and the effect of tobacco ads on youth by the first Australian of the Year, esteemed Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sir Frank McFarlane Burnet.</p>
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<p>The television channels played into Gray’s plan by refusing to air the Anti-Cancer Council ads. The print media picked up the story of Burnet being denied a chance to speak to the public. The Coalition government was criticised for failing to intervene despite public support for limiting or banning tobacco advertising, and the evidence from <a href="http://directory.umm.ac.id/Journals/Journal%2520of%2520Health%2520Economics/Vol19.Issue6.Dec2001/683.pdf">Denmark, the US and the UK</a>, presented by Gray, showing that banning tobacco advertising reduced youth smoking. </p>
<p>Embarrassed, the government forced the TV stations to air the anti-tobacco ads in July 1971, creating even more media scrutiny. The public attention brought by this debacle finally pressured the McMahon government into introducing some limits on tobacco advertising.</p>
<p>When Gough Whitlam won the 1972 election, Labor legislated a phased ban on tobacco advertising. Despite internal debate within the Liberal Party, the subsequent Fraser government maintained it and implemented a total ban on tobacco advertising on television and radio by 1977 — a major win for tobacco control and public health.</p>
<p>The media environment has clearly changed markedly since the 1970s. But the success of the highly creative 1971 anti-tobacco campaign offers some inspiration for taking on gambling, which is among the major public health issues of our time. </p>
<p>Gray recognised that merely providing honest information about smoking was not enough. The tobacco control effort had to galvanise public dissatisfaction and motivate media action through evidence-driven, high-profile advocacy. A similar approach could be a way of forcing government to take action against the powerful interest groups supporting pervasive gambling advertising today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200915/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolyn Holbrook receives funding from the Australian Research Council. This research was supported by Australian Research Council Linkage grant LP210100204, 'Cancer Culture: Understanding Anti-Cancer Campaigns in Australia'. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Kehoe receives funding from the Australian Research Council. This research was supported by Australian Research Council Linkage grant LP210100204, 'Cancer Culture: Understanding Anti-Cancer Campaigns in Australia'. He is affiliated with Cancer Council Victoria. </span></em></p>
In the 1970s, the Anti-Cancer Council launched a concerted, evidence-based public health campaign to end tobacco advertising – and many of their strategies could be used today on gambling advertising.
Carolyn Holbrook, Senior Lecturer in History, Deakin University
Thomas Kehoe, Historian, Cancer Council Victoria
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199354
2023-02-14T21:54:27Z
2023-02-14T21:54:27Z
Gambling Act review: how EU countries are tightening restrictions on ads and why the UK should too
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508437/original/file-20230206-13-ysb1s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C13%2C940%2C622&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The UK is currently review its gambling regulations.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marko Aliaksandr/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the 2005 Gambling Act was drafted the world was very different. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube didn’t exist. Gambling was often seen as a shady activity typically conducted in smoky high-street betting shops. You certainly couldn’t use a smartphone to gamble 24/7 with a couple of clicks.</p>
<p>Aware of these changes, in 2019 the UK government announced a review to ensure that the Gambling Act was “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-gambling-act-2005-terms-of-reference-and-call-for-evidence/review-of-the-gambling-act-2005-terms-of-reference-and-call-for-evidence">fit for the digital age</a>”. The government recently <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-government-deliver-for-the-british-people/making-government-deliver-for-the-british-people-html">called the review a priority</a> but has not announced a new date for its publication <a href="https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/football-news/wife-nottingham-forest-legend-slams-8130442">after announcing a delay in July 2022</a>.</p>
<p>As the government contemplates how to regulate this industry, new rules are needed to cover, not just sports betting, but the rise of online casinos, poker matches and virtual slot machines in the internet age.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/esports-could-be-quietly-spawning-a-whole-new-generation-of-problem-gamblers-147124">Esports could be quietly spawning a whole new generation of problem gamblers</a>
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<p>In particular, reform of gambling advertising is sorely needed. It has morphed out of all recognition in the last 18 years. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/05/gambling-logos-feature-700-times-in-football-match-says-ch4-documentary">Gambling logos</a> can be seen 700 times during major football matches on TV, while the social media accounts of big betting companies post <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0743915621999674">over 28,000 ads per year</a>. </p>
<p>Research shows that gambling ads on Twitter are <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/management/documents/what-are-the-odds-rossi-nairn-2021.pdf">particularly appealing to children and young people</a>. So it is perhaps no surprise that as many as 30,000 young people aged 11 to 16 may suffer from <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/publication/young-people-and-gambling-2022">harmful gambling habits</a>. Gambling harms include financial, emotional and social difficulties.</p>
<p>Another recent study indicated a link between exposure to gambling ads <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350622003420">and suffering from such harms</a> for all age groups. This is particularly worrying since there are already <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gambling-related-harms-evidence-review/gambling-related-harms-evidence-review-summary--2">400 gambling-related suicides every year</a> in the UK.</p>
<p>But the UK is actually at the global forefront of gambling <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40429-022-00457-0">advertising deregulation</a>, while other European countries have been tightening these rules. From changes announced in Italy four years ago to more recent reforms in Germany, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands over the last few months, the UK could learn a lot from these regulatory approaches.</p>
<h2>Italy: a complete ban on all gambling advertising</h2>
<p>At the start of 2019, Italy banned almost all gambling marketing. The Decreto Dignità (Dignity Decree) prohibited all TV, radio, press and internet gambling marketing. This blanket ban was brought in shortly after a study highlighted that 3% of the Italian population was <a href="https://www.minervamedica.it/en/journals/minerva-forensic-medicine/article.php?cod=R11Y2021N02A0029&acquista=1">suffering from gambling harms</a>. </p>
<p>The gambling industry said <a href="https://www.gamblinginsider.com/magazine/114/did-the-industry-cry-wolf-over-italy">such a ban would be ineffective</a> at addressing betting in settings such as shops or casinos. And that it would encourage customers to use illegal gambling sites such as unregulated online casinos. </p>
<p>It also complained that industry revenue dropped <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1063911/players-losses-of-money-in-the-gambling-market-in-italy/">from €19 billion in 2018 to €15 billion in 2021</a>. But since gambling revenue remained consistent until February 2020, it is <a href="https://www.gamblinginsider.com/magazine/114/did-the-industry-cry-wolf-over-italy">generally accepted</a> that this drop resulted from the COVID lockdowns, when sports events came to an almost total halt.</p>
<p><strong>Different approaches to gambling regulation</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Produced by the authors.</span>
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<h2>Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany: one step at a time</h2>
<p>Other EU countries have taken a more piecemeal approach to recent reforms than Italy.</p>
<p>In 2018 Belgium <a href="https://www.finsmes.com/2018/09/belgium-toughens-up-on-gambling-advertising.html">banned</a> the broadcasting of gambling adverts 15 minutes before or after children’s programming, public posters for gambling, and direct advertising to named individuals in any form. Even these moves were deemed inadequate, with the Belgian Justice Minister <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/223595/gambling-is-the-new-smoking-belgium-to-ban-nearly-all-betting-ads">arguing last year</a>: “Gambling advertising is fired at us from all sides every day and encourages these addictions, including among young people.” </p>
<p>Subsequently, the Belgian government <a href="https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2022/12/19/65456-belgium-approves-draft-royal-decree-to-restrict-gambling-advertising-as-of-june-2023">approved new legislation</a> in December 2022 to ban gambling advertising almost entirely as of July 2023. </p>
<p>The Netherlands has focused on restricting <a href="https://fd.nl/bedrijfsleven/1444902/kabinet-legt-gokreclames-verder-aan-banden">mass marketing</a> on television, radio, internet search engines and public spaces. This approach aims to prevent a <a href="https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-compliance/regulation/holding-back-tide/">“bombardment” of gambling ads</a>, particularly to children and young people.</p>
<p>Germany’s June 2021 <a href="https://www.cliffordchance.com/content/dam/cliffordchance/briefings/2021/07/new-german-interstate-treaty-on-gambling-entered-into-effect.pdf">State Treaty on Gambling</a> is the least restrictive measure of the four EU countries that have made the most recent changes to gambling regulations.</p>
<p>It includes a ban on advertising to minors or at-risk groups (such as people likely to suffer from certain mental health conditions, or who previously suffered from a gambling addiction). But most interesting is Germany’s “watershed” approach to licensed online casinos, poker and virtual slot operators. Gambling adverts for these providers are prohibited on radio, TV and the internet between 6am and 9pm. </p>
<p>While the UK also has a watershed approach, this only applies to TV adverts during live sporting events. In the digital era, this seems insufficient.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man using online sports betting services on phone and laptop" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">There have also been calls for online sports betting restrictions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>A senior commissioner in Germany’s ministry for health <a href="https://www.bundesdrogenbeauftragter.de/presse/detail/sucht-und-drogenbeauftragter-stellt-schwerpunkte-vor/">championed</a> this measure and also wants to expand it to sports betting.</p>
<p>Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany all have restrictions around sports betting given the close relationship between sport (particularly football) and gambling. In Germany, advertising with active athletes and officials is prohibited. <a href="https://thelawreviews.co.uk/title/the-gambling-law-review/belgium">Belgium</a>, the Netherlands and Italy have strong restrictions on most sports betting marketing including betting ads during football matches and full sponsorship bans.</p>
<p>A number of UK campaigners have called for a similar approach, including <a href="https://the-bigstep.com/">the Big Step</a> initiative, whose supporters include former England football star Peter Shilton.</p>
<h2>Reviewing the UK Gambling Act</h2>
<p>These four EU countries’ recent gambling reforms have been quite different, but they all have one thing in common: substantial legislative reforms. </p>
<p>For the UK, our research shows that the safest option, particularly for children and people at risk, is a full advertising and sponsorship ban such as Italy and Belgium have executed.</p>
<p>The UK gambling industry and its lobbying group, the Betting and Gaming Council, has <a href="https://sbcnews.co.uk/sportsbook/2022/02/18/bgc-points-to-european-black-markets-as-warning-to-ministers/">argued</a> that such measures would drive people into black market gambling. But we can find no credible evidence for such claims. It has also argued that there is no evidence to link gambling advertising to gambling harms. But research <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350622003420">has shown this link</a>.</p>
<p>The UK government has emphasised that the current gambling act review needs to “get the balance right” while “following the evidence”. So now is the time to listen, not only to public opinion, but also to mounting evidence about the links between gambling advertising and gambling harms and tighten the regulation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199354/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raffaello Rossi currently receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and the charity Action Against Gambling Harms. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Agnes Nairn works for the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research at the University of Bristol. The Hub is funded by a grant awarded by the charity GambleAware (this charity receives donations from the gambling industry).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Ford works for the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research at the University of Bristol. The Hub is funded by a grant awarded by the charity GambleAware (this charity receives donations from the gambling industry).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Wheaton works for the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research at the University of Bristol. The Hub is funded by a grant awarded by the charity GambleAware (this charity receives donations from the gambling industry).</span></em></p>
The UK has a gambling problem but some of its neighbours could provide inspiration on how to prevent gambling harms.
Raffaello Rossi, Lecturer in Marketing, University of Bristol
Agnes Nairn, Professor of Marketing, University of Bristol
Ben Ford, Research Associate, University of Bristol
Jamie Wheaton, Research Associate, University of Bristol
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199657
2023-02-10T14:31:53Z
2023-02-10T14:31:53Z
A boon for sports fandom or a looming mental health crisis? 5 essential reads on the effects of legal sports betting
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509263/original/file-20230209-22-4dax04.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=132%2C97%2C4532%2C2930&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In a remarkable shift, pro sports leagues like the NFL have eagerly embraced gambling.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/one-hundred-dollar-football-royalty-free-image/471257888?phrase=sports betting&adppopup=true">michaelquirk/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A lifelong sports fan, I grew up hearing tales of sports figures felled by gambling scandals – baseball stars <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2021/06/si-field-of-dreams-black-sox-outfielder-shoeless-joe-jackson-played-here-after-baseball-ban.html">“Shoeless” Joe Jackson</a> and <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pete-rose-gets-booted-from-baseball">Pete Rose</a>, <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/chalk/story/_/id/11633538/betting-chronicling-worst-fix-ever-1978-79-bc-point-shaving-scandal">the 1978-79 Boston College basketball team</a> and NBA referee <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25980368/how-former-ref-tim-donaghy-conspired-fix-nba-games">Tim Donaghy</a>. </p>
<p>Sports leagues wanted nothing to do with gambling, which they feared would taint the integrity of the game. They had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/02/nyregion/how-politics-nipped-a-sports-betting-bill.html">lobbied heavily</a> for the passage of <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/102/s474/summary">the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992</a>, also known as the Bradley Act, which banned sports betting in the U.S.</p>
<p>Then, in May 2018, the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/supreme-court-sports-betting-new-jersey.html">overturned the Bradley Act</a>.</p>
<p>This time, the leagues and networks were fully on board. Gambling ads for companies like DraftKings, BetMGM and FanDuel started appearing in arenas and beaming across airwaves. Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams <a href="https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/2022/09/15/davante-adams-becomes-brand-ambassador-for-official-gaming-parter-of-the-raiders-mgm-resorts/">signed a sponsorship deal</a> with MGM. And point spreads started being prominently featured on sports media outlets. </p>
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<p>Curious, I started placing some bets myself. I instantly grasped the allure: Here I was, watching games that I would have otherwise never watched – that didn’t involve my favorite teams, the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots – and I was engaged and excited from start to finish. The leagues, too, must have been keenly aware of this opportunity to engage fans when they decided to change their tune on gambling. </p>
<p>With the five-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision approaching, I wanted to learn more about what scholars at the forefront of gambling research had been discovering. How many people were betting on sports? For those <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/14/589087523/supreme-court-rules-states-are-free-to-legalize-sports-betting">who criticized</a> the Supreme Court decision five years ago, was their hand-wringing misplaced? Were rates of problem gambling actually on the rise? If so, who was most at risk?</p>
<p>Gambling research can be challenging; <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/">laws and regulations vary by state</a>, and gambling researchers <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/naadgs-analysis-of-problem-gambling-funding-july-2022/521f7652c06a6d4d/full.pdf">receive almost no federal funding</a>. </p>
<p>But a small and dedicated group of scholars in the U.S. and abroad have been gauging the impact of this new era in American sports. With few regulations in place, gambling companies are going all-in to attract as many customers as possible – with younger, sports-obsessed and smartphone-savvy Americans particularly vulnerable.</p>
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<h2>1. A new fan experience</h2>
<p>Prior to becoming the chair of Penn State’s sports journalism program, <a href="https://www.bellisario.psu.edu/people/individual/john-affleck">John Affleck</a> had worked as a sports reporter and editor for The Associated Press. Both in the newsroom and in his early years at Penn State, there was nary a peep about gambling. </p>
<p>Now he notices his students regularly talking about the point spread and over/under for upcoming games.</p>
<p>He writes about <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-legalized-sports-betting-has-transformed-the-fan-experience-194994">how quickly gambling has become integrated in sports media</a>, with announcers and analysts peppering in references to gambling during live coverage and postgame analysis.</p>
<p>He describes the thousands of betting tip channels on YouTube, the segments on TV devoted to gambling and the betting lines that appear in game previews.</p>
<p>“In the nearly five years since the Supreme Court allowed states to legalize sports betting, a whole industry has sprouted up that, for tens of millions of fans around the country, is now just part of the show.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-legalized-sports-betting-has-transformed-the-fan-experience-194994">How legalized sports betting has transformed the fan experience</a>
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<h2>2. Is New Jersey a canary in the coal mine?</h2>
<p>After the Supreme Court’s May 2018 ruling, New Jersey was one of a handful of states primed to pounce: Legislation had been prepped in advance, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/11/nyregion/sports-betting-legalized-nj.html">and the governor signed a bill legalizing sports betting</a> less than a month after the federal ban was overturned.</p>
<p>But the state also included something in their legislation that other states didn’t: It gave the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University access to data on every bet placed in the state, and tasked it with conducting regular studies on gambling in New Jersey. </p>
<p>Lia Nower, who directs the center, <a href="https://theconversation.com/data-from-new-jersey-is-a-warning-sign-for-young-sports-bettors-197865">highlights some worrisome findings</a> from her team’s forthcoming gambling prevalence study – particularly for young bettors.</p>
<p>She and her team found that those who bet on sports were more likely than other gamblers to have problems with drugs or alcohol and experience anxiety and depression. Most alarming, about 14% of sports bettors reported thoughts of suicide, with 10% saying they had attempted suicide. And the fastest-growing group of sports bettors in New Jersey were young adults between the ages of 20 and 25 – over 70% of whom had placed in-game bets. </p>
<p>“Since about 70% of the sports bets we analyzed were losing bets,” Nower writes, “most of these young players could find themselves losing more money than they can afford.”</p>
<p>Nower also explains how other countries with a longer history of legal sports betting have enacted a raft of regulations intended to protect gamblers and curb the worst excesses of the gambling companies – a topic another scholar, Alex Russell, <a href="https://theconversation.com/40-years-of-legal-sports-betting-in-australia-points-to-risks-for-us-gamblers-and-tips-for-regulators-194993">explores in his history of sports gambling in Australia</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/data-from-new-jersey-is-a-warning-sign-for-young-sports-bettors-197865">Data from New Jersey is a warning sign for young sports bettors</a>
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<h2>3. Technology facilitates impulsive betting</h2>
<p>If there’s one key difference between the early 1990s, when the Bradley Act passed, and today, it’s the advent of smartphones.</p>
<p>In many states, there’s no need to drive to a casino to place a bet on a game; all you need to do is download a gambling app. <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1299495/forecast-number-of-online-sports-bettors-us/">According to one estimate</a>, there were about 19 million online sports bettors in 2022.</p>
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<p>Clinical psychologist and gambling researcher Meredith K. Ginley explores how <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-legalized-sports-betting-has-transformed-the-fan-experience-194994">these apps facilitate impulsive in-game betting</a> that can cause losses to mount until the final whistle blows.</p>
<p>“Proximity to gambling venues is a known risk factor for problematic levels of gambling,” she writes. “Sports wagering apps essentially load a casino onto the phone in your pocket.”</p>
<p>Many apps offer tools that let users set deposit, loss and wagering limits to encourage responsible gambling. But, she adds, the apps are also “heavily ‘gamified’ to feel more like an interactive video game” with “push notifications, free play, leaderboards and more.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sports-betting-apps-notifications-and-leaderboards-encourage-more-and-more-wagers-a-psychologist-who-treats-gambling-addictions-explains-why-some-people-get-hooked-198358">Sports betting apps' notifications and leaderboards encourage more and more wagers – a psychologist who treats gambling addictions explains why some people get hooked</a>
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<h2>4. A new problem gambler profile emerges</h2>
<p>Sure enough, some sports bettors have developed gambling problems.</p>
<p>Tori Horn, a clinical psychologist at the University of Memphis <a href="https://thegamblingclinic.com/">who treats people with gambling disorder</a>, has seen a shift in the profile of her typical patient – from clients who were usually older and gambled in casinos to younger men, mostly in their 20s, who are seeking treatment for problems with sports betting. </p>
<p>Horn explains how many of her patients started betting via gambling apps after learning about promotions like FanDuel’s “No Sweat First Bet,” which offers free bets to new users. </p>
<p>In addiction therapy, therapists often encourage clients to avoid places, people and situations that are associated with the substance. </p>
<p>For these reasons, problem sports gamblers – particularly those who use apps – “present a unique challenge,” she writes, since it is “incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to ask a client to stop using their smartphone or stop watching sports.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-treat-people-with-gambling-disorder-and-im-starting-to-see-more-and-more-young-men-who-are-betting-on-sports-198285">I treat people with gambling disorder – and I’m starting to see more and more young men who are betting on sports</a>
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<h2>5. The ‘hidden addiction’</h2>
<p>But might concerns over sports betting be overblown?</p>
<p>James P. Whalen, who directs the Institute for Gambling Education and Research at the University of Memphis, cautions against reaching any sort of premature conclusions about legal sports betting as a societal scourge.</p>
<p>“A review of 30 years of research on the prevalence of problem gambling and gambling disorder reveals a pattern,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-americans-are-problem-gamblers-so-why-do-so-few-people-ever-seek-treatment-197861">he writes</a>. “More gambling availability tends to lead to a spike in the number of people reporting gambling issues in the short term. However, populations tend to adapt over time; the rate of gambling problems decreases accordingly.”</p>
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<p>Regardless, there are still millions of Americans who are caught in the throes of gambling addiction. And treating the disorder – so stigmatized that it’s often called the “<a href="https://cocaberks.org/problem-gambling-the-hidden-addiction/">hidden addiction</a>” – is complicated by the fact that relatively few people seek treatment compared with other mental health disorders.</p>
<p>“The other challenge is the rate at which people discontinue treatment,” Whelan adds. For most mental health disorders, 20% of people who start therapy will drop out before completing a standard course of treatment, he explains.</p>
<p>“By comparison,” he notes, “the dropout rate for gambling harms is nearly double: 39%.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-americans-are-problem-gamblers-so-why-do-so-few-people-ever-seek-treatment-197861">Millions of Americans are problem gamblers – so why do so few people ever seek treatment?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199657/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
With few regulations in place, gambling companies are going all-in to attract as many customers as possible – with younger, sports-obsessed and smartphone-savvy Americans particularly vulnerable.
Nick Lehr, Arts + Culture Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/197865
2023-02-09T13:34:03Z
2023-02-09T13:34:03Z
Data from New Jersey is a warning sign for young sports bettors
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508402/original/file-20230206-27-cp4rbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=41%2C53%2C3593%2C2488&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fans celebrate at the William Hill Sports Book in Atlantic City, N.J.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/fans-gather-at-william-hill-sports-book-at-ocean-resort-news-photo/1127223046?phrase=sports%20book%20new%20jersey&adppopup=true">Lisa Lake/Getty Images for William Hill US</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs take the field for Super Bowl LVII, a record-breaking 50 million bettors are expected to have <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/new/record-50-million-americans-to-wager-16b-on-super-bowl-lvii/">US$16 billion</a> of their own skin in the game, according to the American Gaming Association. </p>
<p>In January 2023, Ohio and Massachusetts launched legal sports betting, joining Washington D.C. and <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/">34 other states</a> that have passed laws since the Supreme Court overturned a federal ban in 2018. State legislatures have generally been eager to capitalize on the tax windfalls from sports betting and get their slice of <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/resources/aga-commercial-gaming-revenue-tracker/">the billions</a> wagered annually. Voters are also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/08/legal-sports-betting-support-americans/">increasingly supportive of legalization</a>. </p>
<p>Here in New Jersey, sports betting, both online and in person, has been legal since June 2018. The state is the only jurisdiction that requires yearly evaluations of the relationship of online gambling and sports wagering to problem gambling. </p>
<p>The Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University, which I direct, <a href="https://socialwork.rutgers.edu/centers/center-gambling-studies/research-publications">conducts those annual evaluations</a> using data from all sports bets placed in New Jersey since 2018. Our findings suggest that the nation’s love affair with sports betting may be having unintended consequences.</p>
<h2>Sports betting tied to poor mental health</h2>
<p>In a forthcoming statewide gambling prevalence study, we found that those wagering on sports in New Jersey were more likely than others who gamble to have high rates of problem gambling and problems with drugs or alcohol, and to experience mental health problems like anxiety and depression. Most alarming, findings suggest that about 14% of sports bettors reported thoughts of suicide, and 10% said they had made a suicide attempt.</p>
<p>A small group of bettors seem to be most at risk. About 5% of all sports bettors placed nearly half of all bets and spent nearly 70% of the money. That means the people losing the most money are the most essential to operator profits.</p>
<p><a href="https://socialwork.rutgers.edu/centers/center-gambling-studies/research-publications">The fastest-growing group of sports bettors in New Jersey</a> are young adults, ages 21 to 24. Most have placed in-game bets, and about 19% spent half of their money betting during games, <a href="https://theconversation.com/sports-betting-apps-notifications-and-leaderboards-encourage-more-and-more-wagers-a-psychologist-who-treats-gambling-addictions-explains-why-some-people-get-hooked-198358">when emotions and impulsive spending are highest</a>. </p>
<p>Although regulators require operators to allow bettors to set limits – on losses, deposits or time spent gambling – only about 1% of young bettors use any of the safeguards, less than any other age group. Since about <a href="https://socialwork.rutgers.edu/centers/center-gambling-studies/research-publications">70% of the sports bets we analyzed</a> were losing bets, most of these young players could find themselves losing more money than they can afford. </p>
<h2>A vulnerable population</h2>
<p>It is possible, then, that states could unwittingly be introducing a cohort of young people to problem gambling and a lifetime of negative consequences. </p>
<p>That’s because the younger that people <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jpsychires.2012.02.007">start gambling</a>, the more activities they bet on. And the more frequently they bet, the more likely they are to develop serious gambling problems. Studies suggest that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-017-9726-y">those who gamble as young adults</a> have higher-than-average rates of problem gambling.</p>
<p>The danger is compounded by the easy access afforded by tablets and mobile phones, which eliminate most barriers to gambling even for those who are underage. Children who are exposed to the unrelenting parade of gambling ads <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-6405.12728">report they remember</a> both the products and the betting terms from those ads, and some teens say <a href="https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.7.2018.128">they intended to gamble as a result</a>. If <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107460">parents or other household members also gamble</a>, those children may later develop not only gambling problems, but also problems with drugs and alcohol. </p>
<h2>Few regulatory measures in place</h2>
<p>In the U.S., the Marlboro Man can no longer gallop across <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/statutes/federal-cigarette-labeling-advertising-act">the nation’s television airwaves</a>. Alcohol ads <a href="https://alcohol.org/laws/marketing-to-the-public/">can’t contain</a> statements that are misleading, patently false or target those who are underage.</p>
<p>However, there are currently no such federal guidelines for gambling ads. Major League Baseball, which banned Pete Rose and locked him out of the Hall of Fame for gambling, openly sanctions <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2021/08/10/why-nearly-all-mlb-ballparks-will-have-a-sportsbook-attached-to-it-in-the-future/?sh=52ba50cb36d8">sports books attached to stadiums</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christianred/2021/01/12/major-league-baseball-teams-and-a-new-revenue-stream-online-gaming-business-partners/?sh=a0866755ef95">partnerships with gambling operators</a>. The same goes for the NFL and most of its teams, with former stars like Eli Manning <a href="https://giantswire.usatoday.com/2022/08/23/see-it-new-york-giants-legend-eli-manning-appears-new-caesars-ad-with-brothers/">encouraging betting</a> in ads and Pro Bowl wide receiver Davonte Adams becoming the <a href="https://www.actionnetwork.com/news/davante-adams-likely-first-active-nfl-player-with-gambling-related-sponsor">first active player</a> with a gambling sponsor.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man holding betting slip." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508401/original/file-20230206-29-rmkopb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508401/original/file-20230206-29-rmkopb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508401/original/file-20230206-29-rmkopb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508401/original/file-20230206-29-rmkopb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508401/original/file-20230206-29-rmkopb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508401/original/file-20230206-29-rmkopb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508401/original/file-20230206-29-rmkopb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A man holds a betting slip on the first day of legal sports betting in New Jersey on June 14, 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/professional-odds-maker-stu-feiner-holds-up-a-betting-slip-news-photo/974402508?phrase=sports%20gambling%20new%20jersey&adppopup=true">Dominick Reuter/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Those who recognize they have a gambling problem also have no assurances that they can find help. </p>
<p>Gambling treatment services <a href="https://naadgs.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/NAADGS_2021_Survey_of_Publicly_Funded_Problem_Gambling_Services_in_the_United_States_v2.pdf">vary by state</a>, from specially trained, culturally competent counselors in a few states to a total lack of services in others. Most children and teens receive no education in schools about problem gambling as they do for drugs and alcohol. Some universities <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/business/caesars-sports-betting-universities-colleges.html">are openly partnering with gambling companies</a> and sponsoring esports competitions, which invite underage betting.</p>
<p>The federal government is noticeably silent on a glamorized addiction. Nationally, there are no federal policies, prohibitions or federally funded research or <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/naadgs-analysis-of-problem-gambling-funding-july-2022/521f7652c06a6d4d/full.pdf">prevention programs</a>, despite all the revenue generated by taxes on gambling winnings.</p>
<p>Internationally, gambling-related abuses and tragedies have led countries <a href="https://theconversation.com/40-years-of-legal-sports-betting-in-australia-points-to-risks-for-us-gamblers-and-tips-for-regulators-194993">like Australia and the U.K.</a> to enact new regulations and significant penalties for operators. The U.K., for example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/glr2.2022.0020">requires operators to conduct affordability checks</a> on patrons to ensure they can afford their losses and prohibits gambling advertising by athletes, celebrities or social media influencers who appeal to children and teens.</p>
<p>I think it’s only a matter of time before similar proposals make their way to the U.S. In the meantime, however, millions of people in more than half the country will legally lay their hard-earned money on the line for a chance to win big on Sunday.</p>
<p>Hopefully, they can afford to lose.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197865/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lia Nower has been a member of advisory boards, and has conducted research and grant reviews for U.S. and international governments, government-related agencies, private firms, and industry operators. These include New Jersey's Division of Gaming Enforcement & Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Ohio's Department of Mental Health and Addiction, Camelot (United Kingdom), Crown Casino (Australia), the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (Canada), Churchill Downs (U.S.), Aristocrat Leisure (Australia), the New York Council on Problem Gambling, Publiedit (Italy) and the National Council on Problem Gambling (U.S.).</span></em></p>
Researchers who analyzed every sports bet placed online since 2018 found that young adults are the fastest-growing group of bettors, with more than 70% of them placing in-game bets.
Lia Nower, Professor and Director, Center for Gambling Studies, Rutgers University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/197861
2023-02-08T13:41:04Z
2023-02-08T13:41:04Z
Millions of Americans are problem gamblers – so why do so few people ever seek treatment?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508445/original/file-20230206-29-977c0e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C5%2C1781%2C1258&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Only about 10% of people with a gambling problem ever seek treatment.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/silhouette-of-man-facing-the-light-royalty-free-image/1190407585">Sean Gladwell/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The opportunity to gamble has moved from a trip to Vegas, to a drive to a local casino, to the phone in your pocket. And if you’re a sports fan, nudges to place bets <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-legalized-sports-betting-has-transformed-the-fan-experience-194994">have become nearly impossible to ignore</a>, with sports gambling ads and promos routinely appearing on TV, social media, sports radio and in arenas.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/">The stunning expansion of sports wagering</a> following <a href="https://doi.org/10.2308/apin-52199">decades of casino expansion</a> certainly gives any rational person reason to pause. </p>
<p>For most bettors, gambling is an occasional form of entertainment – Powerball tickets <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-winning-record-2-billion-powerball-jackpot-could-still-lead-to-bankruptcy-193921">when the jackpot swells to $1 billion</a>, <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/super-bowl-squares-grid-2023-best-numbers/ltur0ayv6wvsdkyjjk2cnmdo">Super Bowl squares</a> with co-workers, a birthday trip to the casino.</p>
<p>But for other people, the possibility of developing a gambling disorder looms.</p>
<p>To what extent should Americans be worried? </p>
<h2>To gamble is to be human</h2>
<p>A nuanced answer begins with the fact that gambling has been popular for a long, long time. </p>
<p>Evidence of gambling has been found <a href="https://dgschwartz.com/books/roll-the-bones/">in ancient cultures around the world</a>. Archaeologists have unearthed dice marked with pips, or dots, in Mesopotamia that date back to 1300 B.C. Historians have located records of dice games in Greek and Indian cities before 400 B.C. </p>
<p>In North America, one Navajo myth tells <a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/nav/gambler.htm">the story of Noqoìlpi</a>, or “the gambler.” Informal gambling games and lotteries were common in the American Colonies, including <a href="https://www.ephemerasociety.org/colonial-america-lotteries/">lotteries to fund the Continental Army</a>. </p>
<p>In the U.S., sports and gambling have long been intertwined. In the decades after the Civil War, pool halls were set up near Western Union stations so gamblers <a href="https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3673&context=jclc">could easily place bets on horses</a>. And sports like baseball and boxing became hugely popular in the 19th century, in part <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gambling-built-baseball-and-then-almost-destroyed-it-123254">because they attracted action from bettors</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Magazine cover featuring baseball coach in red uniform looking dejected." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508457/original/file-20230206-19-j5nxa8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508457/original/file-20230206-19-j5nxa8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508457/original/file-20230206-19-j5nxa8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508457/original/file-20230206-19-j5nxa8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508457/original/file-20230206-19-j5nxa8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1048&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508457/original/file-20230206-19-j5nxa8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1048&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508457/original/file-20230206-19-j5nxa8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1048&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Baseball great Pete Rose was punished with a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball for betting on games while he was manager of the Cincinnati Reds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTY4MTkwMDczNzQxMjU2NjA1/1989-0403-pete-rose-si-cover-001291038jpg.jpg">Sports Illustrated</a></span>
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<p>For as long as there’s been gambling, there has also been problem gambling.</p>
<p>Several writers in ancient India <a href="https://doi.org/10.4103%2F0019-5545.37674">highlighted the consequences of habitual gambling</a>. Over 150 years ago, Dostoyevsky famously wrote “Crime and Punishment” <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/11/dostoyevsky-crime-punishment-birmingham-sinner-saint/620175/">to pay off gambling debts</a>. And in the 20th century, sports betting imploded the careers of baseball legends <a href="https://www.silive.com/news/2021/06/si-field-of-dreams-black-sox-outfielder-shoeless-joe-jackson-played-here-after-baseball-ban.html">“Shoeless” Joe Jackson</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/24/sports/rose-in-deal-is-said-to-accept-lifetime-ban-for-betting-on-reds.html">Pete Rose</a>.</p>
<h2>When problems arise</h2>
<p>I describe this history because it shows that humans have always seemed to find a way to gamble, whether it’s legal or not. And, inevitably, some bettors will experience harm or a gambling disorder.</p>
<p>I direct <a href="https://www.memphis.edu/gamblingclinic">the Institute for Gambling Education and Research</a>, where we focus on the treatment of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519704/table/ch3.t39/">gambling disorder</a> and <a href="https://thegamblingclinic.com/">gambling problems</a>.</p>
<p>Psychologists have only recently begun to view problem gamblers as a form of addictive behavior, in which gambling urges, tolerance and withdrawal are akin to how substance use disorders unfold. Researchers have found that brain imaging data and symptom patterns of problem gamblers are similar to those of people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Gamblers can build a tolerance, meaning that they need to gamble more and bet in higher amounts in order to maintain the same levels of excitement. And attempts to cut back or stop can lead to emotional struggles. </p>
<p>There are also financial and social ramifications to gambling disorder.</p>
<p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-018-0251-9">Distress about money</a> is the most frequently cited reason people start questioning whether they have a problem. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Problem_and_Pathological_Gambling/TqSbEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Problem+and+Pathological+Gambling+Whelan,+Andrew+W.+Meyers,+Timothy+A.+Steenbergh&pg=PR2&printsec=frontcover">But other symptoms include</a> damage done to relationships, deterioration in mood and the physical costs of this distress. Problem gamblers often lie about or hide their gambling, which can make it difficult for loved ones to recognize.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-014-9471-4">best prevalence research</a> shows that somewhere between 1% and 2% of the U.S. adult population, or 2 to 4 million adults, will experience a gambling disorder in their lifetime. Another 3% to 5%, or 5 to 9 million people, will, at some point in their lives, report a subclinical problem, which means that some gambling disorder symptoms are present but the psychiatric diagnosis is not warranted.</p>
<p>Despite some hand-wringing over the expansion of sports betting, I believe any increase in the rate of problems is likely to be temporary. <a href="https://opus.uleth.ca/bitstream/handle/10133/3068/2012-PREVALENCE-OPGRC%20(2).pdf">A review of 30 years of research</a> on the prevalence of problem gambling and gambling disorder reveals a pattern. More gambling availability tends to lead to a spike in the number of people reporting gambling issues in the short term. However, populations tend to adapt over time; the rate of gambling problems decreases accordingly. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to see whether the same pattern plays out for sports betting. </p>
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<h2>Barriers to treatment</h2>
<p>My team also operates an outpatient clinic where we treat people with gambling disorder. Our research and therapy sessions have pointed to some encouraging news, along with a few barriers. </p>
<p>The good news is that treatment, particularly when it includes <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2009.04.002">cognitive behavioral techniques</a>, significantly reduces gambling disorder symptoms and psychological distress. While long-term treatment is recommended, an effective <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000710">course of treatment</a> is about eight to 10 sessions. </p>
<p>Yet there are still roadblocks. People are often hesitant to try treatment; those who do frequently drop out. </p>
<p>People are often unaware they have gambling problems, even when they report having symptoms of problem gambling. We don’t exactly know why. The impact, though, is substantial. Only about 10% of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1556/jba.3.2014.3.7">individuals with a gambling problem ever seek treatment</a>. As a comparison, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201200454">rate of seeking help</a> among those with substance use disorders runs somewhere between 10% and 50%. It’s considerably lower than those experiencing depression and anxiety, 70% to 90% of whom will seek treatment. </p>
<p>We also know that gambling disorder is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-018-9775-x">one of the most stigmatized mental health concerns</a>. We find that people tend to blame someone who has developed gambling problems, and view them as dangerous or untrustworthy. By contrast, someone experiencing depression and anxiety is less likely to be blamed for their problems.</p>
<p>The other challenge is the rate at which people discontinue treatment before completing the standard course of therapy. For most mental health concerns, 20% who start a psychological treatment <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028226">fail to continue in that treatment</a>. By comparison, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000710">dropout rate for gambling harms</a> is nearly double: 39%. </p>
<p>We believe that dropout rate is not explained by people not wanting to put in the work to change. Instead, the relationship with the therapist and ambivalence about the progress being made tend to derail the course of treatment. Finances are also a real problem. Patients might not be able to afford their appointments, or <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/ACA-brief-web-layout-publication.pdf">their insurance doesn’t cover</a> a diagnosis of a gambling disorder.</p>
<h2>Gaps in knowledge and funding</h2>
<p>About a decade ago, a friend who is an alcohol researcher observed that the thinking and research about gambling was about four decades behind where it is for alcohol. The gaps in knowledge were evident. We still don’t have good models for how a gambling problem develops, or how to conceptualize an addiction without a substance. We don’t know the long-term effects of experiencing gambling problems and gambling disorder. And we don’t fully understand the extent to which improvements from treatment are maintained.</p>
<p>While researchers around the world are chipping away at these knowledge gaps, there continue to be huge challenges – not the least of which is that gambling regulations keep changing and new forms of gambling are always emerging. </p>
<p>More importantly, there is little funding available to learn more about gambling disorder – and almost no funding from the U.S. government. In 2022, the National Institutes of Health <a href="https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/management-reporting/fy-2022-financial-management-plan">invested over $570 million</a> to study alcohol use problems. </p>
<p>The amount the NIH budgeted to study gambling? </p>
<p>Zero.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197861/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James P. Whelan receives funding from Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services </span></em></p>
Treatment has a high success rate. Getting problem gamblers in the door – and getting them to complete a full course of therapy – is another matter.
James P. Whelan, Research Professor of Clinical Health, University of Memphis
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/198285
2023-02-07T13:35:20Z
2023-02-07T13:35:20Z
I treat people with gambling disorder – and I’m starting to see more and more young men who are betting on sports
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508172/original/file-20230204-5389-wfiqrk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C16%2C1014%2C793&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many young sports bettors think they're knowledgeable enough to 'beat the system.'</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Lehr/The Conversation via DALL-E 2</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OcbcVXYAAAAJ&hl=en">As a therapist who treats people with gambling problems</a>, I’ve noticed a shift over the past few years – not only in the profile of the typical clients I treat, but also in the way their gambling problems develop.</p>
<p>In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court made the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/14/politics/sports-betting-ncaa-supreme-court/index.html">landmark decision</a> to allow states to legalize sports wagering. Tennessee, where I am studying clinical psychology, took advantage of this ruling, and in late 2020, the state legalized <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/in-depth/money/2020/10/31/tennessee-sports-betting-online-fanduel-draftkings-betmgm-action-247/6056604002/">online and mobile sports betting</a>.</p>
<p>With most <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/sportsbook-5217715">sportsbooks</a> offering betting apps, my clients are finding it more difficult to quit gambling than ever before. Unlike other forms of gambling, such as playing roulette or slots at a casino, these apps are on their phones and in their pockets, accompanying them wherever they go.</p>
<p>This availability makes it that much harder to resist any urges that might arise – and presents unique challenges for helping clients reduce their gambling.</p>
<h2>A new type of client emerges</h2>
<p>When I first started treating people for gambling disorder in 2019, my clients were usually older and gambled in casinos, with slot machines and card games among their favorite forms of gambling. They also tended to be poorer and often talked about how they began gambling to make some side money, viewing it as a second job. Many of them had retired and would say things like, “Going to the casino gets me out of the house” or “The casino is like my ‘Cheers’” – a nod to the popular watering hole in the eponymous sitcom. </p>
<p>That all changed when sports betting was legalized in Tennessee in November 2020.</p>
<p>Since then, I’ve noticed that my average client has started to look different. I’m now providing therapy to younger men, mostly in their 20s, who are seeking treatment for problems with sports betting. These clients tend to earn more money and be wealthier than my previous clients – a pattern that sports betting <a href="https://theconversation.com/access-to-sports-betting-in-the-us-has-exploded-since-2018-and-were-just-starting-to-learn-about-the-effects-192055">researchers have observed</a>.</p>
<p>Several of them reported being avid sports fans or having a competitive streak. And they thought they could “beat the system” due to their extensive sports knowledge.</p>
<p>Many of them started betting on sports after hearing promotions for various betting companies. Even if you’re a casual sports fan with no interest in betting, you can’t miss these ads, which regularly air during televised sporting events. For example, some ads for FanDuel, one of the more popular sports betting apps, highlight a “No Sweat First Bet,” with <a href="https://www.actionnetwork.com/education/what-does-each-sportsbook-bonus-mean">new users eligible for a risk-free bet of up to $1,000</a>.</p>
<p>There’s also a social element to sports betting. One client talked about betting on sports as a way to bond with relatives who also gambled. Similarly, a few college students I have treated told me that they started betting because they wanted to fit in with their fraternity brothers.</p>
<h2>The apps don’t make it easy to set limits</h2>
<p>But once gambling issues begin, it can be hard for these clients to stop. Most of them started by placing smaller bets on a single outcome. Over time, they start to bet more to recoup their losses. Before they knew it, their bets had increased, with many not realizing how this change even happened.</p>
<p>Betting apps are available on any smartphone and are connected to clients’ bank accounts, making it quick and easy to deposit more funds. This often leads clients to lose track of how much money they have lost. As one client told me, “It’s easier to spend money on these apps because you never really see it. The transactions are all done electronically.”</p>
<p>These apps do not make it easy for those with gambling problems to sign up for cool-off periods or self-exclusion. <a href="https://casino.draftkings.com/responsible-gaming-on-draftkings?wpsrc=Organic%20Search&wpaffn=Google&wpkw=https%3A%2F%2Fcasino.draftkings.com%2Fresponsible-gaming-on-draftkings&wpcn=responsible-gaming-on-draftkings">Cool-off periods</a> allow the user to set a time frame – from a few hours to several months – where they will be unable to log into their betting account. <a href="https://www.responsiblegambling.org/for-the-public/problem-gambling-help/self-exclusion/">Self-exclusion</a> allows the user to ban themselves from the app for longer periods of time. Specific exclusion lengths differ by state. <a href="https://www.playtenn.com/tennessee-sportsbook-self-exclusion/#:%7E:text=You%20can%20choose%20to%20exclude,consider%20your%20length%20of%20exclusion.">In Tennessee</a>, there are one-year, five-year and lifetime ban options. </p>
<p>While many apps have these features, my clients often have to search online for this information, and even when they do find it, they can’t figure out how to put these guardrails in place. If they wish to set a cool-off period or ban themselves from all sports betting apps, they must do so from each app, one at a time, which can be tedious.</p>
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<h2>It’s impossible to avoid sports and smartphones</h2>
<p>Sports betting presents unique challenges <a href="https://thegamblingclinic.com/">for treating gambling problems</a>. </p>
<p>In addiction treatment, therapists, like me, often encourage clients to fill their time with activities that aren’t connected to gambling or to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2004.04.006">avoid situations where they may be likely to gamble</a>. But when gambling is available at the touch of a button, it becomes harder to determine what situations may lead to gambling, which makes it harder to figure out what to avoid.</p>
<p>Before the apps, clients had to make plans for how and when to gamble. Now, all they have to do is pick up their phone and open an app. It is also incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to ask a client to stop using their smartphone or stop watching sports.</p>
<p>This is why I often tailor treatment to each client’s needs and circumstances. Some may wish to quit altogether, while others may simply want to cut back on their gambling. This has forced me to consider other possible alternatives, such as showing them how to set screen time limits for sportsbook apps or talking about strategies to watch less sports.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-014-9471-4">Most people</a> who bet on sports don’t develop gambling problems. But with so few regulations in place – advertising or otherwise – those who are the most at risk are especially vulnerable to developing problems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198285/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tori Horn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In the past, typical clients tended to be retirees living on fixed incomes who played slots and card games.
Tori Horn, PhD Student in Clinical Psychology, University of Memphis
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/198358
2023-02-06T13:28:34Z
2023-02-06T13:28:34Z
Sports betting apps’ notifications and leaderboards encourage more and more wagers – a psychologist who treats gambling addictions explains why some people get hooked
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507897/original/file-20230202-7246-m8e93e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C638%2C6060%2C4528&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">You can keep placing new bets throughout the whole game.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/watching-soccer-game-at-home-royalty-free-image/1426353191">svetikd/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Joe is a full-time college student who also works some nights as a security guard. He played basketball all through high school and loves to follow the sport. Tonight one of his favorite teams is playing and he’s placed a US$100 bet for them to win.</p>
<p>As he sits in his vehicle with one eye on the parking lot and one eye on his physics textbook, he listens to the game. His phone keeps vibrating. <a href="https://www.gamblinginsider.com/in-depth/4015/the-mobile-marketing-challenge-personalising-push-notifications">A notification</a> from a sports wagering app asks if he’d like to place <a href="https://www.thelines.com/betting/prop-bets/">a prop bet</a> – a sort of side bet unrelated to the specific outcomes of the game – for a specific player to make five rebounds tonight. He adds $20 for this bet. His app buzzes again, now suggesting a prop bet for a certain player to make four three-point shots this game. The odds look good; he knows this player; he adds $40 here.</p>
<p>The game continues and his app keeps pinging him about more bets. By the end of the game, Joe’s team has won. He feels good about how well he knows basketball and his ability to pick a winning team and is buzzing from the thrill of chasing in-game bets. But he’s actually down $50 on the evening, as he lost most of his prop bets, and he’s not done nearly enough of his physics homework. He settles in for a long night and tries to push away any thoughts about how much money he actually ended up losing. And I’m certain Joe will be back placing bets the next time his teams are playing.</p>
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<p>Although Joe isn’t a real person, and the specifics of a sports wagering app can vary from vendor to vendor and even from <a href="https://www.legalsportsbetting.com/states-with-legal-sports-betting/">state to state</a>, this scenario illustrates the kind of game play many sports wagerers report. One estimate suggests there were around <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1299495/forecast-number-of-online-sports-bettors-us/">19 million online sports bettors</a> in the U.S. in 2022; as more states gradually legalize these apps, the number of Joes out there is <a href="https://theconversation.com/access-to-sports-betting-in-the-us-has-exploded-since-2018-and-were-just-starting-to-learn-about-the-effects-192055">bound to rise</a>.</p>
<p>I’m a licensed clinical psychologist who has <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bTo-_-oAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">researched</a> <a href="https://thegamblingclinic.com/">and treated gambling-related harm</a> for over a decade. I’m interested in how and why bettors like Joe seem able to focus on how they picked a winning team while discounting that they actually ended up in the red. Humans are built to like reward, pleasure and winning. Sports wagering apps bring these specific opportunities right to your smartphone for immediate enjoyment.</p>
<h2>Gambling feels good in the heat of the moment</h2>
<p>Several theories from neuroscience and psychology can point to why some people might be particularly primed to enjoy gambling.</p>
<p><a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1975-24897-000">One prominent theory of learning</a> suggests people are <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315806914-8/framework-taxonomy-psychiatric-disorder-jeffrey-gray">driven by two basic brain systems</a>. One leads people to seek new, exciting and novel situations. A complementary system encourages them to apply caution, notice risk and keep themselves safe. </p>
<p>In action, these systems are a bit like the gas and the brake on a car – but imagine driving, as my great uncle used to, with both feet. Everyone has both pedals, but how sensitive you are to the brake or how much you crave more gas varies from person to person.</p>
<p>Think of how some people avoid airplanes entirely, while others board because of their excitement about the vacation on the other side, and still others willingly launch themselves out of the plane as skydivers. Sports wagering opportunities can be akin to that plane. One person’s individual blend of desire for novelty and caution can lead them to hesitantly download an app while another person can’t wait to make the jump.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="people watch play standing around a casino craps table" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507900/original/file-20230202-10310-cm8k8l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Just a photo of a craps table can activate reward-related parts of a gambler’s brain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/gamblers-play-craps-in-city-of-dreams-casino-on-december-17-news-photo/461559500">Lucas Schifres/Getty Images AsiaPac</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Neuroscientists know that certain genes, brain regions and neurotransmitters, including dopamine, are part of this balancing act of risk and reward. The areas of the brain related to reward may function a bit differently in people who are more driven to engage in higher-risk activities.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07786-5">when researchers show study participants</a> who are frequent gamblers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1369-1600.2010.00242.x">images of people gambling in casinos</a>, their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40473-019-00177-2">brains may react</a> in a way similar to when they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-018-0599-z">exposed to cues for natural rewards</a> like food or sex. These findings mirror what has been shown for how people’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1200">brains react to cues</a> for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.12.004">alcohol, cocaine and cigarettes</a>.</p>
<h2>Wagering apps amp up the attraction</h2>
<p>Beyond the rewarding nature of gambling itself, there may be some structural aspects of sports wagering apps that make them particularly attractive – and, in turn, potentially create higher risk for some people.</p>
<p>For example, Joe really likes basketball, and he’s confident about his skill in knowing how his team will play. Placing a bet on the game may make him more excited to watch a game he already enjoys. Each time his favorite teams play will be an automatic cue to place another bet. There’s a natural pull to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_10">more engaged in activities you like and are good at</a>. And when researchers told study participants they would either <a href="https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-018-0599-z">just watch or also bet</a> on a sporting event, it led to different activation in the brain, particularly in areas related to reward.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="two pairs of hands hold smartphones with TV showing basketball game in background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507964/original/file-20230202-14692-ry9pr5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Live betting can add an additional layer of excitement to watching a game.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/betting-in-basketball-royalty-free-image/822362418">Manuel-F-O/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People are also more likely to participate in activities that are readily accessible and have low barriers to entry. Common advice you might hear if you want to decrease the amount of sugar in your diet is to clear sweets out of your pantry. Sure enough, you’re <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198115610571">more likely to eat a cupcake on the counter</a> than one you have to go all the way to the store for.</p>
<p>In the same way, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.77.4.616">proximity to gambling venues is a known risk factor</a> for problematic levels of gambling. Sports wagering apps essentially load a casino onto the phone in your pocket. The easy access – along with the novelty and excitement – likely increase the risk of potential harm.</p>
<p>And wagering apps are heavily “gamified” to feel more like an interactive video game and less like a staid banking app. Push notifications, free play, leaderboards and more can increase engagement and fun. But these features can also make users feel <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39583-8_17">more detached from the actual money</a> they’re spending and make it harder to disengage if they become concerned about the cash or time spent on the app.</p>
<h2>Hardening your defenses</h2>
<p>Most people who gamble or bet on sports <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-014-9471-4">don’t experience any harm</a>. Like Joe, they might lose a few bucks. But overall they may find the enjoyment gained by the thrill of deeper engagement with their team and the chance to win is within their budget. Spending on sports wagering can be like springing for movie tickets because of what’s gained from seeing the content in a theater – there’s an added dimension to the entertainment.</p>
<p>When I work with clients, I suggest setting spending limits or loss limits. Many apps offer responsible gaming tools that let users set deposit, loss and wagering limits. For people who are really concerned about their gambling, <a href="https://gamban.com/">blocking software</a> can be an option. The National Council on Problem Gambling’s <a href="https://responsibleplay.org">responsibleplay.org</a> site provides additional strategies and resources.</p>
<p>I also remind clients that sports wagering companies are running a business designed to make money despite a user’s ability to pick a winning team. The apps are very skilled at tapping into what makes betting exciting and rewarding. Players can aim for a level of expenditure that keeps it fun and low-risk. There’s no need to become an app’s best customer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198358/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meredith K. Ginley receives funding from the State of Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to provide prevention and treatment-related services to help mitigate gambling-related harms. </span></em></p>
Sports wagering apps bring in-play betting right to the palm of your hand. Easy, ever-present access can lead to excitement and fun – or problem gambling.
Meredith K. Ginley, Assistant Professor of Psychology, East Tennessee State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/194993
2023-02-03T13:30:38Z
2023-02-03T13:30:38Z
40 years of legal sports betting in Australia points to risks for US gamblers – and tips for regulators
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507437/original/file-20230131-10022-fhws2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=591%2C335%2C2286%2C1587&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The country's history of state-sanctioned gambling goes back to the early 19th century.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/finance-economy-racing-australia-by-neil-sands-a-man-fills-news-photo/83528625?adppopup=true">William West/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australians <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/270263728.pdf">love to gamble</a>. It’s often said that if they could, they would bet on two flies crawling up a wall. The <a href="https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/1960-04-19/act-1960-029">Sydney Opera House</a> and <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46640222">Sydney Harbour Bridge</a> were funded, in part, by government lotteries.</p>
<p>It’s only been five years <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/supreme-court-sports-betting-new-jersey.html">since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned</a> a federal law that essentially banned sports betting in most states, but in Australia, the novelty of legal sports betting has long worn off: It’s been legal <a href="https://www.vgccc.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/Australian_gambling_comparative_history_and_analysis_project_report_1999.pdf">since the 1980s</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=hJZwAYkAAAAJ&hl=en">I’ve been researching gambling in Australia</a> since 2011, and I’ve been a team member on some major studies of online gambling. I’ve also led studies on <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-019-09848-x">risk factors for problematic sports betting</a> and the harms associated with <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-018-9810-y">certain types of sports betting</a>.</p>
<p>Americans just starting to get familiar with sports betting can learn some lessons from Australia’s approach to sports betting and the research on its effects.</p>
<h2>A culture of gambling</h2>
<p>Australia has a long history of state-sanctioned gambling, dating back to the <a href="https://twitter.com/dictionaryofsyd/status/654093938979004417">first known organized horse racing event</a>, which took place <a href="https://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/archive/discover_collections/society_art/races/horse/hydepark.html">in 1810</a>.</p>
<p>Bettors were initially required to go to a race track to place a bet. This was a hassle for many bettors, so <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/270263728.pdf">illegal bookies</a> started taking bets in places like bars. Their prices tended to be favorable because, unlike official bookmakers at the tracks, they didn’t pay a tax. </p>
<p>This prompted state governments to open off-course betting companies, starting with the state of Victoria’s <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/tab-an-idea-that-became-a-licence-to-print-money-19920423-k4v62">Totalisator Agency Board in 1961</a>. Other states soon followed. </p>
<p>While horse betting has long been legal in Australia, sports betting wasn’t legal <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nt/consol_act/raba1983153/">until 1983</a>. That year, Totalisator Agency Boards began taking bets on sports – typically soccer, cricket and boxing. Nongovernment sportsbooks didn’t appear until 1993, when <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/gambling-2010/submissions/subdr376.pdf">Sportsbet became the first private company to obtain a license</a>. Online sports betting followed, with Centrebet.com.au, an online gambling website, <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=COMMITTEES;id=committees%2Fcommsen%2Fj0000351.sgm%2F0010;query=Id%3Acommittees%2Fcommsen%2Fj0000351.sgm%2F0006">launching in 1996</a>.</p>
<p>Today, many online operators take bets on sports, races and even things like <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8224531/Sportsbet-allows-punters-place-bets-Prime-Minister-Scott-Morrison-tie-colour.html">what color tie the prime minister will wear</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of rows of women sitting at computer terminals." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Employees of Australia’s Totalisator Agency Board take and place bets over the phone in 1985.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tabs-21st-birthday-the-tab-telephone-betting-service-news-photo/1080252258?adppopup=true">Fairfax Media Archives/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Slowing the pace of bets</h2>
<p>Gambling’s foothold in Australian culture has had a host of repercussions.</p>
<p>Australians are the <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/scary-graph-shows-how-australians-are-the-biggest-losers/news-story/4a437cd5f735b87988549b37af12917f">biggest losers worldwide</a>, losing more than twice as much to gambling per person than almost every other country. This is largely due to the ubiquitous presence of slot machines <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Pokies-pub-test-FINAL_0.pdf">in hotels and bars</a>. But Australians also <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/scary-graph-shows-how-australians-are-the-biggest-losers/news-story/4a437cd5f735b87988549b37af12917f">lose more per capita</a> on sports and race betting.</p>
<p>Because sports betting in Australia existed prior to online gambling, governments had to work out what types of betting to allow online. The country has regulations in place that restrict some forms of wagering, like fast-paced betting.</p>
<p>Slot machines, for example, are fast-paced, because each spin is a bet, and a person can easily slip “<a href="https://gamblingresearch.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2021/04/Murch-and-Clark-2021-Understanding-the-Slot-Machine-Zone-PREPRINT.pdf">into the zone</a>,” losing track of their spending. <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/about-interactive-gambling-act">Online slots are banned</a> for this reason.</p>
<p>Similar restrictions exist for online sports betting. Most people will place a bet <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-013-9415-4">before a match starts</a> and will mostly bet on who will win, or possibly by how much they will win. </p>
<p>But, over time, more betting options have become available. People can now bet on who will score first, or next, or whether a certain number of points will be scored in a quarter or half. <a href="https://freakonometrics.hypotheses.org/58041">Since 2002</a>, Australians have also been able to place bets “live” or “in-play” – in other words, during a game.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man in suit holds sign advertising betting odds to passersby." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An employee for Sportsbet holds a sign advertising betting odds for a cricket match in 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/haydn-lane-from-sportsbet-com-au-holds-up-the-odds-of-news-photo/107565307?adppopup=true">William West/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Australia, live sports betting can be done, but not online. They must be placed by telephone call or at a venue, such as a bar, casino or betting shop, which is a storefront where people can place bets. This is partly to allow staff to intervene if someone is showing signs of problems, much like a bartender who can cut off a customer who has had too much to drink. Whether these interventions regularly occur <a href="https://www.gambleaware.nsw.gov.au/resources-and-education/check-out-our-research/published-research/responsible-conduct-of-gambling-study">is another matter</a>.</p>
<p>There is also a particularly fast-paced form of sports betting, known as <a href="https://www.playmaryland.com/sports-betting/micro/">microbetting</a>. Think of placing a bet on whether the next pitch in baseball will be a ball or a strike. </p>
<p>In studies I’ve conducted with other gambling researchers, we found that microbetting is done almost exclusively by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-018-9810-y">higher-risk gamblers</a>. In Australia, microbetting is not allowed even via phone calls, but consumers can access markets in other countries to place these bets, even though they are <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/online-gambling-services">strongly discouraged from doing so</a>.</p>
<h2>Ads flood the airwaves</h2>
<p>With so many online betting sites in Australia, there’s a lot of competition, which means Australians are inundated with gambling ads and promotions.</p>
<p>In fact, there are <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/documents/679/OBrien-Children-and-young-peoples-exposure-to-gambling-ads-Sep-2019_PBFEExL.pdf">five times as many TV ads for gambling</a> as there are alcohol ads – and Australia has <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k3ax5/how-dangerous-australias-drinking-culture-alcohol-global-drug-survey-2019">a pretty big drinking culture</a>.</p>
<p>These gambling ads are effective. A series of studies that I worked on, which were led by Professor Nerilee Hing from the Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory at CQUniversity, found that people who see more ads and promotions are more likely to <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/effects-of-wagering-marketing-on-vulnerable-adults-408/">bet when they don’t intend to</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.8.2019.10">bet more than they intend</a>, and place bets on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.8.2019.30">more unlikely outcomes</a> – meaning they lose more.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eLfsXqYpAzY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Former sprinter Ben Johnson, who was stripped of his Olympic medals after being caught doping, stars in an ad for Sportsbet.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also examined public advertising, such as TV ads, compared to direct messages, such as emails or text messages. We found that direct messages are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.7.2018.99">more effective</a>, can be personalized and may be harder to regulate because they are not public.</p>
<p>Australians can also <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/gambling-transactions-using-your-credit-card-are-they-allowed">use credit cards</a> to place bets. These transactions are not treated as regular online purchases, but instead as cash advances, meaning there are no interest-free periods, and there are also higher interest rates and cash advance fees. Many consumers don’t realize this and end up being forced to fork over more money than they anticipated. Some gambling operators have even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/18/sportsbet-calls-for-ban-on-using-credit-cards-to-gamble-online-as-ama-warns-of-rising-harms">called for a ban</a> on the use of credit cards for online gambling.</p>
<h2>Regulations in play</h2>
<p>Earlier, I pointed out that some of the key ideas around restrictions for online gambling are about reducing harm. But online gambling is still available at any time, as long as you have a phone or tablet, and just about all of us do. So, imagine someone experiencing a strong gambling urge, especially someone with little self-control. It’s easier than ever to place a bet via any number of payment methods, including credit cards, at any time, including when you’re drunk.</p>
<p>Fortunately, further regulations are being introduced.</p>
<p>The federal government is ultimately responsible for legislating online gambling in Australia. The <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/communities-and-vulnerable-people-programs-services-gambling/national-consumer-protection-framework-for-online-wagering-national-policy-statement">National Consumer Protection Framework</a> is a government initiative intended to implement changes to online sports and race betting, including restrictions on gambling promotions, and a national self-exclusion program.</p>
<p>Heavy bettors typically have accounts with multiple gambling operators, and if they wanted to opt out, previously they would have had to do so with each operator. Soon, they will be able to self-exclude in one place, through a government-run program called “<a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/betstop-national-self-exclusion-register">Betstop</a>,” and this will apply across all online operators. </p>
<p>Consumers are also able to set limits and monitor how much they have spent. As of 2019, every online gaming provider is required to offer deposit limits, although consumers do not have to take them up. However, our research team has found that voluntary limits – many of which are sky-high – only have so much use, and that mandatory limits with reasonable maximum levels would <a href="https://www.cqu.edu.au/cquninews/stories/research-category/2022-research/setting-limits-makes-a-difference,-but-gamblers-need-more-prompts-to-opt-in-cqu-research">make a bigger difference</a>. </p>
<p>Unlike Australia, where sports betting was legal before online betting was invented, U.S. states are introducing legalized sports betting at a time when technology allows for many types of betting products, including particularly dangerous ones. It is important for U.S. legislators and regulators to consider not just whether sports betting should be legal, but which betting products should be allowed, and what harm-reduction regulations could be implemented.</p>
<p>Different U.S. states have <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2023/01/09/where-is-sports-betting-legal-america-2022/?sh=62db3f04386b">different restrictions on sports betting</a>, with some not allowing it at all, some only allowing it in person, and some allowing just about everything, including online wagers. Some states also have restrictions on <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/sports-betting-laws-by-state-5219064">certain bet types</a>.</p>
<p>While some people will argue that it is up to bettors to keep themselves safe, it is important to remember that no one sets out to develop a gambling problem. And gambling products are, by nature, addictive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194993/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Russell has received funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the New South Wales Office of Responsible Gambling, the South Australian State Government, the Queensland Justice and Attorney-General, Gambling Research Australia, the New Zealand Ministry of Health, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the National Association for Gambling Studies and the Alberta Gambling Research Institute. He has had travel expenses paid to present research by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, PsychMed and the Hawthorn Hawks Football Club Players’ Association.</span></em></p>
Australians lose more money gambling on sports, per capita, than any country in the world.
Alex Russell, Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, CQUniversity Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/194994
2023-02-02T13:23:01Z
2023-02-02T13:23:01Z
How legalized sports betting has transformed the fan experience
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507660/original/file-20230201-9483-d3kdz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5434%2C3368&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">DraftKings is one of a handful of sportsbooks that have been advertising during live sporting events.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/detail-view-of-a-draftkings-sportsbook-advertisement-during-news-photo/1433395123?phrase=draftkings sportsbook&adppopup=true">Brett Carlsen/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A couple of days before Christmas, I went to see the NHL’s Nashville Predators play on their home ice against the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.</p>
<p>Amid all the silliness of a modern pro sports experience – the home team skating out of a giant saber-toothed tiger head, the mistletoe kiss cam, a small rock band playing seasonal hits between periods – there was a steady stream of advertising for <a href="https://www.draftkings.com">DraftKings</a>, a company known as a sportsbook that takes bets on athletic events and pays out winnings.</p>
<p>Its name flashed prominently on the Jumbotron above center ice as starting lineups were announced. Its logo appeared again when crews scurried out to clean the ice during timeouts. Not only was “DraftKings Sportsbook” on the yellow jackets worn by the people shoveling up the ice shavings, it was also on the carts they used to collect the ice. </p>
<p>This all came a few days after the Predators <a href="https://www.nhl.com/predators/news/betmgm-named-an-official-sports-betting-partner-of-nashville-predators/c-338972672">announced a multiyear partnership with another sportsbook, BetMGM</a>, that will include not only signage at their home venue, Bridgestone Arena, but also a BetMGM restaurant and bar.</p>
<p>If I had cared to that evening, I could have gone onto the sports betting app on my smartphone and placed a wager on the game. Tennessee is one of <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/">33 states plus the District of Columbia</a> where sports betting is legal. On Jan. 31, 2023, <a href="https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampden-county/legal-sports-betting-in-massachusetts-begins-tuesday/">Massachusetts became the latest state to legalize the practice</a>.</p>
<p>The point of depicting the whole scene is simply this: In the nearly five years since the Supreme Court allowed states <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/supreme-court-sports-betting-new-jersey.html">to legalize sports betting</a>, a whole industry has sprouted up that, for tens of millions of fans around the country, is now just part of the show.</p>
<p>Betting’s seamless integration into American sports – impossible to ignore even among fans who aren’t wagering – represents a remarkable shift for an activity that was banned in much of the country only a few years ago.</p>
<h2>A new sports world</h2>
<p>Let’s look at the numbers for a start.</p>
<p>Since May 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a law that limited sports betting to four states including Nevada, US$180.2 billion has been legally wagered on sports, according to the American Gaming Association’s research arm. That has generated $13.7 billion in revenue for the sportsbooks, according to figures provided to me by the AGA, the industry’s research and lobby group.</p>
<p>Before the NFL kicked off last September, the <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/new/record-46-6-million-americans-plan-to-wager-on-2022-nfl-season/">AGA reported</a> that 18% of American adults – more than 46 million people – planned to make a bet this season. Most of that was likely to be bet through legal channels, as opposed to so-called corner bookies, or illegal operatives.</p>
<p><iframe id="D0Ren" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/D0Ren/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>So, who’s betting on sports? In an interview, David Forman, the AGA’s vice president for research, told me that compared with traditional gamblers – those who might play slots, for instance – “sports bettors are a different demographic. They’re younger, they’re more male, they’re also higher income.”</p>
<p>They’re people like Christian Santosuosso, a 26-year-old creative marketing professional living in Brooklyn, New York. Santosuosso didn’t bet on games until it became legal. Now he and his buddies will pool their money on an NFL Sunday to spice up both the interest in a game and the conversation in the room.</p>
<p>“It’s entertainment,” he told me in a phone interview. He explained that even a tough gambling loss can be amusing or funny, a way to look back on the mistakes your team made that ended up affecting whether you won the bet. But he added that he has a limit on how much he’ll bet.</p>
<h2>Coverage and conversation</h2>
<p>Shortly after Supreme Court ruling in 2018, I wrote a piece for <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-states-legalize-sports-betting-will-sports-media-go-all-in-98686">The Conversation</a> asking if the media would start to produce content aimed at bettors. </p>
<p>The answer has been an unequivocal “yes” – and it seems to have helped change the way sports betting is talked about. </p>
<p>As I write this, if I look at the front page of ESPN.com, I see that the University of Georgia is a 13.5-point favorite over Texas Christian University in the college football national championship. It’s front and center, right next to the kickoff time and the TV network where it’s airing.</p>
<p>But that’s the least of it. </p>
<p>ESPN has broadcast a gaming show since 2019, “Daily Wager.” In September 2022, the sports conglomerate announced <a href="https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2022/09/espn-expands-sports-betting-content-portfolio/">an array of new content</a> centered on betting advice and picks. And SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt is famous for his <a href="https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/espn-has-given-scott-van-pelts-bad-beats-segment-a-monthly-show.html">“Bad Beats” segment</a>, in which Van Pelt typically highlights how a team on the winning side of the point spread falls apart at the last second in a crazy way.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a cottage industry of betting tip channels has emerged on YouTube – if you type “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/sportsbetting">#sportsbetting</a>” into YouTube’s search bar, you’ll find thousands of them.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dwiCuTX9ay0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Gambling-centered programming is now a regular feature of sports media.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another example of how things have changed: On Jan. 2, 2023, the University of Utah’s football team had the ball first and goal with 43 seconds left, down 21 points to Penn State in the Rose Bowl. The game was essentially over. However, the commentators noted that a touchdown would mean a lot to some people.</p>
<p>Who? Why? The announcers didn’t elaborate, but the implication was obvious: Those who had bet the over – wagering that together the two teams would score more than 54 points – had a lot riding on that touchdown. So, in a sense, did ESPN. In a blowout, fans of both teams are likely to tune out. But when there’s money riding on something like the over, eyes stay glued to the screen. </p>
<p>Utah ended up scoring on third down with 25 seconds remaining. <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401442014">Final score</a>: Penn State 35, Utah 21. </p>
<h2>The danger and the ceiling</h2>
<p>I’ve been editing sports articles since the early 1990s and have run <a href="https://www.bellisario.psu.edu/people/individual/john-affleck">the sports journalism program at Penn State</a> since 2013. I have noticed how my students now routinely talk about the point spread – the expected margin of victory – and even the over-under, a wager on the total number of points scored.</p>
<p>That just did not happen so often when I first got to State College, nor in the newsroom before that.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Magazine cover with basketball hoop filled with dollar bills." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=802&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507171/original/file-20230130-24-njtnah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For decades, fears of game fixing – and the ways in which it would taint the image of sports leagues – made gambling a taboo among league executives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://sicovers.com/featured/boston-college-point-shaving-scheme-february-16-1981-sports-illustrated-cover.html">Sports Illustrated</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sports leagues were once <a href="https://www.si.com/betting/2021/08/09/gambling-issue-daily-cover">vehemently opposed to gambling</a>. And while they’re still concerned <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/07/1085045547/nfl-receiver-calvin-ridley-suspended-for-2022-season-after-gambling-on-games">about keeping players from betting</a>, many leagues – particularly the NFL – have made a complete U-turn since legalization.</p>
<p>There are multiple reasons for this change of heart. While the concern used to be about <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gambling-built-baseball-and-then-almost-destroyed-it-123254">losing the integrity of the game to a betting scandal</a>, now sports leagues can argue that legal betting allows for better monitoring of potential cheating. If heavy betting happens on one team, or if there’s sudden shift in betting patterns, it’s all visible to the sportsbooks and might indicate nefarious activity. </p>
<p>There’s also <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/09/14/as-more-states-legalize-the-practice-19-of-u-s-adults-say-they-have-bet-money-on-sports-in-the-past-year/">significant fan interest in legal wagering</a> – 56% of Americans adults, and nearly 7 in 10 men, recently told Pew that they’ve read at least a little about how widespread legal sports betting has become.</p>
<p>And, of course, there is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/26/tech-gambling-alcohol-helped-nfl-earn-almost-2-billion-in-sponsorships.html">big money from a new sponsorship group</a> – the sportsbooks – that helped drive overall NFL sponsorship revenue to a record $1.8 billion in the 2021 season. </p>
<p>The danger, of course, is <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gambling-disorder/what-is-gambling-disorder">gambling addiction</a>.</p>
<p>And while the AGA is quick to note that its member companies pledge to <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/resources/responsible-gaming-regulations-and-statutes-guide/">give information about problem gambling to their customers</a>, legalization has undoubtedly provided <a href="https://theconversation.com/access-to-sports-betting-in-the-us-has-exploded-since-2018-and-were-just-starting-to-learn-about-the-effects-192055">easier and more secure access to sports betting</a>. </p>
<p>Keith Whyte, executive director of the <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/">National Council on Problem Gambling</a>, said in a telephone interview that research by his group had found that roughly 25% of American adults bet on sports, somewhat more than the AGA’s estimate. That percentage has jumped from roughly 15% before the Supreme Court ruling, per the NCPG.</p>
<p>While that’s a big increase, it also suggests that perhaps there is a ceiling coming up – in other words, when all the states that will do so legalize sports betting, wagering still won’t be done by many more people than now, Whyte speculated.</p>
<p>“I think it’s changing the market in a lot of ways,” Whyte said, “but my guess is it’s mainly to increase the intensity – and associated risk of problem gambling – among fans that were already engaged fans.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194994/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Affleck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The opportunity to place bets has changed the way games look, the way they’re talked about – and, of course, how many people have money riding on the outcome.
John Affleck, Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society, Penn State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/192055
2022-10-31T15:31:12Z
2022-10-31T15:31:12Z
Access to sports betting in the US has exploded since 2018 – and we’re just starting to learn about the effects
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492141/original/file-20221027-25221-351sfj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C26%2C5973%2C3961&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Since 2018, more than 30 states in the U.S. have legalized sports betting.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/bettting-on-sports-royalty-free-image/1131390744?phrase=sports betting&adppopup=true">Seth Love/iStock via Getty Images.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For most of U.S. history, sports betting was rare.</p>
<p>Some people certainly bet on sports illegally via a bookie, or placed bets in the few places where it was legal, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/29/history-of-sports-gambling/">such as Nevada</a>. </p>
<p>However, gambling policy took a sharp turn in 2018, when <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-476_dbfi.pdf">the Supreme Court decided</a> that each state in the U.S. had the right to legalize or prohibit sports wagering as they saw fit.</p>
<p>The effects of this ruling were swift, with many states introducing legislation to legalize sports betting within months. <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/">Four years later</a>, more than 30 states have legalized sports betting, and many more are working to legalize it in the immediate future.</p>
<p>This wave of legalized sports betting has opened the floodgates for new gambling opportunities. Not surprisingly, many Americans <a href="https://www.hbo.com/real-sports-with-bryant-gumbel/season-28/1-real-sports-with-bryant-gumbel-january-2022">have expressed concern</a> that the burgeoning access to sports wagering will create an influx of people with new gambling problems.</p>
<p>We’re <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UMwkCl8AAAAJ&hl=en">clinical psychologists</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=gCnmj3kAAAAJ&hl=en">professors</a> who research behavioral addictions such as compulsive sexual behavior disorder and gambling disorder. Recently, we’ve begun a new line of research into sports wagering in the U.S. <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2797990">Our initial findings</a> highlight how many Americans are gambling on sports, as well as the demographic most likely to do so.</p>
<h2>The many forms of sports betting</h2>
<p>Before talking about that study, it’s important to clarify what we mean when we talk about sports betting. Like most other types of gambling, it can take many different forms. <a href="https://gaming.library.unlv.edu/infographs/types_sports_betting.pdf">Traditional sports betting</a> refers to betting on the outcomes of sporting events. These bets could be placed on who wins a game, how many points the game was decided by, or the game’s total combined score.</p>
<p>Beyond the traditional form, sports betting can also involve <a href="https://insidersbettingdigest.com/esports/">betting on esports</a>, which is professional, competitive video game play. It may also involve <a href="https://sites.psu.edu/pfsports/what-are-fantasy-sports/">paid fantasy league play</a>, which refers to people “drafting” virtual teams of players and competing against other participants’ virtual teams over the course of a sports season. </p>
<p>Finally, sports betting may also involve participating in <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-rise-of-daily-fantasy-sports-will-mean-for-problem-gambling-79998">daily fantasy league play</a>. This form of betting is similar to regular fantasy leagues, but players select new teams weekly and compete week to week, rather than throughout a whole season.</p>
<h2>Young men at risk</h2>
<p>In early 2022, we embarked upon a long-term research project to study who is gambling on sports in the U.S. and how their gambling behaviors change over time. </p>
<p>We worked with the polling and data analytics firm <a href="https://today.yougov.com/about/about/?sourceid=1178109&rlid=sitelink&gclid=CjwKCAjw2OiaBhBSEiwAh2ZSP5s8MyObD6K1AVwfS6BJf2M1jGk9HGy5AaFxiG691DC8Cz3IbbjfcRoCt8wQAvD_BwE">YouGov America</a> to recruit a nationally representative sample of over 2,800 American adults. We also collected another representative sample of over 1,500 American adults who had recently bet on sports. </p>
<p>We surveyed these two samples, asking them about their sports betting behaviors and a range of other mental health concerns. We also asked about symptoms of <a href="https://www.icrg.org/press-room/media-kit/faq/what-problem-or-pathological-gambling">gambling disorder</a>, which is an addictive disorder characterized by excessive or out-of-control gambling behavior. </p>
<p>We have just published <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2797990">our first round of findings from the early stages of this work</a>.</p>
<p>In this initial paper, we tried to identify who was most likely to gamble on sports and how sports gambling related to problem gambling. Importantly, we did not just ask these people if they had “bet on sports.” We also asked about participating in fantasy sports, daily fantasy sports leagues and betting on esports. </p>
<p>In our nationally representative sample, we found that only a fraction of Americans have bet on sports recently. Although 17.2% of Americans reported having bet on sports in their lifetime, only 6.2% reported that they had done so in the past year. Similarly, only 5.9% reported participating in a paid fantasy sports league over the past year, only 4.2% reported being involved in daily fantasy sports leagues and only 4.1% reported betting on esports in the past year. </p>
<p>In short, sports betting is still a relatively rare activity in the U.S., and our data does not necessarily show increases from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021019915591">prevalence rates 20 years ago</a>.</p>
<p>But we also looked at who was most likely to bet on sports. Across all forms of sports betting, we found that younger men with college degrees and higher incomes were more likely to bet on sports than other Americans.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Bar patrons celebrate while watching a baseball game." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492147/original/file-20221027-29020-6wwsi3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492147/original/file-20221027-29020-6wwsi3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492147/original/file-20221027-29020-6wwsi3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492147/original/file-20221027-29020-6wwsi3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492147/original/file-20221027-29020-6wwsi3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492147/original/file-20221027-29020-6wwsi3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492147/original/file-20221027-29020-6wwsi3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">College-educated young men with good-paying jobs is the group most likely to bet on sports.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-york-yankees-fans-watch-them-play-the-philadelphia-news-photo/92620216?phrase=fans%20watching%20baseball%20bar&adppopup=true">Jared Wickerham/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Finally, we examined whether sports betting was related to symptoms of gambling disorder. Again, our results were quite clear: Traditional sports betting, daily fantasy league play, and betting on esports were all associated with much higher odds of being categorized as a moderate or high-risk gambler. </p>
<p>Simply put, these forms of sports betting are risk factors for also having problems with gambling. </p>
<h2>An eye toward the future</h2>
<p>Taken together, our findings do not necessarily suggest that sports betting is resulting in a wave of new gamblers across the country. Also, among those who do bet on sports, most seem to be doing so without ill effects. </p>
<p>Yet, sports betting is associated with symptoms of gambling disorder, which means this is a risky behavior – perhaps similar to alcohol use or other forms of gambling, like playing slot machines. Most people who engage in any of these behaviors will do so without problems. But for some people, access to sports gambling will likely result in the development of symptoms of gambling disorder. </p>
<p>As both researchers and clinicians, we are especially worried about this possibility: Any increase in people seeking help for gambling disorders could overwhelm the nation’s treatment centers, <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and-business/treatment-for-problem-gamblers-not-a-sure-bet-1">which already find themselves overextended and underfunded</a>.</p>
<p>For this reason, we believe it’s important to quickly identify people who are at risk of developing gambling problems. This is one of our main objectives in our ongoing study of sports wagering. By identifying who is most likely to develop a gambling problem, we hope to influence policymakers and gambling industry professionals to help introduce safeguards protecting those at risk.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192055/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua B. Grubbs receives funding from the International Center for Responsible Gaming, the Kindbridge Research Institute, and the Problem Gambling Network of Ohio. Joshua B. Grubbs is also a member of the Problem Gambling Advisory Board for the state of Ohio.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shane Kraus receives funding from the International Center for Responsible Gaming, the Nevada Problem Gambling Project, and Kindbridge Research Institute. He also serves on the Advisory Committee on Problem Gambling for the state of Nevada.</span></em></p>
Any increase in people seeking help for gambling disorders could overwhelm the nation’s treatment centers, which already find themselves overextended and underfunded.
Joshua B. Grubbs, Associate Professor of Psychology, Bowling Green State University
Shane Kraus, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/185407
2022-06-22T01:07:52Z
2022-06-22T01:07:52Z
As Netball Australia eyes betting sponsorship, women and girls are at increased risk of gambling harm
<p>Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-17/netball-aus-ceo-responds-to-damning-financial-report/101160432">said</a> last week she would consider accepting gambling sponsorship to help with Netball Australia’s debts.</p>
<p>Gambling sponsorships were “lucrative” for sports, she reasoned, adding netball had to “put itself a little bit more outside its comfort zone” in terms of financial partnerships. </p>
<p>While betting firms sponsor <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/21/wnba-pointsbet-strike-sports-betting-partnership.html">large female sporting codes</a> in the United States, this is the first time a high profile women’s sport in Australia has publicly discussed accepting gambling sponsorship. </p>
<p>A social media <a href="https://twitter.com/RenInOz/status/1537584425940054016">backlash</a> followed. Parents and fans expressed fears about the impact of exposure to commercial marketing for gambling via a code <a href="https://diamonds.netball.com.au/news/origin-australian-diamonds-find-their-sparkle-my-little-pony">largely marketed to young girls</a>.</p>
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<p>While such partnerships may be financially lucrative for sporting codes, there are also hidden costs. </p>
<p>Gambling is an addictive product with a range of significant health and social costs for individuals, their families and communities. This includes children – with extensive research showing how gambling advertising in sport normalises gambling for <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1753-6405.13063">young people</a>. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sports-betting-how-in-play-betting-features-could-be-leading-to-harmful-gambling-new-research-177872">Sports betting: how in-play betting features could be leading to harmful gambling – new research</a>
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<h2>Caught in the middle</h2>
<p>As gambling brands attempt to market products to a relatively limited market, children are caught in the middle. </p>
<p>Thanks to a range of sophisticated and innovative marketing strategies – including the use of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1753-6405.13063">celebrity endorsements</a> – children can name multiple gambling brands, and perceive gambling as a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1753-6405.12564">normal activity</a> for sports fans. Some believe the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12954-017-0136-3">deals provided</a> by gambling companies, including free bets and money back offers, mean gambling has little risk attached to it.</p>
<p>Concern is mounting about the impact of gambling marketing in sport on young people. A joint commission report by <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)32540-1/fulltext">The Lancet, WHO and UNICEF</a> recently highlighted gambling as a commercial harm that threatens child health and well-being, calling it an “unaddressed public health challenge for children”.</p>
<h2>No one likes gambling ads</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/stop-promoting-gambling-betting-ads-a-burning-issue-in-afl-fan-survey-20220214-p59w5h.html">Surveys</a> show gambling advertising in sport is unpopular and worrying for sporting fans. </p>
<p>Even sporting leaders recognise its deeply problematic impact on young people. This week, a survey by The Age newspaper of <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/tassie-gambling-concussion-and-the-boss-survey-reveals-club-views-20220617-p5aujb.html">AFL club bosses</a> reported 11 out of 16 chief executives or chairs felt gambling advertising in sport was excessive. One said the AFL had “prostituted themselves” to the gambling companies.</p>
<h2>Now it’s girls’ and women’s turn</h2>
<p>So why are female sporting codes now following the well-trodden and heavily criticised path of male sporting codes – turning to an industry that poses an unnecessary risk to the health and well-being of fans? </p>
<p>To date, evidence about gambling marketing in sport has largely centred on the impact on boys and young men. But this does not mean girls and young women are immune to its impacts. </p>
<p>Gambling companies are increasingly targeting women to expand their customer base and profits. They have begun sponsoring <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/mafs-sponsors-in-happy-union-with-nine-for-new-season-722802">television programs</a> such as Married at First Sight, that are popular with a female audience.</p>
<p>They even <a href="https://www.buddybet.com/au/buddybet/how-to-use-buddybet-at-your-baby-shower">offer information</a> about how to bet on your pregnancy – including predictions of birth date, weight and “gender reveals”. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469957/original/file-20220621-11-bk7tlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A close up shot of a young woman gambling at a slot machine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469957/original/file-20220621-11-bk7tlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469957/original/file-20220621-11-bk7tlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469957/original/file-20220621-11-bk7tlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469957/original/file-20220621-11-bk7tlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469957/original/file-20220621-11-bk7tlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469957/original/file-20220621-11-bk7tlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469957/original/file-20220621-11-bk7tlm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gambling companies are taking steps to ‘feminise’ the idea of gambling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-woman-gambling-casino-playing-on-1045958089">Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Following the tobacco and alcohol playbook</h2>
<p>The feminisation of gambling marketing and products should not be a surprise for policymakers, given the historical playbook of the <a href="https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/tobacco-industry-marketing/slim-and-stylish-how-tobacco-companies-hooked-women">tobacco</a> and <a href="https://www.cancerwa.asn.au/resources/2020-12-09-PHAIWA-CCWA-The-Instagrammability-of-pink-drinks-How-alcohol-is-marketed-to-women-in-Australia-2019.pdf">alcohol</a> industries. </p>
<p>These industries spent millions of dollars aligning their products with the values and social practices of women – including sponsoring women’s sporting events – to appeal to new markets, and to legitimise the use of these products for women. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1753-6405.13024">research</a> shows gambling – including on sport – is becoming increasingly normalised and socially accepted for young women. </p>
<p>Women we interviewed felt gambling was commonly portrayed as a form of entertainment. Women also said they had signed up to betting accounts after seeing marketing for gambling companies, and that online companies had largely eliminated the stigma associated with going to a male-dominated betting venue.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bingo-seems-like-harmless-fun-but-higher-stakes-and-new-technology-are-making-it-more-dangerous-180678">Bingo seems like harmless fun – but higher stakes and new technology are making it more dangerous</a>
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<h2>Time for governments to step up</h2>
<p>Public health action from governments on this issue has been almost non-existent. </p>
<p>Public education is still largely based on the idea of personal responsibility, which can reinforce the normalisation of gambling by portraying gambling as a common leisure activity that can be kept in control with informed choices. Campaigns generally focus on young men and betting, and often <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ_wpqQBxK0&list=PLlxOaF8FyB0orSV0HUboPrEpIk0rXp5po">portray women in stereotypical roles</a> such as <a href="https://vimeo.com/696778355">disgruntled girlfriends</a>. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.audit.vic.gov.au/report/reducing-harm-caused-gambling?section=33780--appendix-b-acronyms-and-abbreviations">audit</a> of public education programs about gambling harms found they couldn’t match the scale or intensity of sports betting companies’ marketing. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aJ_wpqQBxK0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Gambling education campaigns often focus on men’s experience and some use hopelessly outdated gender roles.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Sporting codes have repeatedly demonstrated they are unable to make decisions about gambling partnerships in the best interests of young people. Regulations should be implemented to prevent young people from being exposed to gambling marketing. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-022-13201-0">recent research</a> with young people shows they agree with this view. They support comprehensive curbs on gambling marketing, including an untangling of the relationship between gambling and sport and protection from harm. </p>
<p>In the words of one 14-year-old female sports fan:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m a bit disappointed and sad that gambling is such a big part of sport now. I would say that, like, just do it because, watch it and do it because you love (sport) and don’t try to bring gambling into it. It doesn’t have to be about that, it doesn’t have to be about money.</p>
</blockquote>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gambling-what-happens-in-the-brain-when-we-get-hooked-and-how-to-regain-control-176901">Gambling: what happens in the brain when we get hooked – and how to regain control</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185407/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samantha Thomas has received funding for gambling research from the Australian Research Council Discovery Grant Scheme, the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, and the New South Wales Office of Responsible Gambling. She has received travel expenses for gambling speaking engagements from the European Union, Beat the Odds Wales, the Office of Gaming and Racing ACT, and the Royal College of Psychiatry Wales. She is a member of the Responsible Gambling Advisory Board for LotteryWest, and is a member of the board of the International Confederation of ATOD Research Associations (ICARA). She does not receive any financial compensation for these roles.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Pitt has received funding from the Australian Research Council Discovery Grant Scheme, the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the New South Wales Office of Responsible Gambling, VicHealth, and Deakin University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simone McCarthy has been employed on research projects that are funded by the Australian Research Council and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. </span></em></p>
Gambling is increasingly pitched to women and if Netball Australia accepts sports betting sponsors, younger girls will be next.
Samantha Thomas, Professor of Public Health, Deakin University
Hannah Pitt, VicHealth Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Deakin University
Simone McCarthy, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Deakin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/177872
2022-03-10T13:49:58Z
2022-03-10T13:49:58Z
Sports betting: how in-play betting features could be leading to harmful gambling – new research
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451045/original/file-20220309-1729-1h2owfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C0%2C7285%2C4874&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cropped-shot-man-lying-on-sofa-1694384434">Wpadington/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the rapid convergence of the gambling and technology spheres over recent years, sports betting has become more accessible, more customisable and more complex. Gone are the days where punters were limited to betting on the winner or loser of a match, and could only do so before the match started.</p>
<p>The rise of in-play sports betting now provides the public with countless betting opportunities based on the “micro-events” that occur throughout a sporting event. Such opportunities or “micro-bets” could include wagering who gets the next yellow card in a football match, or who wins the first set in a tennis match. </p>
<p>The websites and apps that offer in-play bets are equipped with a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-018-9896-6">vast array of features</a> that <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-10805-w">are marketed</a> as being advantageous, informative and convenient to bettors. These include statistics boards that display real-time match and player information, an embedded live stream of the sporting event, and the ability to swiftly deposit funds into your betting account.</p>
<p>Despite being marketed positively, <a href="https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/10/3/article-p371.xml">recent research</a> indicates that these in-play betting features are comparable to those of highly addictive fixed-odds betting terminals – electronic slots or gaming machines, often referred to as “pokies”.</p>
<p>The most harmful features of fixed-odds betting terminals include fast outcome frequency (the short time interval between bets) and the ability to multiply bets. Similarly, in-play betting offers a fast outcome frequency through the almost infinite amount of micro-bets that can be placed, while bets can be multiplied through “accumulators”. </p>
<p>So when coupled with the <a href="http://theaudioprof.com/pubs/2012_1.pdf">stress and emotional investment</a> that we know sports bettors experience, these product features could well lead to harmful gambling.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0264000#sec015">latest research</a> aimed to assess the effects of in-play betting features upon bettors’ levels of frustration, impulsivity, emotional outbursts and aggression while gambling. These behaviours are encompassed by the term “<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/14/5013/htm">tilting</a>” in the gambling world. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gambling-what-happens-in-the-brain-when-we-get-hooked-and-how-to-regain-control-176901">Gambling: what happens in the brain when we get hooked – and how to regain control</a>
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<h2>What we did</h2>
<p>A sample of 225 sports bettors from the UK took part in our study. They were assessed using an online questionnaire that measured tilting episodes, awareness of tilting, gambling harm and in-play betting feature preferences. </p>
<p>We found that a small minority of sports bettors are aware of their tilting and the harm that is associated with it. But the results also indicated that there is a much larger group of sports bettors who are not aware of how much they actually “tilt” when gambling. Overall, higher instances of the behaviours we characterise as tilting were associated with higher rates of gambling harm.</p>
<p>Those who displayed the highest levels of frustration and emotional outbursts when gambling (tilting) used the instant cash deposit feature the most and deemed it the most important feature during their gambling sessions.</p>
<p>Previous research has shown that the ability to instantly deposit funds can be <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-018-0049-8">a catalyst</a> for harmful gambling behaviours. Theoretically, when sports bettors begin to become frustrated and emotional in response to losing money, this feature allows them to instantly replenish their lost money to place more reckless, desperate and impulse-driven bets.</p>
<p>Other features that were used often and favoured by participants who reported the most frustration and emotional outbursts were information-based features. These include the statistics board, embedded livestream, and other live updates that are hosted on in-play betting websites and apps.</p>
<p>Previous <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14459795.2017.1377747?casa_token=E89zr_zun3UAAAAA:TD1-t3m4UNig4VuD0P04SII_SApUykzjRpKJ0AW-u8CVK3scXCkF4Jnz9xwuaZVdpTrZE0409UU">research</a> has suggested that information-based product features may facilitate illusions of control by leading sports bettors to overestimate the advantage these features offer.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A hand holds a smartphone with a sports betting app open, in front of a laptop screen displaying a sporting match." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451055/original/file-20220309-27-xnnpaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451055/original/file-20220309-27-xnnpaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451055/original/file-20220309-27-xnnpaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451055/original/file-20220309-27-xnnpaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451055/original/file-20220309-27-xnnpaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451055/original/file-20220309-27-xnnpaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451055/original/file-20220309-27-xnnpaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many sports betting platforms offer punters the opportunity to place ‘micro-bets’ throughout a match.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-cropped-shot-male-hands-making-1341486362">Wpadington/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Generally speaking, most tasks and activities will be carried out in a more harmful manner when someone is aggravated or stressed. For example, road rage can lead to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796702000463?casa_token=aMIcnDWeGvUAAAAA:Uhd7cGlUE6TI99nr9Cl4AHoajZ3kYovkuepxCuiTjkpBBVsTPoekqz1IfEO9Gm8em7AsN-IuQw">poorer quality driving</a>. Shopping while upset may lead to higher rates of <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/07363760810845381/full/html?casa_token=BrTJE5qXFbMAAAAA:Wg-A5ZKHKJs5W52PYCeDAQ3A8GXUXDmuIPhi2e6FfT6ubriRsfVOOYeaB8rbuTmcXUrAvqDC22VJGfwbkBjRsjNDpga3_bKXSliN07MdNLYAv_LoLA">impulse buying</a>. </p>
<p>Likewise, our research indicates that gambling while emotionally frustrated is associated with more harmful gambling – and these in-play betting features appear to be exacerbating the problem.</p>
<h2>So what can we do?</h2>
<p>Sports bettors would likely benefit from being able to identify their own tilting behaviours to more safely disengage. But the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-020-09968-9#Sec21">cyclic nature</a> of in-play betting product features makes this particularly difficult. Industry slogans like “just stepping away” or “stop when the fun stops” are often deemed to be <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0255145">misguided and tokenistic</a>. </p>
<p>Rather than focusing on interventions that put the responsibility on the consumer, more academic and regulatory attention should be paid to the responsible design of sports betting product features. This issue often transcends the personal control of the bettor. In other words, if a product is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350620300822?casa_token=ELHTZEx3F2kAAAAA:P4a8A4jEwhYp0MswQv0g8D9qA73p9Oo_ElS4I_q_E3sxp1pDn3V671j0dGzu94LSNQiTs6UkOw">designed in a way</a> that makes it inherently harmful, it is practically impossible for consumers to engage with it “responsibly”.</p>
<p>To reduce gambling-related harm within sports betting, we need to see regulatory reform around product design from a public health perspective. The product features associated with sports betting are not immutable and can be easily modified by the industry. This might mean limiting how quickly bettors can replenish their lost funds, or limiting the amount of money they can deposit following consecutive losses. </p>
<p>With the review of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-gambling-act-2005-terms-of-reference-and-call-for-evidence/review-of-the-gambling-act-2005-terms-of-reference-and-call-for-evidence">2005 Gambling Act</a> approaching, it’s vital that tighter controls are placed upon the emergent product features associated with sports betting. If left unchecked, these features will continue to transform sports betting into a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11469-018-0049-8">more harmful</a> form of gambling.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-tackle-problem-gambling-85552">How to tackle problem gambling</a>
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</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177872/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Torrance receives PhD funding from GambleAware. They have no input in his research nor articles.</span></em></p>
Many sports betting platforms now offer the opportunity for punters to place multiple bets in quick succession during the course of a match.
Jamie Torrance, Doctoral researcher and Lecturer in Psychology, University of South Wales
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/163929
2021-07-22T14:14:21Z
2021-07-22T14:14:21Z
Game on! The opportunities and risks of single-game sports betting in Canada
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411981/original/file-20210719-17-1cjy5ai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C0%2C7892%2C5261&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Single-event sports betting was recently <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-single-game-sports-betting-about-to-become-legal-after-senate-passes/">approved by the Senate of Canada via Bill C-218</a>, which is <a href="https://frontofficesports.com/operators-anticipate-sports-betting-gold-rush-in-canada/">big news for the Canadian sport industry</a>.</p>
<p>The passage of this bill, almost 10 years in the making, will dramatically change the sports landscape in this country given <a href="https://www.thestar.com/sports/2021/04/08/gaming-operators-here-want-share-of-14-billion-spent-by-canadians-annually-on-offshore-betting-websites-illegal-gambling-operations.html">that annual betting by Canadians is already estimated to surpass US$10 billion</a> a year through offshore betting websites and illegal gambling operations.</p>
<p>The influence of this bill — and related activities that will include sport marketing and media partnerships and related activation — will be enormous for an industry that has been severely and negatively impacted by COVID-19.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-have-a-serious-conversation-about-the-future-of-canadian-football-162906">It’s time to have a serious conversation about the future of Canadian football</a>
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<p>Many industry insiders representing professional sport teams and leagues are already planning for what they describe as being one of, if not the most, <a href="https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/tmt/library/sports-outlook-north-america.html">transformational sport disruptions in the modern-day industry</a>. Experts note that the potential for this market is large, given it <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-06/sports-betting-firm-in-canada-braces-for-fanduel-after-111-rise">could be a US$4 billion revenue opportunity</a>.</p>
<p>A plethora of sport betting operators will now enter the Canadian market, including DraftKings, FanDuel and PointsBet. That will contribute significantly to the economy through a variety of means, including new revenue via individual consumer betting as well as realized revenue through sport marketing partnerships with professional teams and leagues. </p>
<p>These new revenue streams are going to be difficult to ignore, <a href="https://www.casino.org/news/canada-single-game-sports-betting-seen-lifting-score-media-others/">but are fraught with big and unknown impacts</a>.</p>
<h2>The Canadian sport industry:</h2>
<p>Today, the global sport industry is estimated to be valued at <a href="https://www.kearney.com/communications-media-technology/article?/a/the-sports-market">approximately US$529 billion</a>. It has been well acknowledged <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-business-of-sports-resumes-amid-covid-19-but-%20at-what-cost-142793">that it has been severely impacted by COVID-19</a>, especially when it comes to loss of fan-related revenue, including venue attendance and ticketing. </p>
<p>In Canada, for example, <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30880914/toronto-raptors-continue-playing-home-games-tampa-rest-season">the Raptors had to play in Florida due to international border restrictions due to COVID-19</a> and the costs have been detrimental. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-business-of-sports-resumes-amid-covid-19-but-at-what-cost-142793">The business of sports resumes amid COVID-19, but at what cost?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the United States and Canada, the sport industry is <a href="https://www.uwi.edu/uop/sites/uop/files/Value%20and%20benefits%20of%20the%20Sport%20Industry.pdf">estimated to be valued at approximately US$80 billion</a>, with Canada making up a tenth of this market size. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Scotiabank Arena with a billboard-sized image of the Toronto Raptors in front" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411985/original/file-20210719-23-8wd2pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411985/original/file-20210719-23-8wd2pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411985/original/file-20210719-23-8wd2pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411985/original/file-20210719-23-8wd2pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411985/original/file-20210719-23-8wd2pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411985/original/file-20210719-23-8wd2pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411985/original/file-20210719-23-8wd2pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Toronto Raptors usually play at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto but had to play in Florida this past season because of COVID-19.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Single-game betting offers a new <a href="https://sportshandle.com/canada/">means of engaging</a> the fan-sport property entertainment experience, which is why so many sport teams, media partners and <a href="https://www.thestar.com/sports/2021/06/22/finally-single-event-sports-betting-is-coming-to-canada-after-bill-c-218-clears-final-hurdle.html">related sport sponsors are actively going “all in”</a> with the opportunity for involvement around this highly engaged consumer segment. </p>
<p>This new market can be compared to Big Tobacco sponsorship money which was <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/artists-protest-loss-of-funding-from-tobacco-companies">formally extinguished through previous federal legislation</a>. It held a new and rather unwieldy power as one of most influential sport funding partners in Canada during the 1970s and 1980s.</p>
<p>And despite the single-betting bill taking 10 years to pass, stakeholders and the government are still trying to regulate the the effects of the new sport betting industry. </p>
<p>It means <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/more/article/canadas-new-betting-law-generate-taxes-protect-consumers/">sorting out what will be best practice strategies</a> that can draw comparisons to Wild West when unmoderated. </p>
<h2>Social impacts</h2>
<p>So what are the impacts of single-game betting to the industry and society, and how will it be regulated? </p>
<p>The government recently announced they are <a href="https://sportshandle.com/canada-provincial-rollout-71321/">implementing a watchdog type agency and policy to monitor the industry</a> for a number of concerns which, in the bill’s current form, include amendments <a href="https://www.tsn.ca/canada-gambling-single-game-sports-betting-1.1658640">to prohibit match-fixing</a> and changes to the Criminal Code <a href="https://sportshandle.com/historic-canada-bill-adopted/">to allow First Nations lottery considerations</a>. </p>
<p>What has not been considered, however, is how responsible betting will be moderated, managed and communicated. To date, there is no evidence of a national, independent or arms-length conversation on responsible betting. We know that related addictions could rise, especially with recent Canadian evidence showing that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-021-10025-2">sport fans and bettors seem to be at a higher risk of problem gambling than non-sport fans</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three sports fans sit at a sports bar with beer, watching the game and looking at their cellphones" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411980/original/file-20210719-17-1lb1w8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411980/original/file-20210719-17-1lb1w8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411980/original/file-20210719-17-1lb1w8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411980/original/file-20210719-17-1lb1w8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411980/original/file-20210719-17-1lb1w8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411980/original/file-20210719-17-1lb1w8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411980/original/file-20210719-17-1lb1w8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Single-game sport betting is now legal in Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What is the appropriate role and place of key stakeholders in this space, new and current, and how will this new category be defined as a sport marketing vehicle? The <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/more/article/canadas-new-betting-law-generate-taxes-protect-consumers/">exchange of related sports data for betting purposes remains unclear</a>. </p>
<p>One concern is the lack of a comparable mechanism to the U.S. <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/">National Council on Problem Gambling</a> — of which theScore, a leading Canadian player in the global sport betting scene, is a member. Another concern is the lack of diversity in the sports betting industry. The industry is already loaded with traditional male profiles — a comprehensive diversity strategy could attract young, bright talent. </p>
<h2>What does it mean for Canadian sport?</h2>
<p>The jury is very much still out on the impact of the now legal, single-game sport betting industry in our country. </p>
<p>But this change will be monumental in size and value, with the potential to significantly impact the sport industry in a way we haven’t seen in decades. </p>
<p>The industry needs to take immediate steps to ensure it is open, transparent and considerate of responsible betting. It must also lead with a diverse culture, and have strong considerations for an authentic and sustained footprint in an industry desperately posed to return to sport after COVID-19.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163929/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A plethora of sport betting operators will now enter the Canadian market and contribute to the economy through consumer betting and marketing partnerships. But what are the risks?
Cheri L. Bradish, Professor of Sport Business, Toronto Metropolitan University
David J Finch, Professor and Associate Director, Institute for Community Prosperity, Mount Royal University
David Legg, Professor, Dept of Health and Physical Education, Mount Royal University
Michael L. Naraine, Assistant Professor of Sport Management, Brock University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/141242
2020-07-02T14:49:19Z
2020-07-02T14:49:19Z
Football betting among young Nigerians may create problems but a ban isn’t the answer
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344781/original/file-20200630-103688-1kitj3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">European football leagues' popularity and increased internet access make football betting attractive among young people in Nigeria.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/manchester-uniteds-nigerian-striker-odion-ighalo-celebrates-news-photo/1223098301?adppopup=true">Catherine Ivill/AFP via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Nigeria, football betting has a long history that can be traced to colonial times, when pool betting was popular, especially among older adults. Since then, more younger people have taken up betting on the results of football matches, including <a href="https://8brand.co.za/the-rise-and-rise-of-sports-betting-in-nigeria/">European league</a> football. </p>
<p>The country has many betting outlets where people can place a bet manually. They can also open an account online with a betting company, using a debit card, and place bets on the website or app. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190412005143/en/Nigeria-Sports-Betting-Sector-Report-20192020--#:%7E:text=According%20to%20a%20report%20by,N730%20billion%20in%20a%20year.">report</a> revealed that about 60 million Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 40 are involved in active sport betting. They spend almost ₦2 billion on sports betting daily. This translates to about ₦730 billion annually. In an economy where the 2020 national budget is <a href="https://nairametrics.com/2020/06/11/senate-passes-the-revised-n10-8-trillion-2020-budget/">almost ₦11 trillion</a>, this is huge. </p>
<p>Two factors are responsible for increasing football betting among youth in Nigeria. One is the increase in poverty and unemployment. Among Nigeria’s estimated population of <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=NG">around 200 million</a>, around <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2018/06/19/the-start-of-a-new-poverty-narrative/">87 million</a> are said to be extremely poor. The youth unemployment rate in 2018 was put at <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/nigeria/youth-unemployment-rate">36.5%</a>. </p>
<p>According to the National Bureau of Statistics, <a href="https://africacheck.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/q1-q3_2017_unemployment_report_VOLUME_1-1.pdf">29.7% of youths</a> between the ages of 15 and 34 were unemployed at the third quarter of 2018. Betting may appear to be a way to make quick money, either as a betting operator or as a gambler.</p>
<p>The second factor driving and enabling football betting in Nigeria is the growing use of the internet and smart mobile phones. In 2017, <a href="https://guardian.ng/business-services/nigerias-mobile-phone-penetration-hits-84-per-cent/">84% of Nigerians</a> had mobile phones. The number of internet users in Nigeria is <a href="https://www.ncc.gov.ng/stakeholder/media-public/news-headlines/614-ncc-hinges-nigeria-s-122-million-internet-users-protection-on-effective-governance">122 million</a> based on figures from the <a href="https://www.ncc.gov.ng/the-ncc/who-we-are">Nigerian Communication Commission</a>. This is more than half of <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=NG">Nigeria’s estimated population</a>. The increase in internet users in Nigeria can be attributed to affordability of internet access; with less than ₦100 (less than US$1), internet connectivity is assured. It is easy and convenient for people to place bets online using their phones. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-smartphone-gambling-is-on-the-up-among-african-millennials-127251">Why smartphone gambling is on the up among African millennials</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>I was interested in the potential consequences of this situation for Nigerian society and particularly for young people. I wanted to know whether the ease of online betting for economically hard-pressed young Nigerians was creating any social problems such as conflict, crime and addictive behaviour.</p>
<p>For my <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14660970.2020.1753710">study</a>, I collected data from in-depth interviews with fans of European football clubs, betters, parents and guardians of fans and betters, security personnel, owners and operators of betting outlets as well as football viewing centres in Lagos, Ibadan, Oyo State, south west Nigeria and Yola, Adamawa State, north east Nigeria. In addition, I observed betting activities and collected data from recent online news reports and other published works.</p>
<p>From the various interviews conducted and my observation, I found there was a link between football betting by young Nigerians and a perceived increase in violence and criminal activities. But in my view the answer is not to ban such betting but to address the unemployment and poverty which propel people into it.</p>
<h2>Behaviour around betting</h2>
<p>My interviews and observations in the field show that there is a concern about teenagers stealing to fund their football betting. I was in a security meeting in Adamawa State where parents complained to the police that they had noticed unprecedented theft of their money by their teenage children/wards to fund football betting. A parent interviewed in Adamawa State explained that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I noticed that money was getting lost in our house on daily basis. At first I thought it was mere misplacement. Later I started to hear from my neighbours also complaining of loss of money within their homes. We later got to know that our sons were the ones stealing the money to play football betting because we always see them with receipts of bet and we know that they do not have business from where they can get money for betting.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Interactions with these teenage betters show that they spend between ₦1,000 (about $2) and ₦3,000 (about $7) on betting daily. But the jackpot rarely comes. At football viewing centres, customers are routinely warned about fighting. One operator of a viewing centre in Yola told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In recent times, we have witnessed <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325697911_Comfort_or_Conflict_Investigating_the_Attitude_and_Experiences_of_European_Football_Fans_in_Television_Viewing_Centers_in_Nigeria">outbreaks of violence</a> among our viewers. Some of these fights are over unresolved longstanding issues. Sometimes, it is as a result of anger sustained from major loss in football betting. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Football betting may also sometimes promote ritualism, especially the use of “good luck charms”. I spoke to one gambler who said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You cannot just go and put a huge amount of money into betting without any form of spiritual enhancement that will guarantee and insure you. If you do that without spiritual enhancement, you will just continually give your
money to bet companies with their managers and staff to feed fat on while you continue to stay broke. Even bet company operators use spiritual power to ensure that their clients do not win…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There have been calls from moralists, especially in religious circles, for the government to criminalise betting, especially football betting. I witnessed two such discussions during an Islamic preaching in Yola, Adamawa State. In fact, <a href="http://www.nigerianmonitor.com/borno-govt-urged-to-ban-football-betting-nigerian-monitor/">one state</a> has been urged to take the first step. I believe this is unlikely to be effective. It would only push betting into the background and make it more difficult for the government to regulate and control it. Government should instead pay more attention to widespread poverty and unemployment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141242/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saheed Babajide Owonikoko does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
What needs attention is the lack of opportunity that drives sports betting.
Saheed Babajide Owonikoko, Researcher, Centre for Peace and Security Studies, Modibbo Adama University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/113972
2019-03-21T16:36:52Z
2019-03-21T16:36:52Z
March Madness: With gambling legal in eight states, who really wins?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265152/original/file-20190321-93039-fjdvzz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The odds of more legal betting are good. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Sports-Gambling-Fighting-the-Fix/019cd6deda78476b8451af5bbc2f31e3/5/0">AP Photo/John Locher</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>March means springtime, but also breathless headlines of Cinderellas, busted brackets and buzzer beaters. </p>
<p>This year, it’ll also include talk of “sharps,” “handles” and “point spreads,” as millions more Americans are able to openly wager for the first time on March Madness – the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. That’s thanks to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/supreme-court-sports-betting-new-jersey.html">U.S. Supreme Court ruling</a> that allowed states to legalize sports betting. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://bellisario.psu.edu/people/individual/john-affleck">sports journalism professor</a>, I’ve been following the evolution of sports gambling for several years – back to a time when it was portrayed as a revolutionary and scary moment for fans and teams alike. </p>
<p>With millions more Americans gambling legally, it’s no longer scary, but that doesn’t mean some officials and observers aren’t concerned about perils in its rapid growth.</p>
<h2>The legal bandwagon</h2>
<p>Most tournament gambling is still illegal, but that’s changing quickly.</p>
<p>According to a survey conducted by Morning Consult for the American Gaming Association, <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/new/americans-will-wager-8-5-billion-on-march-madness/">47 million adults in the United State will wager US$8.5 billion</a> on March Madness this year, including 4.1 million who will do so for the first time at a casino sportsbook or online using a legal app. The rest of the bets, including the tens of millions made in office pools around the country, will be illegal. </p>
<p>Yes, you heard that right. <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/18/march-madness-illegal-pools_n_6889520.html">Your office pool is most likely illegal</a>.</p>
<p>Last year, the American Gaming Association <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/new/97-of-expected-10-billion-wagered-on-march-madness-to-be-bet-illegally/">estimated that $10 billion was at stake</a>, but the calculation method has since changed. We do know that 97 percent of the action was illegal, including office pools. Nevada accounted for the legal betting.</p>
<p>Now, as is the case in situations with state-by-state legislation, <a href="https://www.actionnetwork.com/education/ncaa-tournament-legal-sports-betting-states-march-madness-2019">the rules vary</a> from place to place. </p>
<p>Early adopter New Jersey has both casinos and online apps ready to take bets. Pennsylvania, meanwhile, now has several brick-and-mortar sportsbooks, but legal online betting is still a few months away. With just six betting locations open last month, Pennsylvania’s combined handle – the total of all sports wagering – <a href="https://gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov/?pr=844">was about $31.5 million</a>, generating tax revenue of about $700,000. Most of that went to the state. </p>
<p>It’s early, but “we know it’ll be busy and there’ll be a bump” in action this month because of March Madness, Doug Harbach, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board told me in an interview. Two new locations for sports betting just opened, a sign of how quickly gambling is spreading.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, not much can stop bettors from putting money down on illegal online gambling sites outside the United States, and the American Gaming Association <a href="https://pictures.reuters.com/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&VBID=2C0FCIH9Q79PQ&SMLS=1&RW=1264&RH=744&POPUPPN=2&POPUPIID=2C0FQEQL3LKWJ">estimates</a> 5.2 million Americans will do exactly that over the next few weeks. It’s the way many gamblers have put money down in previous years. Though illegal, enforcement has been light. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265155/original/file-20190321-93044-1jhw1jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265155/original/file-20190321-93044-1jhw1jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265155/original/file-20190321-93044-1jhw1jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265155/original/file-20190321-93044-1jhw1jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265155/original/file-20190321-93044-1jhw1jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265155/original/file-20190321-93044-1jhw1jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265155/original/file-20190321-93044-1jhw1jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most March Madness gamblers predict Duke will win the 2019 tournament.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-NCAA-Duke-Wisconsin-Final-Four-Basketball/38ca92b802594e87b426f5b4aca19d08/74/0">AP Photo/David J. Phillip</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Addiction and integrity</h2>
<p>Anti-gambling advocates say what hasn’t changed is the long-term impact on addiction, which is likely to rise in years to come as legal sports betting becomes more widespread. </p>
<p>Asked whether states adopting legalized sports wagering are doing enough to also combat gambling addiction, Keith Whyte, executive director of the
<a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/">National Council on Problem Gambling</a>, said: “Not really.” He also noted that, while gambling addiction doesn’t seem to have spiked in the past year, the negative effects of sports gambling will show up down the road.</p>
<p>Some states, like New Jersey, adopted the <a href="http://www.ncpgambling.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Responsible-Gaming-Principles-for-Sports-Gambling-Legislation.pdf">council’s recommendations</a> for minimizing harm from legal gambling, such as dedicated funds to prevent and treat addition and establishing a minimum age, while most have only enacted a few safeguards. </p>
<p>For its part, the NCAA <a href="https://www.apnews.com/66e15b3a43ef49619c57467cecda0b8c">has come out against</a> legalized sports gambling. </p>
<p>“Sports wagering is going to have a dramatic impact on everything we do in college sports,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said <a href="https://apnews.com/7d62e621e8dd4c3bb1edfc54363c40c6?utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_medium=AP_Sports">at the group’s national convention in January</a>. “It’s going to threaten the integrity of college sports in many ways unless we are willing to act boldly and strongly.”</p>
<h2>Gamblers win</h2>
<p>But there’s little the NCAA can do about it. More legal sports betting is on its way – though the office pool will presumably still be a no-no. </p>
<p>Joni Comstock, senior vice president of championships at the NCAA, <a href="https://www.apnews.com/66e15b3a43ef49619c57467cecda0b8c">estimates</a> that 30 states could have legal gambling within a couple of years. </p>
<p>As for who’s the favorite of gamblers and the more than 40 million Americans who were expected to fill out brackets, 29 percent apparently picked Duke to win it all. Nobody else was even close.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113972/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Affleck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
About 47 million adults in the US are expected to gamble on March Madness this year. A growing share of the bets will actually be legal.
John Affleck, Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society, Penn State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.