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To extend research into sport consumer behaviors related to online sports betting, this study is designed to identify and examine the relationship between online sports betting motivations and online sports betting intentions. By applying a push-pull framework from online sport consumption and gambling studies, nine motivations to engage in online sports betting were identified. These motivations were hypothesized to motivate online sports betting intentions.

A quota sampling technique based on the sports bettor demographics available in the American Gaming Association (AGA, 2019) and the Pew Research Center (2022) obtained a total of 550 completed surveys that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. For data analyses, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to examine the measurement model and the hypothesized model, respectively.

The results revealed that four motivations (i.e. monetary gain, excitement, convenience and negative technology-readiness) were related to online sports betting intention, while five motivations (i.e. sport fandom, positive technology-readiness, impulsivity, socialization and promotion) were not.

The results provide foundational theoretical knowledge of what motivates sports fans to participate in online sports betting. Furthermore, the findings assist practitioners in their allocation of resources by enhancing their understanding of online sports betting motivations.

The recent advent of betting exchanges, which allow customers to bet against each other, rather than against the bookmaker or betting shop chain, may herald a change in the nature of customer relationships within the sports betting market. This article outlines the size and current characteristics of the sports betting market, describes the emergence and operation of betting exchanges and discusses the possible impact that these exchanges may have on traditional sports betting transactions and markets.

Sport match-fixing has emerged as a complex global problem. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it critically reviews how match-fixing is typified as a policy problem. Second, it advances an analysis of the legal framework and regulatory system for sports betting as a causal source for “routinized” match-fixing.

This study extracts and synthesises (cross-national) materials from policies, media releases and scholarly works on the subject of match-fixing and sports betting. The analysis is framed by the contrasts between rational choice and sociological institutionalist approaches.

Match-fixing is typically attributed to: criminal organisations and illegal sports betting; vulnerable individuals; and failure of governance on the part of sports organisations. Each cause holds assumptions of utility-maximising actors and it is argued that due consideration be given to the fundamental risks inherent in legal sports betting regimes.

Match-fixing in sport is a recurrent social problem, transcending national boundaries and involving a wide range of actors and, sporting disciplines and levels of competition. Within such an environment, it may matter little how strong the incentive structures and education programmes are, when betting on human beings is both normatively and cognitively advanced as a value and institutionally permitted as a practice.

This paper argues that legal betting regimes paradoxically contribute to routinised match-fixing because: for betting customers there is no qualitative, ethical difference between legal and illegal operators; and legalisation serves to normalise and legitimate the view of athletes as objects for betting (like cards or dice).

Despite increasingly persuasive women-focused marketing of gambling products, there has only been limited investigation around women sports betting. Men remain the focus of much of the conversation about sports betting as they have generally been found to be the most active sports bettors and the most at risk of experiencing harms associated with their behaviour. This chapter aims to fill this gap by exploring the characteristics of young women sports bettors in the United Kingdom and the relationship between sports betting and the experience of gambling harms. To do this, we created two models of analysis. Our analysis is based on data from the first wave (2019) of the Emerging Adults Gambling Survey (EAGS) dataset (n = 3,549). The EAGS is a non-probability longitudinal survey that includes individuals between the ages of 16 and 24 who were residents in Britain at the time of data collection. Firstly, we examined the associations between women sports bettors and several factors identified as important predictors of sports betting. Secondly, we sought to understand the relationship between women's sports betting and the harms associated with this activity. From these models, we found that women's sports betting was most reliably predicted according to fandom and peer influence. We also found that women sports bettors were more at risk of experiencing harms associated with difficulties with family and friends than women gamblers using other products.

The purpose of this paper was (1) to examine the underexplored intersection of sports betting and favorite team loyalty, and (2) to assess differences in gambling behavior among sport bettors by varying levels of team loyalty.

A total of 1,555 National Football League (NFL) bettors and non-betting NFL fans were surveyed to assess media consumption across a mix of team loyalty attitudes and betting behaviors.

Statistically significant differences were found between four types of NFL fans (casual, team loyalty-dominant, betting-dominant and hybrid) as it relates to media consumption in various forms. Most notably, the results suggested symbiosis between the activities.

The symbiosis finding, though preliminary, suggests the activity provides an additional platform for consumers to connect with spectator sport. Furthermore, the act of betting, like participation in fantasy sports, appears to spur consumption of the NFL product generally. The study, however, was limited to NFL fans, did not specify the method for sports betting, nor the intensity of gambling.

Teams should not worry that betting detracts from fan engagement with the team product. Also, leagues and media providers should continue to highlight betting content as participants consume at higher rates than non-participating sports fans.

Team fandom may potentially moderate problem behavior among bettors. The betting results indicate being a loyal team fan lowers one’s gambling spend per month and largest bet compared to non-loyal bettors. However, the hybrid fan showed significantly higher media consumption levels.

Sports fans have more opportunities to interact and engage with their favorite games than ever before. However, consumers have limited amounts of time and money, and this study is one of the first to examine differences in fan interests and behaviors related to sport betting and team loyalty and the resulting viewership and consumption behavior.

Sports betting has become more prevalent, visible and socially accepted in Western liberal societies than ever before. This normalisation of gambling on sports has been fuelled by deregulation, the omnipresence of advertising and the growing dependency of elite sports on sponsorship revenue streams from the gambling industry. That said, much remains to be uncovered about the mechanisms through which this normalisation of gambling occurs in sports. This chapter focuses on the role of sports clubs in Belgium and the Netherlands, drawing on empirical insights from two related studies that examine the oft-neglected salience of integrity as a key factor shaping gambling-related policy and practice at the organisational level. This sets the stage for a critical research agenda that can support the denormalisation of gambling, and the deconstruction of dominant discourses that frame sports betting as a fun, risk-free social practice.

The purpose of this paper is to use financial market prices formed in betting markets as a measure of uncertainty of outcome and other factors as it relates to hockey attendance in three top European leagues, the KHL, SHL, and Liiga. This is the first study of European hockey to use betting market odds to estimate the impact of home team win probability and uncertainty of outcome on attendance.

The design of this study is a multivariate regression model with log of attendance and percentage of arena capacity as dependent variables in two separate regressions. Controlling for other factors, the role of the home team win probability and its square are explored for individual game attendance.

Fans of the KHL and SHL are found to prefer to see their home team win, but also exhibit strong preferences for uncertainty of outcome. Fans of Liiga prefer to see the home team win, but do not exhibit as strong a preference for uncertainty of outcome. This differs from recent findings in the sport of baseball and from previous findings for the NHL.

Having a competitive league is not only important for television ratings, but also for in-person attendance in these European hockey leagues. Importance of uncertainty of outcome varies across leagues.

The paper uses financial market prices, betting market odds, as a measure of game expectations (home team win probability) and uncertainty of outcome and applies it to a new setting for three of the top European hockey leagues. The findings illustrate that uncertainty of outcome is important for the KHL and SHL, but statistically insignificant for Liiga.