Further, Deans et al., ( 2017a, 2017b) argued that older adults, young men, and children are most vulnerable to harm from gambling. Generally, harms related to gambling reflect social and health inequalities, with negative effects unequally skewed towards economically and socially disadvantaged groups (Cowlishaw et al., 2016 Raybould et al., 2021 Wardle et al., 2018).

There is an array of research linking harmful gambling to health and social issues, including an individual’s health and wellbeing (Rockloff et al., 2020 Suomi et al., 2014), impacts on families and relationships (Dowling, 2014), and an association with intimate partner and family violence (Dowling et al., 2019).

Researchers have argued the harm to health and wellbeing caused by gambling is equivalent to that associated with major depressive disorders, and substance misuse and dependence (Browne et al., 2016). Harm from gambling is a significant global public health issue, with negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and communities (Gainsbury et al., 2014). The analysis of sports fans provides insights into the characteristics of the target market most likely to bet on sports, which can be used to inform public health initiatives and harm reduction campaigns.

These permissive attitudes were stronger among people who bet on sports and those who bet on sports more frequently. Attitudes to sports betting were also analysed, with a key finding that, within friendship circles, the views that sports betting is perceived as harmless, common and very much a part of enjoying sports were stronger among young men. The gender difference in the number of sports bets also varied with age with the greatest difference found among the young arising from the high propensity of young men to bet on sports. Similar effects were observed for the number of sports bets made, which declined with age. This gender difference varied with age, with the greatest difference found among the young. The probability of betting on sports decreased with increasing age and was lower for women and people with a university education.

Survey responses from a sample of nearly 15,000 Australian sports fans were used to study the determinants of: (i) gambling behaviour, including if a person does gamble and the type of gambling engaged with (ii) the number of sports and non-sports bets made over a 12-month period and (iii) attitudes towards betting on sports.

Gambling and betting