Defining the esports bettor: evidence from an online panel survey of emerging adults

Abstract

Competitive video gaming (esports) is a growing multinational , billion-dollar industry. Esports cultures replicate traditional sports cultures, involving elite athletes, teams, league sponsorships, large viewing audiences, high profile leagues and championships, and opportunities to bet on outcomes. However, little is known about people who bet on esports, it is generally considered a niche practice. Using data from the Emerging Adults Gambling Study, a nonprobability survey of 3549 people aged 16-24 living in Great Britain, the profile of esports bettors was compared with those who bet on other sports and non-gamblers. Those who bet on esports were more likely to be male, to be from nonwhite ethnic groups, to be heavily involved in playing digital games themselves, and to have higher rates of gambling involvement and problem gambling. Multivariate analysis showed a strong relationship between engaging in gambling-like practices within digital games and esports betting (for example, the purchase of loot boxes for money, or betting skins on external websites). Frequency of playing digital games was not associated with esports betting, suggesting it is not how often someone engages with digital games that is correlated with esports betting, but rather the different type of practices they undertake when playing video games.

Are esports bettors a new generation of harmed gamblers? A comparison with sports bettors on gambling involvement, problems, and harm

“…Esports bettors were found to be highly involved in other video game-related gambling activities (i.e., skin gambling) and traditional forms of gamblingmost frequently sports betting (around 70%), followed by casino table games, private betting for money, EGMs, and Australian lotteries. These findings add to the growing evidence from previous studies which compared adult esports bettors to sports bettors (Gainsbury et al, 2017b) and youth sample (16-24 years) esports bettors versus those betting on other sports (Wardle et al, 2020). Compared to sports bettors, esports bettors more frequently gambled on 'riskier' traditional gambling activities (i.e., where large amounts of money can be spent in short periods of timenamely casino table games, EGMs, and private betting for money).…”

“…Common risk factors associated with experiencing harm due to traditional gambling activities include, but are not limited to: being male, young, and from low socio-economic status backgrounds; gambling with greater intensity (e.g., more activities, greater frequency, greater expenditure); and early exposure to gambling (Abbott et al, 2018;Miller, 2015). Many of the common risk factors associated with traditional gambling (being young, male, greater gambling intensity) also appear to be associated with esports betting (Abarbanel, Macey, Hamari, & Melton, 2020;Gainsbury, Abarbanel, & Blaszczynski, 2017a, 2017bGambling Commission, 2018, 2019Macey & Hamari, 2018a;Rockloff et al, 2020;Wardle, Petrovskaya, & Zendle, 2020). In addition to being male and younger, an Australian study found other distinct demographic differences between esports bettors and sports bettors (Gainsbury et al, 2017a).…”

“…Recent studies suggest a positive association between esports betting and participation in traditional forms of gambling (Gainsbury et al, 2017b;Macey & Hamari, 2018b;Macey et al, 2020;Wardle et al, 2020). While esports bettors typically participate in traditional forms of gambling, they also gamble more frequently, and on more activities, than sports bettors (Gainsbury et al, 2017b) and bettors on sports/other events (Wardle et al, 2020). In a sample of adult video gamers and/or esports viewers, Macey et al (2020) found increased participation in traditional forms of gambling was positively associated with esports betting.…”

“…The option of using skins for esports betting and on games of chance also appears to be an important factor in traditional gambling participation. Wardle et al (2020) included betting with skins on external websites or privately into their analysis (of UK youth aged 16-24 years), finding more frequent skin gambling was predictive of being an esports bettor. In addition, Macey and Hamari (2018b) found greater consumption of online gambling amongst video gamers (the majority aged 15-29 years) was positively associated with greater consumption of video game-related gambling, specifically including esports betting and skin gambling.…”

“…Esports bettors may also engage in other types of video game-related gambling activities that contribute to their gambling issues, such as betting with in-game items or skins Russell et al, 2020;Wardle, 2019). Early evidence shows a relationship between esports betting participation and greater gambling problems and harm Gainsbury et al, 2017bGainsbury et al, , 2019Macey & Hamari, 2018a, 2018bRockloff et al, 2020;Russell et al, 2020;Wardle et al, 2020;Zendle, 2020); however, it is not clear to what extent esports betting uniquely contributes to harm/problems above participation in other gambling activities. There are two ways to potentially overcome this limitation: the first is to compare the gambling harm experienced by esports bettors against other types of gamblers not engaged in video game-related gambling; the second is to partial out participation effects via multivariate analyses.…”