Introduction
Individuals now have access to a greater choice of online gambling markets and athletic events than ever before, thanks to technology improvements and shifting consumer behavior. The accessibility of smartphone devices has improved real-time sports betting. As a result, sports betting has grown in popularity throughout America and the rest of the world. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss what are people’s views and opinions about online sports betting? What factors contribute to the rise in online sports betting? This is an intriguing issue to examine because the majority of people who participate in sports betting do it for the sake of amusement. While watching live sports is entertaining, the intensity and excitement may be amplified when money is on the line. Sports betting may be an enjoyable pastime and past time as long as you gamble for pleasure and only wager amounts that you are comfortable losing. Sports betting provides a lot of fun for a fraction of the cost of other hobbies and pastimes.
Method
I researched articles on google scholar, selected them based on the year of publication and review them for main themes which are people’s views and opinions about online sports betting and factors that contribute to the rise in online sports betting. According to the most organization’s survey, which was backed up by a 2017 report, the rise in online betting is due to a variety of factors, including joblessness, intense betting advertising, addiction, skills and luck, smartphone and internet availability, and advancements in online betting that make it easy and simple.
a. Collect data using survey of online bettors
Only a small percentage of individuals ever win the lottery. The majority of people lose their money, while the majority of people make a pittance. According to Geopoll, a mobile-based research organization, adolescents are the ones that bet the most. Sports betting has also become one of the continent’s most popular forms of gambling. The trend is rising, according to a poll performed by the university in April. According to Geopoll, gaming has grown in popularity not only in Europe but across the world. The business is expected to generate Sh63.5 trillion in circulation income by 2022, according to the report (Hamari, 2021).
According to most researchers the transition from Betting at a Bookmaker’s Shop to Online Betting led to the increased number of people betting online. This is because of convenience and privacy. Many of the participants stated how they first started betting in a high street bookmaker’s store, then moved on to internet gambling when it became more popular. In 2020, legal sports betting became accessible in five states and Washington, D.C., increasing the total number of sports betting states to 21, just as the Covid-19 outbreak prompted a surge in internet gambling of all kinds as casinos shuttered and Americans dug down in their homes Omanchi, & Okpamen, 2018). An expansion in the sum of online bookmakers, welcome incentives and other inducements given by online workers, and the ease of longing in online betting websites were all causes that drove sports bettors to wager online. Everyone in the study group used a smartphone to place sports bets as their preferred way of wagering. People opted to place bets online because it provided a cash-out facility, which was not available at high-street bookmakers, according to the study.
b. Survey study
Accessibility of Betting via a Smartphone
Across all age groups, it’s worth noting that about half of low-income gambling customers are between the ages of 18 and 25. According to another 2017 survey conducted by bankmycell, one of the things perpetuating gambling is the increasing penetration of information technology, aided by mobile phones. Aside from joblessness, one of the things perpetuating gambling is the increasing penetration of information technology, aided by mobile phones. According to bankmycell, with mobile devices that have Internet connectivity, gamers do not require desktop computers to gamble, providing them plenty of time to wager even in the comfort of their own homes. According to the Communications Authority’s figures released this year, there are 6.378 billion smartphone users in the globe today, accounting for 80.63 percent of the worldwide population (Skogman, 2015). In all, 7.101 billion people, or 89.76 percent of the world’s population, own a smart or feature phone. The percentage of people who own a mobile phone has surpassed 100%, and the majority of these people are young.
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One of the main themes was the ease with which in-play sports betting could be done on cellphones. In most locations and situations, sports bettors today have rapid access to sports betting websites. The findings imply that smartphone betting provides instant access to gambling, corroborating prior study that internet gambling is simple to access via mobile devices. It has previously been proposed that greater access to online betting websites and the ease with which online platforms may be used may hasten the development of maladaptive learnt habits, such as problem gambling. Sports bettors in the current sample preferred to place bets on phones, which matches prior study that found that 84.4 percent of sports bettors prefer to put bets on a remote device rather than visiting to a betting shop (Hamari, 2021). Furthermore, addicted gamblers were more likely to choose to utilize a mobile device, according to the same study. This is because:
a. Placing a Bet is Simple
When compared to other ways, several resechers concluded on how simple it is to place a bet using a tablet or a smartphone than using a high-street bookmakers or a laptop. Others claim that people wager using their cell phone since it saves them time.
There were additional applications identified that were accessible on cellphones and aided users with bet placing, in addition to gambling apps. Flash Scores and Odds Checker is a service that allows sports bettors to keep track of live match updates. As a result, sports bettors may easily compare odds from various online bookies. According to rush, one participant described how using his smartphone made it easier to compare different rewards across several gambling sites.
b. Possibility of Betting Anywhere
As previously said, making bets on a smartphone was the most preferred manner of doing so. Some attendees talked about how they could now use gambling applications from anywhere, at any time, and they didn’t have to rely on a laptop or PC to place a wager. As a result, one of the primary benefits of using a smartphone was the location freedom it provided. Some attendees talked about how they used their iPhones to place bets in multiple places (Skogman, 2015). Betting sites that were often cited were the player’s home, the bar, friends’ homes, and work. Smart phones are also useful for checking the progress of one’s bets from anywhere.
Joblessness/Unemployment
According to the organization’s survey, which was backed up by a 2017 report, the rise in online betting is due to a variety of factors, including joblessness (Skogman, 2015). The survey show that unemployment has led people to trying out their luck in gambling. it show that some people may consider themselves to be very lucky, others may have a lot of skill that call themselves professional gamblers helping other analyze game before placing them online on the betting websites. However, some people think that sports betting is a combination of both luck and skill. If you’re an outsider, you may think that sports betting is about luck alone. Unfortunately, this is not the case at all. Some very successful people don’t just rely on luck. They know that sports betting is a lot more complex than this.
To be successful in the sports betting world, however, you need to have skill as well as luck. You cannot determine the outcome of a game merely due to skill. Luck also plays a part. After you have chosen the sport in question, you will need to take a look at the history of those who are on the field. Their history can help you to determine how well they are likely to perform. When you understand this, your ability to win can improve.
Results
Themes that emerged from the study were grouped into two general categories: 1. Accessibility of Betting via a Smartphone 2. Joblessness
According to the survey study and data collected the finding it concluded that addiction to gambling is a lot like addiction to drugs or alcohol. This is because even with the pandemic lockdown people still find their way to bet. And they did that by placing their bets online. Since most casinos were closed up. Because alcohol is already such a significant part of the athletic experience, the high level of parallelism between addiction to alcohol and gambling is particularly intriguing. Despite being a long-standing feature of before tailgating, beer stalls are now commonplace at professional sporting games and are steadily penetrating collegiate athletic venues. As previously said, apprehension over the extent to which sports gambling is integrated into the athletic experience may prevent it from obtaining the same level of ubiquity as alcohol. Lack of jobs, has also led to the growth fuel obsession with gambling. According to the survey gambling is usually portrayed in advertising as thrilling, glamorous, and skilled, with easy money and social benefits. Gambling advertisements tend to have a particularly strong impact on young people and problem gamblers. Bonuses for sports betting tend to boost Internet gambling among problem gamblers in particular.
Conclusion
Sports betting is still a contentious issue, with the advantages and disadvantages of legalizing needing to be properly weighed. It does, however, have an unmistakably favorable economic impact on a state’s economy. More money is being traded between parties, and residents from other states may be able to contribute to gaming profits. Furthermore, mobile sports betting appears to be the most obvious predictor of financial success. According to many respondents in the studies, sports gambling is not regarded unethical. But it is a game of luck, easy to access and a chance for income many people don’t get elsewhere. It is because of luck and skills that people are so more involved in betting while there are professional gamblers others are trying out there luck. Joblessness is also a key factor to the rise of online betting. Gambling addiction was also compared to alcohol and drug addiction by respondents. Problem gambling has a close link to many alcohol and drug issues, according to study. Because of the intimate relationship between the two, they are perceived in a similar way. This fact supports the notion that betting has become socially acceptable. Betting has mixed reviews in terms of whether it was beneficial or harmful to society as a whole. According to the researchers, the majority of their respondents agreed that more responsible betting measures were needed, but it was unclear who would bear the cost of action: the sports betting providers, health organizations, or state governments.
References
Macey, J., Abarbanel, B., & Hamari, J. (2021). What predicts sports betting? A study on consumption of video games, esports, gambling and demographic factors. New Media & Society, 23(6), 1481-1505.
Nienaber, M. B. (2016). The State of the Online Sport Betting Industry in South Africa. University of Johannesburg (South Africa).
Omanchi, S. A., & Okpamen, K. O. (2018). The Changing Patterns of Gambling in Benue State: The Case of Emerging Role of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) in Contemporary Makurdi Metropolis. American Association of Science & Technology, 5(2), 30-35.
Skogman, V. (2015). A STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT OF THE ONLINE SPORTS BETTING INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
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