Odds point to a shift in the gender appeal of sports betting

Sports betting has historically been considered an overwhelmingly male pursuit—but those odds could be about to change, a University of Queensland study has found. The work is published in the Journal of Australian Studies.

Ph.D. candidate Rohann Irving from UQ’s School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences analyzed the history behind why nearly 9 out of 10 regular sports bettors were men and what betting companies were doing to draw in women.

“Historically, sports betting has been restricted to venues like TABs [totalisator agency boards] or the betting areas of pubs, which are largely male-dominated spaces, but technology such as smartphones has made gambling far more accessible to women,” Mr. Irving said.

“It is unsurprising that betting companies are attempting to capitalize on this shift, targeting women with novelty bets like how many awards Taylor Swift will win at this year’s Grammys. Recently there have also been novelty markets on the winners of reality TV shows like ‘Love Island,’ in a possible bid to engage more women.”

Mr. Irving said there were numerous reasons for the current gender divide, many stemming from Australia’s colonial gambling practices.

“Historically men controlled the household’s economic means, restricting women’s access to gambling,” he said. “The first legislation allowing for the licensing of bookmakers in 1906 made it an offense to take a bet from a woman. And while women have for many years been welcomed at racetracks, historically they have been treated as objects of decoration at racing events.”

But Mr. Irving said the gendered nature of sports betting could change in the future, with smartphones possibly playing a role.

“In one sense, this shift represents women gaining access to a gambling practice from which they’ve historically been excluded,” he said. “However, this also reflects women being at greater risk of suffering from the many harms caused by Australia’s betting culture. Sports betting companies targeting women, and the strategies they employ in doing so, is a shift that should be treated with scrutiny.”

Mr. Irving is also employed by the Australian Gambling Research Center which found almost 9 out of 10 regular sports bettors—Australia’s fastest growing form of gambling—are men.

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