Odds shifting in the gender appeal of sports betting

Neha Soni January 14, 2025
Odds shifting in the gender appeal of sports betting

A University of Queensland research has found that the odds of sports betting, historically considered a male pursuit, could be about to change.

The Australian Gambling Research Center found almost nine out of 10 regular sports bettors, Australia’s fastest growing form of gambling, are men. This marks the largest gender imbalance of any form of Australian gambling. This was studied Ph.D. candidate Rohann Irving from UQ’s School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, and what the sports betting companies were doing to draw in women.

The findings show this was largely due to sports betting historically being restricted to venues like totalisator agency boards (TABs) or the betting areas of pubs, which are generally male dominated. However, “technology such as smartphones has made gambling far more accessible to women,” Irving said.

The research finds that sports betting companies are trying to capitalise on this shift.

Sports betting companies targeting women

Doing so by “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.”

Irving said the current gender divide was mainly attributable to Australia’s colonial gambling practices. In the early days of Australian gambling legislation, women faced outright exclusion. Moreover, gambling developed a predominantly male society where risk-taking, and competition were celebrating.

The 1906 law that legalised the licensing of bookmakers also included an explicit provision making it illegal to take bets from women.

Irving added, “And while women have for many years been welcomed at racetracks, historically they have been treated as objects of decoration at racing events.” This dynamic not only reflected societal roles but also established sports betting as a largely masculine sphere.

While that has been the case, Irving believes the gendered nature of sports betting could see a shift in the future, with smartphones possibly playing a role.

This comes as smartphones are revolutionising sports betting by making it available to a broader demographic, especially women. With more women using smartphones and engaging in online activities, betting platforms are seeing an increasing number of female users.

“In one sense, this shift represents women gaining access to a gambling practice from which they have 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.”

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