Sports bettors using online casinos less in lockdown
The first empirical study into gambling during Covid-19 has found sports bettors are playing in online casinos less than before the pandemic.
UK.- The first major European academic study to analyse changes in gambling behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic has found that rather than turning to online casinos following the cancelation of sporting events, sports bettors were using online casinos less than before.
The study examined player behaviour before and after the start of the pandemic and found online casino activity among sports bettors declined after March 7, suggesting there was “no relationship” between the lack of sports events and increased frequency and intensity of casino play.
The authors of the study, Mark D. Griffiths of the University of Nottingham’s International Gaming Research Unit, Michael Auer of German data company Neccton and Doris Malischnig from Vienna’s Office of Addiction and Drug Policy, were granted access to behavioural tracking data from an unnamed European online gambling operator with players in Sweden, Germany, Finland, and Norway for a 4-month period from January 1 to April 30.
They computed the behavioural change of 5,396 sports bettors before March 7 and after March 7 (2020) and found statistically significant reductions in the number of sports bettors wagering in online casinos and in the amounts they wagered.
The study found that for the operator in question, most sports bettors were already online casino players before the pandemic began. Of customers who bet on sports in five of the ten weeks from January 1 to March, 76 per cent also played casino games.
The percentage increased slightly according to the frequency of sports betting. Out of the customers who bet on sports every week, 79 per cent played casino games. But the numbers fell for all groups after March 7.
Of the sports bettors who wagered on sports in 5 out of the 10 weeks between January 1 and March 7, the proportion who also played on online casinos fell from 76 per cent to 60 per cent between March 7 and April 30.
Players who bet on sports in nine or fewer weeks before March 7 also reduced the amount they wagered in online casinos after March 7 by 29 per cent or more.
The report says: “Not only did players wager less on sports (most events had been canceled by March 7), but they also wagered less on online casino games. This indicates that there was no conversion of money spent from sports betting to online casino, at least for this particular online gambling operator.”
More frequent sports bettors maintained their online casino gambling more than less frequent sports bettors, who were more likely to stop gambling altogether, however more intense sports bettors did not appear to play online casino games more during the pandemic.
The authors of the study emphasised that the findings were based on customers from one specific operator with players from specific countries, and that patterns of behaviour may vary among other operators and other countries.
They concluded: “Findings from the present study suggest that there is no relationship between the lack of sports betting events for gamblers to wager upon and increased frequency and intensity of online casino gambling.
“Overall, the frequency of wagering upon online casino games by online sports bettors before Covid-19-related lockdown significantly decreased during the Covid-19 pandemic period.
“However, less frequent (but regular) online sports bettors significantly decreased the amount of money wagered upon online casino games more than more frequent (regular) online sports bettors.
“Frequent online sports bettors wagering upon online casino games stayed approximately the same before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“These findings suggest that the speculations that individuals may spend more time and money gambling online as a consequence of being confined in their house for long periods of time appear unfounded.”
The authors speculated that the decrease might be because players had less money to gamble because earnings had been affected by the pandemic, or because they did not want to gamble in front of their families at home.
The report’s findings support the European Gaming and Betting Association’s recent criticism of Sweden’s online gambling limits, which it says could push more players to the unlicensed market.
