The Focus of Gambling in Sports Media

Answer

In the past three years, sport gambling has become an increasingly important segment in the sports media companies. In 1993, Professional and Amateur Sports Protection were passed to outlaw sports gambling statewide (besides Oregon, Delaware, and Montana) until the Supreme Court of the United States authorized its legalization in May 2018. The decision sparked a rush to legalize sports betting across the country. About twenty-one states had legalized sports betting in the United States as of March 2021, with another fourteen expected to do so between 2021 and 2022. As a result of the rapid growth, excessive media attention has been increasing, in contrast to other sports media segments. Sports media companies have focused on gambling in the sports industry, but lack understanding of the negative effects it may cause. As a result of the Supreme Court decision, there has been a rapid increase of promotion of sports gambling in the media, which has had negative consequences for society.

Advertising has had a significant effect on the illegal practices of gambling (Kurian, Sinha, & Nanda, 2019, p. 85). In a rush to attract new customers, gambling operators have turned to sports media companies, which are in their own race to cash in on the legal-betting boom (Strauss, 2020). Gambling operators are interested in finding more bettors, so they use sports media companies that are interested in gambling related revenue. The interest of bettors in sports gambling is determined by how the advertising. Media companies are using both television and digital media outlets to create content explicitly for sports gambling viewers, to realize that people will seek knowledge and insight to make them smarter players and to improve their odds of winning. (Fortunato, 2020). The excessive gambling attention on different media outlets influence bettors to seek knowledge to improve their odds. However, as the industry increases, problem gambling experts are worried that states are failing to recognize the possible damage that addiction can cause. (Purdum, 2020). Is there any awareness of the addiction that legalized gambling can create as a result of its rapid growth? The facts of sports gambling legislation, advertisement, and financial benefits provide a framework for analyzing gambling-related organizations' activities, as well as the intentions of sports media companies and the harm they can cause.

            Despite the growing interest in gambling by sports media, it is alarming that very little research has been done on this subject from the standpoint of the athlete. Also, on this topic research on fixed games are especially scarce: Few studies have looked at how organized games are run for monetary benefit by media companies. For this reason, this study will conduct unique research by adding these overlooked variables. With the connection of athlete publicity in relation to the sports media companies’ interest in gambling. Also, involving the financial benefits for all involved in the sports teams, media, and sports gambling is in need of study.

            A study of the media’s increasing focus on sports gambling is important for several reasons. First, understanding the relationship among sports media companies and legalized sport betting statewide can help to reveal the underlying logic of sports media gambling and can help society understand the strategies of media companies. This study improves the practice by revealing such knowledge to the audience to give them another viewpoint. In addition, the audience will gain knowledge on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PAPSA) and its streak for being unconstitutional in 2018. Third, researchers have often studied the legalization of sports gambling and it reflect on the media but their findings never covered the negative effects on the society. Sports media overwhelming coverage on gambling could cause a statewide spread of negative impact. This research contributes to scholarly literature because state governments, sports leagues and teams, sports gambling associations, and media corporations are all in a position to benefit from the growth of sports gambling in the media, which has a negative effect on society, making it imperative to study.

The goal of this proposed study is to discover the reason behind the growing focus of gambling in sports media. Over the last couple of years, gambling in many states has increased substantially after the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. The aim of this study will reveal to the audience insight behind the relationship between sports gambling and sports media, and the negative impact on the growth of the market.

Purpose of Study

The purpose of this research proposal will be to discover the activities and negative effects of sport gambling-related organizations in the development and growth in the sports media industry, after the Supreme Court’s ruling for researchers at universities. The study also provides a perception of what is currently going on in the sports gambling industry and can help to better anticipate future developments. At this stage in the research the activities of sport gambling-related organizations in the sports media industry are for researchers at universities will be generally defined as the any means of promotion. The relationship between sports media and the gambling in sports industry will be analyzed using qualitative research approach to explain the focus of gambling in sports media.

Literature Review

The sports betting industry has grown exponentially with a high increase of advertising and promotion in sports media since the legalization of sports gambling. Since the population relies on the media as a main source of information it’s important for the media to highlight particular promotions for the community. This literature review focuses on the suggestions by the literature on the relationship between sports media and the legalized gambling in the sport industry to explain the focus of gambling in sports media. The following subjects will be covered in detail: the growth of legalized sports gambling, sports gambling promotions in the media, and gambling revenue.

The Growth of Legalized Sports Gambling

The expansion of the emerging legalized sports betting market has met many stakeholders' expectations two years since the historic ruling by the United States Supreme Court, and has significantly altered the relationship between sports leagues and the gambling industry. Since the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 on May14,2018, more than $20 billion has been wagered at US sportsbooks (Purdum, 2020, para 2). Sports betting has been illegal in many states other than Nevada for the past 26 years until it was stricken unconstitutional. When Congress's 1992 PASPA was "good law," the only way to gamble lawfully in the United States was to fly to Nevada. You could either wager unlawfully at a nearby bookie or at sportsbooks overseas, but other rules (such as UIGEA) confuse matters (such as funding an account), while millions of offshore sportsbooks take wagers illegally from U.S. customers (Dorson, 2021, para 2). Dorson highlight that a major transition occurred in the United States after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of New Jersey in Murphy vs. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Many researchers believe that now that sports gambling is legalized the growth is spread throughout other states.

According to Killick and Griffiths (2020, para 4), expansion of online gambling has propelled the latest growth in sports betting that is currently comprising of more than 54% of the international Internet gambling marketplace (David et al., 2017, para 7). In a study about gambling in Australia, Kurian et al. (2019, para 3) found out that Australians currently have convenient mobile access and 24/7 betting websites, implying that they are able to gamble from almost any place and time. Lopez-Gonzalez et al. (2019, para 6) also established that sporting events are continuing to be packed with Internet gambling, and bettors have an opportunity to readily compare and contrast wagering products for an expanding series of international sporting events and Australia. David et al. (2017, para 9) add that people can presently bet online on several sports with various sports betting operators that are licensed across their countries and internationally or with offshore wagering websites that unlawfully provide the services to the bettors.

In a study by Killick and Griffiths (2020, para 1), it was concluded that Internet gambling and continued access both legal and illegal sites for gambling are switching betting from land-based outlets, with about 50% of sports betting currently being carried online. Crucial advantages of the online gambling are price, comfort, convenience, and the greater number of gambling alternatives that are available (Torrance et al., 2021, para 8). The enactment of various laws and statutes across the world, like the 2008 Australian High Court verdict, in favour of gambling are continuing to offer further motivation to the expansions sports gambling. Kurian et al. (2019, para 5) explain that such laws and statutes are removing limitations that were initially preventing bookmakers that are licensed within a particular jurisdiction from promoting or advertising another. This transformation prompted the entrance of corporate bookmakers into various economies’ sports betting marketplaces to capitalize on penchants within the economies for sport and gambling (Lawn et al., 2020, para 7). Stadiums, sporting events, and teams have now entered into different commercial advertising agreements with the corporate bookmakers, a practice that is continuing to be prominent in sports, like the Australian Football League, National Rugby League (NRL), English Premier League (EPL), UEFA Champions League (UCL), La Liga, and National Basketball Association (NBA), among others.  David et al. (2017, para 2) contend that these sports attract about 50% of all sports betting across the world, with a tripling of turnover predicted within ten years to come. owing to the fact that these codes are receiving product fees and marketing based upon betting revenues, sporting agencies are equally getting inspired to promote and maintain an innovative, competitive wagering product (Kurian et al., 2019, para 7). Thus, the growth of lawful sports gambling is continuing across the globe for various reasons, among which include:  about 50% of all sports betting is currently being carried out online; and many commercial agreements currently exist between bookmakers and sporting entities (clubs, stadiums, and events, among other entities). These arrangements have provided a conducive environment for increase in sports betting advertising and contributed to its expansion.

Sports Gambling Promotions in The Media

Marketing is essential for operators of sports betting to compensate for restricted price elasticity, intense competition, and little product differentiation (Lopez-Gonzalez et al., 2019, para 6). Promotional strategies employed often include radio, television, celebrity brand ambassadors, online popups on various Internet sites, third-party and direct SMS and email, inducements, and loyalty programs (Lopez-Gonzalez & Tulloch, 2015, para 6). Promotions and sponsorship have equally been entrenched into sporting fixtures. David et al. (2017, para 1) add that betting operators offer mobile sports betting applications, promote sports betting via email and smartphones, including enhanced odds, live stream coverage of sporting happenings, money back guarantees, offer bonuses and credits, betting tips, and deposits (Kurian et al., 2019, para 8). The aim of employing these and many other techniques id to register, recruit, and retain active clients. In a study that was done about the proliferation of sports betting promotion in Australia, the following statistics were found: (i) more than 3,100 personal sports betting advertisements, in 2012, were relayed through all kinds of media, excluding social media communications; (ii) of the 3,100 advertisements, 538 were individual sports betting promotions, which were together played more frequently on pay television channels and more than 20,000 on free-to-air television channels; (iii) the worth of sports betting promotion did quadruple between 2010 and 2012; and (iv) sports betting promotion had proliferated through various promotional techniques and media. 

Nonetheless, the overload of sports betting promotion has generated concerns and controversies. Currently, sports are employed largely as a marketing platform or avenue to deploy substantial investments of money by operators of sports betting with the goal of recruiting and retaining clients via celebrity endorsements, merchandising, and advertising that incorporate images, products, icons, and usages (Torrance et al., 2021, para 5). Among the concerns that exist currently is that marketing has the ability of encouraging customers to take gambling into consideration as sport, and that youth and children are learning concerning sport merchandising and programming (Lopez-Gonzalez et al., 2019, para 7). These can legitimize and normalize gambling uptake among youth and children, and this can be harmful (Lawn et al., 2020, para 8).

In a study by Lopez-Gonzalez and Griffiths (2018, para 9), it was noted that the vivid target marketplace for most sports betting promotions are the young adult males. Approaches include attractive female models and presenters, use of celebrity role models, and the relocation of sports betting as an undertaking for professional, young men (Torrance et al., 2021, para 11). Advertising appeals to this marketplace via engaging masculinity notions, sporting knowledge, and team loyalty (Lopez-Gonzalez et al., 2019, para 3).  Nonetheless, it is the entrenchment of sports betting advertising into televised and live sport that has generated most controversy globally, with the practice being fueled by the growth of sport sponsorships along with promotion rights bought by operators of sports betting.

A study by Lawn et al. (2020, para 3) noted that since 2010, sports betting advertisements have increasingly been entrenched into televised and live sporting events. The study further explained that promotional strategies have included dynamic advertising (like electronic and rotating banners), fixed promotional signage, commercial break promotions, team sponsorships, and integrated promotions incorporating live betting odds. In another study by Lopez-Gonzalez and Tulloch (2015, para 7), the entrenchment of advertising is powerful since very little can be averted by skipping via or muting promotions and it has the ability of evoking emotional as opposed to rational response. Killick and Griffiths (2020, para 7) asserted that promotions happen at crucial points when the target audiences are keenest. Gambling logos, as Torrance et al. (2021, para 6) point out, are continuously displayed on players’ uniforms and stadium signage, operators of sports betting have regular sponsored divisions, and betting is advertised by match commentators and celebrity presenters. The concept behind all these strategies is that excitement of watching games is heightened by wagering upon their contingencies and outcomes (Lawn et al., 2020, para 2). Evidently, there are several promotional techniques employed in advertising sports betting, among which are televisions and new media platforms, like social media.

Gambling Revenue