1Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity, 400 Kent St, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
2Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity, 6 University Dr, Branyan, QLD 4670, Australia.
J Behav Addict. 2023 May 16;12(2):557-570. doi: 10.1556/2006.2023.00020. Print 2023 Jun 29.
COVID-19 resulted in the shutdown of almost all sporting competitions and most venue-based gambling opportunities. This study examines how wagering operators in Australia responded, by examining their advertising.
The study compared Twitter activity during lockdown (March-May 2020) to the previous year for four major wagering operators.
Wagering operators continued to advertise in earnest, changing their marketing mix to include more race betting content, as races continued to operate. Most also promoted the only sports available, such as table tennis or esports. When sports resumed, sports betting advertising quickly returned to normal, or exceeded previous levels. Despite more content being available in the case of two operators, engagement from the public during lockdown was similar to or lower than previously.
These results indicate that gambling operators can adjust quickly to major changes. These shifts appear to have been successful, with the increase in race betting during this period almost completely offsetting the decreases in sports betting. This is likely due in part to changes in advertising, which have been associated with increased betting activity, particularly amongst vulnerable people. Responsible gambling messages were virtually non-existent on Twitter, which contrasts with mandatory requirements in other media. The study highlights that regulatory changes to advertising, e.g., banning some content, are likely to be met with substitution of content, rather than reduction, unless advertising volume is also capped. The study also highlights the adaptive capacity of the gambling industry in the face of major disruption to supply.
COVID-19 导致几乎所有体育比赛和大多数场地赌博机会关闭。本研究通过考察博彩运营商的广告来研究他们的应对方式。
本研究比较了四家主要博彩运营商在封锁期间（2020 年 3 月至 5 月）和前一年的推特活动。
博彩运营商继续认真地做广告，改变他们的营销组合，包括更多的赛马投注内容，因为赛马仍在继续。大多数运营商还宣传唯一可用的运动，如乒乓球或电子竞技。当体育赛事恢复时，博彩广告迅速恢复正常，或超过了之前的水平。尽管对于两家运营商来说，有更多的内容可用，但在封锁期间公众的参与度与之前相似或更低。
这些结果表明，博彩运营商可以迅速适应重大变化。这些变化似乎取得了成功，在这段时间内赛马投注的增加几乎完全抵消了博彩的减少。这部分可能是由于广告的变化，广告与增加的博彩活动有关，特别是在弱势群体中。在推特上几乎没有负责任的赌博信息，这与其他媒体的强制性要求形成对比。该研究强调，广告监管的变化，例如禁止某些内容，可能会被内容替代，而不是减少，除非广告量也受到限制。该研究还强调了在供应受到重大干扰的情况下，博彩业的适应能力。
