THE IMPACT OF THE BETTING INDUSTRY ON SPORTS
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Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov
Series IX: Sciences of Human Kinetics • Vol. 13(62) No. 2 – 2020
https://doi.org/10.31926/but.shk.2020.13.62.2.32
THE IMPACT OF THE BETTING INDUSTRY
ON SPORTS
I. TURCU 1 G.B. BURCEA2 D.L. DIACONESCU2
M.C.R BARBU 2 M.C. POPESCU2 P. APOSTU 3
Abstract: Sports betting is the oldest form of gambling in the world. In the
beginning, it was simply a leisure activity. We are currently talking about a
multi-billion-euro deal. The sports betting industry has changed more in 15
years than in the last 50 years. In the 1950s, sports betting began to enter
the world and almost nothing changed until the beginning of the 21st
century. However, with the onset of the new millennium, online betting has
changed the landscape dramatically, and is now developing at a fast pace
than ever before. The future is always unpredictable, but we will try to
imagine it based on current trends in sports betting. The paper "The impact
of the betting industry on sports" aims to present a series of aspects
regarding the history of sports games, the types of sports games existing
today, a brief highlight of the Romanian sports games market and a short
presentation of the positive and negative effects on sports.
Key words: Gambling, sports betting, sport, promotions, advertising.
1. Introduction directly proportional to the bet, otherwise
the bettor will lose his bet.
Sports betting have thrived in the last Much of the betting change is due to the
decade. From a niche market to 1 billion $ new ability to place bets during the game,
industry, sports betting is now compared to which came with online bookmakers. Most
traditional sports in terms of revenue. As bookmakers have already reported taking
such, sports betting is similar to traditional live bets from the market, bringing
sports betting. Players can bet with real companies already a higher turnover than
money on their favourite team or on other pre-bets.
different events from the game. Operators are already aware of this and
Sports betting represents the are adding new doses of fun to live
anticipation of the result of a match and betting. Almost everywhere, every live
the bet of a sum of money on that result match has live stats added to the site, and
and if the result at the end of the match many companies have already started
corresponds to the bettor's prediction adding live videos from that site. Thus,
then he will collect a sum of money watching sports is no longer occupied by
1Departament of Motric Performance”, Transilvania University of Braşov.
2Department of Theory and Methodology of Motor Activities, University of Craiova
3Department of Team Sports, Babeş-Bolyai University252 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov. Series IX • Vol. 13(62) No. 2–2020
the territory of television. Major betting Sports betting is made by people from
sites have a turnover large enough to all over the world, but the most popular
allow them to claim rights to major are in Europe, where they have a long
sporting events. tradition and are a legal activity in most
states [5]. Currently, this activity has
2. Literature Review turned into a big business, being a source
2.1. The history of sports betting of income for bookmakers and bettors.
The history of sports betting is not a new Online sports betting
issue. The origins of betting lie in ancient Online sports betting has been a great
Greece. The first bets in history were made opportunity for betting enthusiasts.
in Greece, more than two thousand years Online bookmakers have been set up in
ago. The Greeks were known as great lovers the United States and Canada to offer
of sports and sporting events such as the bettors the opportunity to bet online,
Olympic Games, where they took from the comfort of their home or from
advantage of the opportunity and bet on anywhere with an Internet connection.
their favourite competitions [4]. At that Sports betting experienced a massive
time, citizens were betting on various sports boom after the Internet was invented and
to have fun. introduced. The ability to place bets
After becoming popular in ancient directly from home has led many players
Greece, betting also attracted those from to want to play more actively. Before the
the Roman Empire. Internet age, bettors had to go to an
The Romans quickly adopted these offline bookmaker to place their bet, but
customs of the Greeks and turned it into a things changed radically with its advent.
real business. The Romans bet a lot on The biggest advantage of online betting
gladiator’s fights. But after the end of the is that it gives gamblers the chance to
Roman era, this practice survived and was make quick decisions that can ensure
adopted by the early medieval kingdoms. them huge profits if they bet well, thanks
People were betting on gladiator fights to the live opportunity.
and horse racing. The wrestling was one of Tracking of the results. This type of bet
the most popular sports in ancient Greece, is known as live betting, and has become
the Roman Empire and the Byzantine one of the favourite bets of bettors.
Empire [3]. Another aspect of online sports betting is
In the Middle-Ages, several European the ability to place bets on virtually all types
leaders tried to ban sports betting, but of sports on the planet and in all countries
despite the measures taken, the bets that exist. Today is possible to bet on other
persisted and continued to take place kinds of events, not just sports.
clandestinely. This custom has become Bookmakers also offer free incentives
especially popular in England, with betting for players who choose to sign up and
enthusiasts betting heavily on horse deposit money into their account. These
racing. Eventually, English settlers took are called online sports betting bonuses
sports betting to the United States, where and can even double your initial money
it spread rapidly and became one of the invested if bettors decide to sign up on
most popular pastimes for many people. the main international sports betting
Today, however, this activity is legal only pages [8].
in some American states. Sports betting has a long history behind
it and we can be sure that many otherI. TURCU et al.: The Impact of the Betting Industry on Sports 253
generations will enjoy this activity. In fact, From the moment you ask for your bet
we can say that as long as there are to be validated until the moment your bet
sporting events on the planet, there will is accepted by the bookmaker, a certain
be sports betting, and on Earth there will 'latency time' generally takes between 4
always be human beings who will organize and 8 seconds.
sports competitions. If during this time nothing important
happens during the match, the odds do
2.2. Types of sports betting not decrease or increase, you have a
chance that your bet will be accepted.
Sports betting involves not only a Some houses give the possibility to accept
passion for sports, but also a high level of the bet (stake), and if the odds change,
knowledge designed to tip the scales in validating at the last odds (which may be
favour of the gambler [9]. The world of different than the one you chose). During
sports betting does not focus exclusively the development of different types of
on luck. The advantage of betting on sporting events there are certain periods
matches and other sports matches is that in which the odds offer is blocked by the
the bettor has a say, if he is familiar with bookmaker and no bets can be placed
the sport he is betting on. (e.g. tennis, football, etc.).
Knowing the style of play of a team or a In general, at sporting events where a
player, as well as the other participants in large number of points are scored, these
the game, it will be easier for you to place odds blockages are rarer (e.g. basketball,
bets with higher chances of materializing handball, etc.). In the case of live betting,
in winnings. the bettor has the advantage of being able
Sports you can bet on in online casinos to watch the match on TV (or on the field).
include football, tennis, boxing, golf, However, this advantage can never be
basketball, handball, but also horse racing, raised at the level of bookmakers, which in
cycling, hockey and darts. addition to receiving live information
If we refer to the betting offer of the about the match faster than a regular
bookmakers that offer their services bettor (real-time broadcasts, use of
through the Internet, we can make a terrestrial TV broadcasts instead of
classification of the bets according to the satellite, people seconded to matches), he
ratio between the time of placing the bet also has a specialized man (bookmaker)
and the period of the event. So, we have who directs all the information received,
'live betting' and 'classic betting'. including the stakes and odds set so far.
Live bets are those bets that are placed Classic bets are those bets that can only
during the actual event. They are also be placed before the actual start of the
called 'in-running bets', 'live betting', or event. These types of sports bets can be
'in-play betting'. These types of sports placed either at an online bookmaker via
bets have appeared on the market only in the Internet, or at betting agencies where
recent years and we can only find them at you pay with cash, receiving in return a
a few bookmakers in the world (of the ticket with the chosen bet [5].
order of tens). In general, for live bets, a The major advantage of these types of
simple prediction is chosen on which to bets is given in terms of the maximum
bet. Although the term 'live' can be stake that can be placed for a simple bet.
translated as 'happening right now', If in live betting, the maximum allowed
virtually no bookmaker offers 'live' bets in bets generally do not exceed the value of
the true sense of the word [5]. a few hundred dollars, in classic bets these254 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov. Series IX • Vol. 13(62) No. 2–2020
maximum risky amounts can be at least 10 the creation, in 2013, of the National
times higher. Office for Gambling (ONJN).
If we refer to the type of bet that can be In recent years, the sports betting
chosen, 3 types of bets are especially market has evolved significantly,
highlighted, namely: direct bets, handicap according to information provided by the
bets and total bets. Ministry of Finance. In 2010 the reported
Direct bets are those bets by which the revenues were approximately 354 million
winner of the game or the tie at the end of lei, now they exceed 1.5 billion lei. The
the regular playing time is chosen. Each beginning of this progress was marked by
bookmaker defines its regular playing time the appearance of many betting houses,
for different sports according to its own but in 2014 the trend was changed and
rules. The regular playing time differs from the market began to mature. Now
many bookmakers in general for football, companies are not only relying on opening
basketball and ice hockey. new centres, but especially on optimizing
Handicap bets are those bets that give profits. The Association of Employers of
a points advantage (or subunits of Betting Operators in Romania attributes
points) to the team considered by the the increase in turnover in this sector to
bookmaker to be at a disadvantage so the development of online betting.
that the odds are balanced around the Massive investment in advertising by
odds of 2.00[10]. bookmakers has influenced consumer
This quantification of the disadvantage behaviour in this sector. The marketing
may depend on several factors such as: strategy of online operators has been
the statistical results obtained by the aimed at attracting new customers
teams in the last period; injuries suffered through various incentives, bonuses and
by important players in teams; major exclusive offers.
imbalance in the total amounts bet on the The top online sports bookmakers
combat teams. recommended by specialists are the
In the offer of bookmakers there are following:
offers with European handicap bets and – At the Net betoperator, you will find
offers with Asian handicap bets. The an extremely rich offer of live bets, which
European Handicap is a particular case of consists of numerous sporting events, but
the Asian Handicap in that it is full-fledged also in the betting options available for
and with three possible variants. each match, such as the fast markets at 1
Total bets are those bets that choose and 5 minutes. At the same time, here you
the number of total points scored during will be able to close your bets before the
the regular time of the sporting event. deadline, on the entire amount or on the
These types of bets can be with two desired stake part, using the partial Cash
possible events 'below total' or 'over total' Out function.
or with three possible events 'below total', – Unibet offers the most competitive
'over total' and 'exactly total'. shares on the market. The operator covers
the most important competitions in the
2.3. The sports betting market in Romania world, from local teams to traditional
sports in Europe and the rest of the world.
The gambling industry is one of the most Every day you can find over 4000 sporting
regulated and transparent in Romania, events that benefit from the best betting
through GEO 77/2009, as well as through odds. On the operator's website you can
also find detailed analyses of the mostI. TURCU et al.: The Impact of the Betting Industry on Sports 255 important events in the world of sports. bet, it starts from 1-2 rons and reaches an Unibet customers have access to a average of ten rons, and field tennis is the platform through which live videos are second sport after football in which the transmitted in real time. most bets in Romania. – The Fortuna operator, known for its The biggest win in the history of sports ground agencies, also offers online sports betting comes from Bacău. Super bet paid betting. The casino welcomes its over 300,000 euros. The bettor won in customers with a welcome bonus that can January 2018 the amount of 1,350,093.22 be used for sports betting. If you have rons (almost 300,000 euros), the highest imagination you can choose special bets, in the history of the prizes given by the accessible only to this operator. On the betting house Super bet in the ten years of Fortuna online platform, you can bet on activity. He played no less than 42 tickets, the most popular exports in the world. all on football and all winners at a total At Betano online bookmaker you will odd of 11,808.61. find a few games every day in which the According to statistics, the gambling operator stops his 0% winning margin, as industry brings over 700 million euros to well as a series of extremely advantageous the state budget annually, through taxes semi-permanent offers. In addition, you and duties. will be able to place voice command bets It is difficult to say what changes will via mobile phone and watch over 24,000 bring us in the coming years, although the live video events annually. feeling is that at least for now the waters The sports betting agency Unibet can have calmed down and we should not boast a rich history of awards obtained in have big "surprises" or technological the world of the gambling industry in the advances like before. But at any moment last decade. One of the most interesting we can be surprised by something new functions of the operator is Action Betting, that we do not expect. Who thought that an ultra-fast betting platform with in the not too distant future we will be immediate solution, which can keep you in able to place sports bets using a mobile suspense minute by minute. In addition, phone, with which we can also consult the sports offer is extremely wide and rankings from hundreds of different includes many types of unique bets. championships, or even watch live The volume of online and offline sports matches online? and casino betting (wagered amounts) in Romania amounts, on average have got to 3. Case Study: The Positive and Negative the value of 4 billion euros per year, Effects of Sports Betting on Sports according to estimates from the profile market. Sport is actually a competition between Market players explain that the value of people or teams that agree to compete the volume expresses the totality of the according to the same rules [16]. Not bets played and not the turnover which knowing who will win is an essential part represents the difference between the of the sport's attraction, which separates volume of bets played and the prizes paid. it from art and other entertainment [14]. Official estimates published by the The impact that the sport betting Association of Gambling Organizers, industry has on sports games highlights Rombet, indicated a turnover in the local both positive and negative parts, which gambling industry in Romania of about we will discuss further. one billion euros. Regarding the value of a
256 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov. Series IX • Vol. 13(62) No. 2–2020 First of all, sports betting has attracted related to favourite teams, being very difficult more and more people, some already fans for a sports fan to avoid betting when of sports teams, others who later became everything around him urges him to do so. fans, although initially they were attracted As positive effects of this industry on by the opportunity for financial sports we can list the increase in the winnings [15]. number of fans and spectators, the So, we can say that one of the effects of improvement of the image of sports the betting industry is to increase the teams and the publicity around them, the number of spectators of various sports appearance of more and more sports matches. sponsorships, and last but not least the Sports betting involves not only a increase of sports clubs due both the passion for sports, but also a high level of increase in the number of spectators knowledge designed to tip the scales in watching each match [6]. favour of the gambler [11]. But this industry also has a number of The world of sports betting does not negative aspects that affect the integrity focus exclusively on luck. The advantage of sports. of betting on matches and other sports If the result is determined in advance, matches is that the bettor has a say, if he the integrity of the sport is lost and with it is familiar with the sport he is betting on. much of its meaning and appeal to fans. Also, another effect of sports betting in Therefore, one of the negative aspects recent times refers to the massive refers to fixing the matches which is a exposure that has come from sports major threat to the sport [7]. sponsorship agreements. This is part of a There are two different reasons for major effort to link sports betting to large fixing the match, both with ancient companies that sponsor various teams. origins. First of all, sport can be fixed for They see the global popularity of the sporting reasons: various opportunities sport, as well as the money that comes offered to encourage a person or a team from the live broadcast and want some of to lose a certain match. Second, people the action. Thus, we see commercials and might try to make money through various types of sponsorships during gambling in a match in which they know sports matches, stadiums, T-shirts and live the outcome before it takes place because broadcasts. they have established the outcome [1]. Gambling thus opens the door to a Many people believe that the advent of completely new source of sponsorship sports gambling has increased the risk of income, the one coming from the big fixing matches for financial gain. The huge sports betting companies. Therefore, scale of the global gambling industry (legal there are many teams whose players wear and illegal) is attractive to organized sports equipment with the names of crime, and the range of types of bets sports betting sites. available can increase the value of inside The growing presence of betting information. Globalization also plays an advertising during live broadcasts of important role - criminals who want to sports matches is perhaps the most visible establish matches can connect and meet aspect of sports betting. athletes, coaches and officials from Sports betting advertising is fully around the world. incorporated into the match and its The very nature of corruption in sports promotional materials. This highlights the betting involves a number of sports connection between sports fans and bets participants (athletes and officials, but
I. TURCU et al.: The Impact of the Betting Industry on Sports 257 also administrators), highly mobile is related to betting, is primarily a matter corrupt, operating across various sports of ethics and values for the world of sport and national borders and betting on both [13]. The manipulation of a result or any legal and illegal markets. other secondary aspect of a game is the With the advent of sports betting, clubs antithesis of sports values [2]. Therefore, have developed a new method of public and private sector stakeholders corruption. It focuses primarily on winning need to work together to combat this money in the betting markets, but this threat, sometimes in different legal and time causing its own team to lose - which sports jurisdictions, while often being is easier than convincing another team to limited by limited resources and lose - and thus betting large sums of restrictions on the ability to share money on its own defeat. information. This method is sometimes used by clubs that are in financial difficulty and / or have 4. Conclusions to enter competitions or matches of very little sporting importance. Sports betting involve not only a passion Two factors favour this type of for sports, but also a high level of behaviour on the part of some clubs: on knowledge designed to tip the scales in the one hand, especially the difficult favour of the gambler. The world of sports financial situation in some sports betting does not focus exclusively on luck. environments, on the other hand, the The advantage of betting on matches and organizational system of the clubs [12]. In other sports matches is that the bettor fact, corruption has always been closely has a say, if he is familiar with the sport he linked to gambling. is betting on. Thanks to the expansion of the Internet This sports betting industry has and the increase in the total volume of experienced the same development as bets, operators have been able to offer sports due to globalization and new types of bets and other innovations technology, the connection between the that have them contributed to the two being quite obvious. attractiveness of bets and their growth. We have seen the impact that sports The Internet has also allowed the betting has on sport, both positive and development of "live betting", in other negative, the latter still requiring enough words the ability to bet during a match. effort to be diminished. Players can watch a match live on the It is difficult to say what changes will Internet and bet online in real time, bring us the sports betting in the coming depending on how the match unfolds. years, although the feeling is that at least Betting operators use "betting sets", for now the waters have calmed down and which simultaneously track the match and we should not have big "surprises" or bets on it and change the odds according technological advances like before. But at to the events during the event. any moment we can be surprised by The sports movement is essential for something new that we do not expect. maintaining the integrity and honesty of the sport in various competitions. Acknowledgment Fixing the match is only possible if at least All authors contributed equally to this one of these parties plays an active role. research. Combating the manipulation of sporting events, whether or not such manipulation
258 Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov. Series IX • Vol. 13(62) No. 2–2020
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