Hibai Lopez-Gonzalez

Marketing and Advertising Online Sports Betting: A Problem Gambling Perspective:

In this article, online sports betting is explored with the objective of critically examining the potential impact on problem gambling of the emerging product features and advertising techniques used to market it. First, the extent of the issue is assessed by reviewing the sports betting prevalence rates and its association with gambling disorders, acknowledging the methodological difficulties of an unambiguous identification of what exactly constitutes sports-related gambling today. Second, the main changes in the marketization of online betting products are outlined, with specific focus on the new situational and structural characteristics that such products present along with the convergence of online betting with other adjacent products. Third, some of the most prevalent advertising master narratives employed by the betting industry are introduced, and the implications for problem gamblers and minors are discussed.

Understanding the convergence of markets in online sports betting

Betting on sports via online platforms has rapidly become a popular form of gambling in many countries. Despite the growing body of research investigating the psychosocial and individual psychological factors determining gambling behaviour, much less attention has been devoted to understanding the market characteristics of online sports betting and its intersection with products from adjacent industries. From an economic convergence perspective, the present paper explores the integration of online sports betting within the digital, sporting and gambling sectors, examining how data markets, eSports, virtual sports, social gaming, immersive reality tools, sports media, sport sponsorship, fantasy sports, in-venue and in-stadium betting, poker and trading are all converging around betting activity. Through this convergence process, it is argued that internet-based sports gambling is colonizing different forms of entertainment, and expanding marketing opportunities, as well as raising psychosocial concerns about the influence of such an integration process.

A content analysis of how ‘normal’ sports betting behaviour is represented in gambling advertising

Abstract The pervasiveness of sports betting marketing and advertising is arguably normalising betting behaviour among increasingly larger groups of population. In their adverts, bookmakers represent characters and situations that conventionalise betting and promote specific behaviours while ignoring others. The present study examined a sample of British and Spanish sports betting television adverts (N = 135) from 2014 to 2016 to understand how bettors and betting are being represented. Using content analysis, 31 different variables grouped into seven broad categories were assessed, including general information about the advert, the characters and situations represented, the identification of the characters with sports, the use of online betting, the co-representation of gambling along other risky behaviours such as eating junk food and drinking alcohol, the amount of money wagered, and other variables such as the representation of free bets, humour, and celebrities. The results showed a male-dominant betting representation with no interaction between women. Typically, bettors were depicted surrounded by people but isolated in their betting, emphasising the individual consumption practice that mobile betting promotes. In-play betting was observed in almost half of the adverts. A little empirical evidence indicates that betting while watching sport in betting adverts is associated with emotionally charged situations such as celebrations and/or alcohol drinking. Bettors were typically depicted staking small amounts of money with large potential returns, implying high risk bets. Overall, the study provides preliminary evidence in understanding the social representation of betting behaviour by bookmakers and critiques the problematic consequences of such representation from a public health perspective.

Enhancing Media Sport Consumption: Online Gambling in European Football:

This article explores the intersections between sports bodies, media companies and gambling industries in European football. While betting, communication and sport have maintained an ongoing relationship for over two centuries, this article argues that the digitalisation of betting platforms has reconfigured the links between the traditional actors and created a new ‘online football betting ecology’. We elaborate on the intricate relationships of betting sites with top European football institutions via sponsorship, and on the role of the media, influencers and celebrities in the promotion of betting companies. An upbeat interpretation of this scenario stresses the enhancement of the act of consumption for football fans, transcending their traditional passive role as spectators. However, a more pessimistic vision points out that the economic dominance of the online gambling industry influences the way football competitions are run and endangers the integrity of the sport.

Controlling the illusion of control: a grounded theory of sports betting advertising in the UK

Abstract Sports betting advertising has arguably permeated contemporary sport consumption in many countries. Advertisements build narratives that represent situations and characters that normalize betting behaviour and raise public concerns regarding their detrimental effect on vulnerable groups. Adopting a grounded theory approach, the present study examined a British sample of sports betting advertisements (N = 102) from 2014 to 2016. The analysis revealed that individual themes aligned in a single core narrative, constructing a dual persuasive strategy of sports betting advertising: (i) to reduce the perceived risk involved in betting (with themes such as betting with friends, free money offers, humour, or the use of celebrities) while (ii) enhancing the perceived control of bettors (including themes of masculinity and sport knowledge). In addition, new technological features of sports betting platforms (e.g. live in-play betting) were used by advertisers to build narratives in which the ability to predict a sports outcome was overlapped by the ability of bettors to use such platforms, equalizing the ease of betting with the ease of winning. Based on the data analysed, it was concluded that the construction of a magnified idea of control in sports betting advertising is a cause for concern that requires close regulatory scrutiny.

Quantifying the immeasurable: A reflection on sport, time and media

In the last century, professional sport has experienced a process of standardization that has favoured the development of its two most recent characteristics: the quantification and the pursuit of records, as Guttmann exposed in From Ritual to Record (1978). This article reflects on the ramifications that those characteristics have had in the sport consumption of sport in recent times, focusing particularly on the temporal consequences. The work proposes an ‘evolutive time’ perspective to understand the double fundaments of the sporting temporality: its cyclical dimension of recurrences and familiar elements; and its linear dimension of newness and uniqueness. The argument is that sport draws on elements derived from quantification and records such as time serialization and time disruptions in order to produce a globally appealing and intelligible commodity.

Internet-Based Structural Characteristics of Sports Betting and Problem Gambling Severity: Is There a Relationship?

With the adoption and popularization of internet-based platforms, sports betting has introduced new functionalities that transform the design of its products and therefore the way bettors interact with them. This study aims to explore the association between the use of new structural characteristics of online betting and gambling severity. Five characteristics are examined here: (i) live in-play betting; (ii) cash out feature use (as example of in-play betting in-built features); (iii) fantasy sports gaming; (iv) location of betting; and (v) device or platform used to make bets. A cohort (N = 659) of Spanish gamblers who had bet on sports during the previous year was recruited through an online survey. The results suggested that those bettors scoring higher on gambling problems also utilized more often such new structural characteristics, in a proportion not explained only by their higher overall gambling activity. Mobile betting was especially frequent among problem gamblers.

Manufacturing conflict narratives in Real Madrid versus Barcelona football matches

The aim of this article is to understand how the online sport journalism in Spain manufactures conflict narratives on Real Madrid versus Barcelona football matches. The clásico has been frequently framed as a clash between two national identities that goes beyond its sportive dimension. Following Whannel’s concept of ‘vortextuality’ in relation to ‘celebrity culture’ and Boyle’s concept of ‘quote culture’, and by means of a case study, this paper challenges the presumed national identity approach in journalistic discourse and frames the rivalry as a narrative dispute between their main characters. Contrary to the common belief, the results suggest the self-sufficiency of the sporting competition to create conflict and the comparatively minor role the social context plays in media narratives.

Save me, save them! Trash talk shows and the third-person effect

Abstract Since Davison (1983) proposed the hypothesis regarding the Third-Person Effect (TPE), it has been widely accepted by researchers in communication. The objective of this study is to test both perceptual and behavioral components of TPE in Spain related to media in general, violent, pornographic, and trash TV shows (in particular, the TV show Sálvame, Save me! in Spanish). Relying on two different surveys, the study confirms the perceptual component of the third-person effect for media and controversial content. Moreover, respondents perceive Sálvame as the most negative content, with the majority stating that they have tried to protect family and friends from the contents of the program and would be in favor of censoring it.

Broadcasting sport: Analogue markets and digital rights

The future of sport broadcasting is uniquely positioned between the analogue paradigm of long-standing television broadcast networks and the digital prototype of agile new entrants. Juxtaposed between the two, sport consumers are being marshalled into digital enclosures for efficient commodification. In this article, we map the collision and the disorderly consequences of this juxtaposition between the analogue and the digital markets. We consider the current development of digital media rights through a series of brief illustrative examples in key sports and markets and then look ahead to explore what the future of sport broadcasting might become and posit the impact of digital technologies on the business models of broadcasters, sport content owners, and consumers.