Changes in sports gambling behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic in Canada

Bibliographic Data

ID15527240
AuthorsElijah Otis (Dalhousie University), Andy J Kim (0000-0001-8544-9066, Dalhousie University), Sherry H Stewart (0000-0003-3350-2712, Dalhousie University), Simon B Sherry (0009-0002-2325-5076, Dalhousie University), Igor Yakovenko (0000-0002-3544-6200, Dalhousie University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume13
Pages1018234-1018234
Publication date2022-11-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1664-0640 • E-ISSN: 1664-0640
PublisherFrontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1018234
PMID36440391
OpenAlexW4308725177
LanguageEN
References cited57

Sports betting is one of the most popular forms of gambling in Canada; recent prevalence estimates indicate that 7.9% of Canadian adults endorsed gambling on sports in the past year. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic led to the temporary closure of most major sports leagues worldwide beginning in March of 2020. These sudden closures created a dramatic decrease in the availability of sports betting opportunities in the early stages of the pandemic, followed by a subsequent increase in availability as most sport leagues returned during the summer of 2020. Using a retrospective self-report measure of gambling participation, the present study investigated how the gambling behaviors of N = 85 past-year sports gamblers changed over the course of the pandemic. It was hypothesized that sports gamblers would report an initial decrease in gambling behaviors from pre-pandemic baseline levels to the early stages of the pandemic in May of 2020 when the availability of sports gambling was heavily restricted, followed by an increase in gambling behaviors from May to August, in accordance with the re-emergence of live sporting events. The general pattern of results supported the hypotheses, though gambling behaviors did not completely return to baseline levels. Beyond quantifying the changes in gambling behaviors over the early stages of the pandemic in Canada, results may have implications regarding the utility of voluntary gambling exclusion programs as well as legislation concerning gambling access

Baseline (sea · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · League · Legislation · Pandemic · Political science · Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 · Gambling Behavior and Treatments · Law · Medicine · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Sports Analytics and Performance