CQU gambling research scores ABC spotlight
A new ABC TV series exploring Australia’s complex relationship with gambling has highlighted CQUniversity research to show how sports betting is hooking young people.
Shaun Micallef’s Going for Broke is a three-part documentary and features CQU Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory (EGRL) academic Professor Alex Russell.
Prof Russell appeared with host Shaun Micallef and a group of children and teens, to discuss how sports betting exposure shapes attitudes to gambling.
“The normalisation of sports betting is a big concern, and for young people they’re seeing that all the way through their adolescence, and by the time they hit 18 they know exactly what to do,” Prof Russell explained.
The series also highlighted CQU research showing how video games, and particularly ‘loot box’ features that with pay-to-win randomised prizes, are conditioning children for future gambling.
Sports betting saturation
The program highlighted Australian data showing underage gambling is increasing: in the past year, more than half a million 12-17-year-olds gambled more than $18 million.
“Children under 13 have never watched a football match without also seeing a betting commercial,” the program reported.
As part of the program, Prof Russell spoke with young people about their experiences with gambling advertising and sport.
“Some said they didn’t really notice the gambling advertising. And yet, when I showed them a picture of a gambling website, they immediately recognised it as a gambling website, because they had seen it in ads," he explained.
“Not only did they recognise that it was a gambling website, some as young as 12 could even name which brand it was from just the colour scheme of the website. It showed just how much this advertising gets through to young people."
Prof Russell has worked across a wide range of sports betting research, including a series of studies led by Professor Nerilee Hing from the EGRL, which found people who see more ads and promotions are more likely to bet when they don't intend to, bet more than they intend, and place bets on more unlikely outcomes.
“Essentially, they lose more,” Prof Russell explained.
Stream episodes of Shaun Micallef's Going For Broke on ABC iView.
The Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory is Australia’s largest team of gambling-focused researchers.
Learn more about CQU's gambling research at the Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory website.
