“It’s so hard not to get caught up in it, especially when you’re with friends and it’s everywhere”: Exploring the grassroots football and gambling nexus 

This event is free to attend.

To attend the event in-person, please register on Ticket Tailor.

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1:00pm - 2:00pm: Seminar
2.00pm - 2.30pm: Tea, coffee and refreshments

Speaker: Maria Moxey is a Senior Research Associate for the University of Bristol Business School. With a disciplinary background in sport and sociology, Maria’s research interests include the intersection between sport, culture, and social issues. Maria is currently undertaking a study exploring how gambling interrelates with grassroots football culture. She is a member of a research team who has conducted a number of studies exploring the proliferation of gambling advertisement in televised sports events. Findings have informed policy debate among groups such as Peers for Gambling Reform, the Gambling-Related Harm All-Party Parliamentary Group, and the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, and received coverage via Channel 5 News, The Guardian, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Abstract:

Introduction:
This study explores the relationship between grassroots football and gambling in England. Through a practice theory lens, this study innovatively considers how gambling is a normalised and routinised practice within grassroots football culture. 

Methods: 
This study collated 269 survey responses and 39 interviews with grassroots football participants across the south of England. Quantitative data measured the relationship between football consumption and gambling behaviour, to better understand the prevalence of gambling and gambling harms among grassroots footballers. Qualitative data helped to understand the process by which gambling is normalised and routinised among grassroots footballers, and explored participants’ perceptions and experiences of, and attitudes towards, the relationship between grassroots football and gambling. 

Findings: 
75.6% of the total sample had gambled during the past four weeks (including children and adults). As high as 13% of the adult grassroots footballers surveyed were classified according to the PGSI as experiencing ‘problem gambling’ (PGSI 8+). Furthermore, we found a strong correlation between watching football and behaviours associated with ‘problem gambling’. 

Interviews demonstrated how gambling is normalised among grassroots footballers as it is entangled with social practices that constitute grassroots football culture. Technological advancements, combined with increased marketing, has made gambling more accessible and inescapable for grassroots footballers. Despite it being normalised within grassroots football culture, many participants expressed distaste for how closely intertwined gambling and football have become and are concerned for the younger generation who are exposed to gambling via football consumption.  

Implications: 
Grassroots footballers are over-exposed to gambling via football consumption and action is needed to protect them from gambling harms. We recommend that tighter regulations are introduced to reduce exposure to gambling marketing. Furthermore, multiple organisations have a role to play in both educating and raising awareness around gambling harms, such as grassroots football clubs, sport’s governing bodies as well as the Government.  

This seminar was recorded and is available to watch on our YouTube channel