Match-Fixing Causing Harm to Athletes on a COVID-19-Influenced Gambling Market: A Call for Research During the Pandemic and Beyond

Match-fixing, although not a new problem, has received growing attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been reported in the media to have increased the risk of match-fixing events. Gambling is a well-documented addictive behavior, and gambling-related fraud, match-fixing, is a challenge to the world of sports. Most research on match-fixing has a judicial or institutional perspective, and few studies focus on its individual consequences. Nevertheless, athletes may be at particular risk of mental health consequences from the exposure to or involvement in match-fixing. The COVID-19 crisis puts a spotlight on match-fixing, as the world of competitive sports shut down or changed substantially due to pandemic-related restrictions. We call for research addressing individual mental health and psycho-social correlates of match-fixing, and their integration into research addressing problem gambling, related to the pandemic and beyond.

Suomi ja Venäjän rahapelimarkkinat

Rajaseuduille sijoittunut rahapelitoiminta on kansainvälisesti yleistä, mutta Suomessa rahapelien vienti rajojen yli on ollut vähäistä. Käsittelemme tässä artikkelissa Suomesta Venäjälle suuntautunutta rahapelitarjontaa 1990-luvulta tähän päivään aiemman kirjallisuuden ja olemassa olevan tilastoaineiston valossa. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on kuvata, millaista rahapelitarjonta Suomesta Venäjälle ja venäläisille on ollut, ja millaiset poliittiset ja taloudelliset seikat ovat vaikuttaneet tähän suhteeseen. Tarkastelu jaksottuu kolmeen ajanjaksoon, jotka liittyvät etenkin venäläisen rahapelijärjestelmän muutoksiin sääntelytasolla, ja suomalaisten rahapelitoimijoiden mahdollisuuksiin. Näitä ovat venäläisten rahapelimarkkinoiden kasvuaika 1990-luvulla, vuoden 2006 rahapeliuudistuksen rajoittama markkinaympäristö ja uusien markkinoiden synty sekä vuoden 2014 jälkeinen aika, johon on liittynyt niin ruplan romahtaminen kuin koronapandemian tuomat haasteet matkailulle Finland and the Russian gambling market Gambling operations in border regions are common internationally, but Finnish cross-border gambling offers have been scarce. This paper discusses how Finnish gambling operators have attempted to access the Russian market since the 1990s, based on previous literature and existing statistical information. The aim is to describe whether and how Finnish actors have exported gambling to Russia or Russians, and what kind of political and economic factors have influenced the commercial relationship. The analysis focuses on three periods determined by regulatory changes in Russian gambling and the related possibilities for the Finnish gambling offer. These are the growth period of the 1990s, the restrictive gambling law of 2006 and the new market environment, and the period starting from 2014 characterised by challenges to tourism and business following the financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.

‘Spatio-market practices’: conceptualising the always spatial dimensions of market making practices

Socio-material conceptualisations of markets suggest that they are spatial formations. Yet, the everyday practical and spatial dimensions of market making have received little explicit attention. We thus introduce the concept of spatio-market practices, drawing on key ideas in market studies and spatial theory. We argue that examining spatio-market practices (and thus the spatial dimensions of markets) promises to provide fresh insight regarding what it takes to realise markets, their uneven distribution, and what and whom markets are (and are not) designed to serve. To demonstrate what the concept calls for, supports and promises, we take Humphreys’ (2010) influential paper as a starting point and draw on other secondary sources in order to articulate an alternative and spatially-oriented account of the growth and legitimacy of the American casino gambling market. This paper, in turn, contributes a subtle and yet incisive shift in thinking, which supports a more explicit means of exploring markets as spatial formations.

Self-Exclusion from Gambling—A Measure of COVID-19 Impact on Gambling in a Highly Online-Based Gambling Market?

The COVID-19 pandemic, and related changes of the gambling market, have been suspected to affect the risk of problem gambling. Despite media attention and political concern with this risk, study findings hitherto have been mixed. Voluntary self-exclusion from gambling was introduced on a national level in Sweden as a harm reduction tool in 2019, and this self-exclusion service in Sweden is a rare example of such an official, nationwide, multi-operator system. The present study aimed to evaluate whether short-term self-exclusion patterns were affected by different phases of COVID-19-related impacts on gambling markets in 2020. During the lock-down of sports in the spring months of 2020, three-month self-exclusion was unaffected, and one-month self-exclusion appeared to increase, though not more than in a recent period prior to COVID-19. Despite large differences in sports betting practices between women and men, self-exclusion patterns during COVID-19 were not apparently gender-specific. Altogether, self-exclusion from gambling, to date, does not appear to be affected by COVID-19-related changes in society, in contrast with beliefs about such changes producing greater help-seeking behavior in gamblers. Limitations are discussed, including the fact that in a recently introduced system, seasonality aspects and the autocorrelated nature of the data made substantial statistical measures unfeasible.

Being a Gambler during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study with Italian Patients and the Effects of Reduced Exposition

The COVID-19 pandemic, with the consequent lockdown of about 3 months, can be viewed as an experimental model to observe the impact of the depletion of environmental factors that stimulate gambling, particularly electronic gambling machines (EGMs) that were set to zero. The effects of some structural characteristics of gambling activities that increase gambling behavior were studied among disordered gamblers in treatment in this unique scenario. In fact, studies investigating the effects of the lockdown on problem gamblers (PGs) under treatment are missing. The aims of this study were to analyze patients’ gambling behavior and craving during the lockdown and to conduct a comparison between gambling disorder (GD) symptoms at the beginning of the treatment and during lockdown. The study was conducted in Italy, the European country with the largest gambling market and the first to be affected by the virus. Data were collected through a semi-structured telephone interview conducted by healthcare professionals. Participants were 135 PGs under treatment (109 males, mean age = 50.07). Results showed that most PGs achieved a significant improvement in their quality of life, with less gambling behavior, GD symptoms, and lower craving. No shift toward online gambling and very limited shift towards other potential addictive and excessive behaviors occurred. The longer the treatment, the more monitoring is present and the better the results in terms of symptoms reduction. Individual and environmental characteristics during the lockdown favored the reduction in symptoms. Consideration for prevention and treatment are discussed.

Strukturprobleme des Glücksspielrechts

Comprised of a plurality of legal actors and powered by a highly polarised social and legal discourse, German gambling law provides a framework for the ever booming gambling market. It is challenged by digitalization and by the internationalization of gambling. In addition, it faces adverse regulatory impulses, ranging from liberalization to a firm regulatory grasp within a couple of years. On the one hand, it purports to offer a sufficiently attractive supply of gambling products in order to draw the public into legal forms and away from illegal forms of gambling. On the other hand, its regulatory objective seeks to fence in and suppress the gambling urges of the population. On the whole, German gambling law is characterized by three, legally and factually interdependent problems. First, it needs to come up with a practical, inclusive and dynamic legal definition of its subject-matter, i. e.: what counts as legally relevant gambling? Second, it needs to define, maintain and implement larger objectives in regard to a target audience that do not overburden the executive und judicial branch with the need to reconcile contradicting regulatory impulses. Finally, it needs to guarantee a sufficient degree of implementation, which is achieved by combination of rational and high-quality legislation, adequate resources, and the necessary political will. Gambling law in Germany lacks these features to varying degrees. It, therefore, increasingly falls prey to mere legal symbolism that pretends to govern the gambling market much more than it actually does. The constitutional distribution of legislative and executive competencies in favor of the German Länder (“states”) is largely insufficient. Governing gambling in an international and highly digitalized market requires federal legislation and execution. The German federal authorities should consider federalizing gambling law by means of Art. 72 II GG and creating a federal gambling agency on the basis of Art. 87 III GG.

Effects on Gambling Activity From Coronavirus Disease 2019—An Analysis of Revenue-Based Taxation of Online- and Land-Based Gambling Operators During the Pandemic

Background: Concerns have been raised about increased gambling problems during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, particularly in settings with high online gambling and risks of migration from land-based to riskier online-based gambling types. However, few non-self-reported data sources are hitherto available. The present study aimed to assess changes in the online- and land-based gambling markets in Sweden during the first months affected by the societal impact of COVID-19.Methods: Data were derived from national authority data describing monthly taxations of all licensed Swedish gambling operators, whose monthly tax payments are directly based on gambling revenue. Subdivisions of the gambling market were followed monthly from before COVID-19 onset in Sweden (mainly February 2020) through June 2020, when the sports market was restarted after COVID-19 lockdown.Results: Overall revenue-based taxations in the licensed gambling decreased markedly from February to March, but stabilized onto an overall modest decrease through June. Commercial online casino/betting, despite some decrease in March, was maintained on a relatively stable level through June. However, within this category, horse betting increased steeply during the pandemic but returned to prepandemic levels later during the period. The state-owned operator in betting/online casino decreased markedly throughout the pandemic. The remaining commercial operators, mainly in online casino and online betting, demonstrated no change during the pandemic and ended on a June level 14% above the February level. Throughout the pandemic, the smaller restaurant casinos decreased markedly, while major state-owned casinos also closed entirely. State-owned lotteries and electronic gambling machines decreased markedly but were rapidly normalized to prepandemic levels.Conclusions: Commercial online gambling operators' revenues remained stable throughout the pandemic, despite the dramatic lockdown in sports. Thus, chance-based online games may have remained a strong actor in the gambling market despite the COVID-19 crisis, in line with previous self-report data. A sudden increase in horse betting during the sports lockdown and its decrease when sports reopened confirm the picture of possible COVID-19-related migration between gambling types, indicating a volatility with potential impact on gambling-related public health.

Nudge versus sludge in gambling warning labels

Firms can help consumers by structuring choices in a way that helps them make better decisions --- via nudges. However, firms may instead prefer to profit by making it harder for consumers to make good decisions --- via sludge. We explore evidence for these contrasting strategies with respect to warning label regulations in the world’s largest regulated online gambling market (the UK). Gambling operators provided the required information in an inefficient risk communication format, and this information was made difficult to find in small font on densely-packed help screens. Gambling regulators should make concrete requirements around the wording and presentation of gambling warning labels to ensure that gamblers are well-informed.