Gambling motivations for esports betting and skin gambling: Links to gambling frequency, problems, and harm

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Author(s): Greer, Nancy ; Hing, Nerilee ; Rockloff, Matthew J. ; Browne, Matthew ; King, Daniel L.

Journal: Journal of Gambling Studies

Year Published: 2022

Date Added: October 13, 2022

Three popular gambling products connected to video gaming are esports cash betting, esports skin betting, and skin gambling on games of chance. The researchers of this study examined gambling motivations for these three gambling products. The researchers also examined which gambling motivations are linked with greater gambling frequency, problems, and harm. A total of 736 participants completed an online survey. Financial gain and enhancement (i.e., excitement) were the main reasons people engaged in all three products. Motivations to acquire skins were unique to esports skin betting and skin gambling. Higher levels of problem gambling and harm were linked to gambling to escape or improve mood for all three products. Motivations related to financial gain were linked to problem gambling only for esports skin betting and skin gambling.

Citation: Greer, N., Hing, N., Rockloff, M., Browne, M., & King, D. L. (2022). Motivations for esports betting and skin gambling and their association with gambling frequency, problems, and harm. Journal of Gambling Studies. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10137-3

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10137-3

Keywords: access to help ; betting ; esports ; gambling frequency ; gambling motivations ; gambling problems ; gambling-related harm ; skin gambling ; sports betting

Topics: Online Gambling ; Sports Betting

Conceptual Framework Factors: Gambling Types ; Types - Motivational Characteristics ; Gambling Exposure

Response Rate: A total of 2952 people started the survey. The researchers excluded participants if they didn’t meet the above criteria, failed an attention check question, or did not complete the survey. Duplicate or poor-quality responses were removed. A total of 736 responses were included in the analysis. This is a 25% response rate from eligible participants.

Study Design: Descriptive: Survey

Geographic Coverage: Canada ; Republic of Ireland ; United Kingdom ; United States of America

Study Population: Adults who had engaged in esports cash betting, esports skin betting, or skin gambling in the last 6 months (n = 736). Most participants were men (80%). On average, participants were 29 years of age. Most lived in the USA (73%). Over 60% were single/never married with a university level education (59%). Over 85% were employed. About 77% of participants engaged in esports cash betting in the last six months, while 24.5% engaged in esports skin betting and 44.2% engaged in skin gambling on games of chance.

Sampling Procedure: The researchers recruited participants between October 2018 and February 2019. They recruited participants using online crowdsourcing. This included: (1) Amazon’s Mechanical Turk; and (2) social media posts targeted to online video-gaming, esports, and gambling communities (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Reddit).

Study Funding:

Open Access funding was enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions. This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.