First study on harm associated with in-play betting in Ontario

This study is one of the first on in-play betting in Ontario, Canada. The data were collected shortly after the legalization of single-event betting, in-play betting, and the opening of the Ontario gambling market to private gambling operators in April 2022. This study was funded by a Research Grant independently managed by Greo, with funds from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

In-play sports betting allows people to make bets while a sports match is ongoing (e.g., which player will score next). In-play sports betting may be a particularly harmful form of gambling. The researchers examined demographic, psychological, and gambling-related characteristics of 920 Canadian adults who bet on sports. They found that people who made in-play bets were more likely to experience various psychological and gambling-related difficulties compared to people who made single-event or traditional sports bets.

See the two-page plain language article summary Examining the characteristics of people who make in-play sports bets in Greo's Evidence Centre.