Experiences with esports betting and skin gambling: Exposure, access, motivations and impacts: DATASET

The last decade has ushered in a convergence of video gaming and gambling activities. The aim of this thesis was to examine three gambling products related to video games that emerged in the 2010s but are only beginning to be explored in the literature: esports cash betting, esports skin betting, and skin gambling. Esports cash betting involves gambling money on video gaming competitions (esports), typically through regulated online wagering operators or dedicated esports betting providers. In contrast, esports skin betting involves using virtual video game items known as “skins” as opposed to cash to bet on esports; usually facilitated through unregulated online operators. Lastly, these unregulated online operators also often enable skin gambling, where skins are gambled on games of chance, such as roulette, coin-flip, and jackpots (Grove 2016a, 2016b). The main themes explored in this thesis were derived from research on other gambling products. These themes include exposure and accessibility to the three novel gambling activities, motivations for engagement, impacts such as gambling-related harm, and involvement in other forms of monetary gambling. The research entailed three main stages, with earlier stages informing the design of subsequent activities, inclusive of a literature review, qualitative interviews, and a quantitative cross-sectional online survey. The literature review conducted in Stage 1 provides an historical overview of esports betting and skin gambling, and reviews current knowledge. It highlights the growing popularity of these newer forms of gambling, particularly amongst young males. These activities are also advertised heavily to young people. The review discusses concerns that esports betting and skin gambling may contribute to the development of problem gambling, and to underage gambling, as well as industry and government responses to these issues. The qualitative interviews in Stage 2 were conducted with 30 young male esports bettors and skin gamblers. The interviews explored their experiences of exposure and accessibility to these activities, and the impacts of their engagement. A thematic analysis identified 13 subthemes. Key findings indicated that: 1) gambling with skins provides easily accessible betting options for underage gamblers, 2) skin gambling and esports betting contribute to gambling problems and harm, 3) gambling with skins often precedes engagement in monetary gambling, and 4) esports potentially normalises gambling among youth. Finally, the quantitative survey in Stage 3 collected data from 737 adult esports bettors and skin gamblers, and the findings were explored in two chapters. The first chapter examined a conceptual model linking video game involvement, video game-related gambling, traditional monetary gambling, and consequent gambling problems and harm. The findings suggested that skin gambling on games of chance was directly linked to gambling problems and harm, while cash betting on esports was only indicative of interest in many forms of potentially harmful gambling. The second chapter explored differences in motivations for engaging in esports cash betting, esports skin betting, and skin gambling on games of chance, and whether these motivations differed by product. It also explored whether the different motivations were associated with gambling frequency, problems, and harm. The results indicated that financial gain and enhancement (e.g., excitement, more enjoyment when watching esports) were the main motivations for all activities, while skin acquisition was an additional motivation for esports skin betting and skin gambling. The competition/challenge motivation for esports skin betting and skin gambling was associated with more frequent gambling, but nevertheless this did not necessarily lead to greater observed gambling problems or harm. Finally, for skin gambling on games of chance, the financial gain motivation was associated with more frequent esports skin betting, and also with greater problem gambling severity and gambling-related harm. A consistent finding for all three activities was that greater motivation for regulating internal states (i.e., to escape, to improve mood) was associated with greater problem gambling severity and experiencing more gambling-related harms regardless of the activity. This research program contributes to knowledge on the emerging phenomena of esports cash betting, esports skin betting and skin gambling, by documenting their historical development and analysing the experiences, motivations, and potential consequences of participation in these activities. The findings highlight the potential risks and harms associated with these forms of gambling, particularly skin gambling, and the need for more research and regulation to protect vulnerable individuals who engage in these novel forms, such as young people. The findings have the potential to inform education and public health programs, support resources, consumer protection frameworks, and harm minimisation strategies. Skin betting and gambling are often provided outside a strong regulatory framework, and thus these findings are pertinent to an understanding of what, if any, changes in governance should be made.