The acquisition, development and maintenance of in-play sports betting, fantasy sports gambling, and/or eSports gambling.

Technology has changed the nature of gambling practices over the last decade and is continuing to do so. The use of technologized forms of gambling has led to the (i) feminization of remote gambling, (ii) increase in numbers of digital natives, (iii) increase of empirical research into remote gambling (particularly internet gambling, (iv) increase in mobile gaming, (v) increase in technological advertising and marketing of gambling, (vi) increase in gambling via social networking sites, (vii) increase in gambling convergence and cross-fertilization of technologies, (viii) emergence of new type(s) of problem gambling (such as online poker gambling), and (ix) increase in online help and therapy for problem gamblers.

At the same time, the online sports betting industry has become a solid and rapidly growing sector of the global economy. While most forms of gambling on sports have been stable or decreased over the last few years, online betting has nearly doubled its prevalence rate in the 2009-2014 period in the UK. explores the converging processes that have made possible the existence and proliferation of online sports betting. Consequently, there has been an integration of social and technological processes that have enabled the cultural saliency of contemporary online betting. Betting on sports via online platforms is the result of independent, sometimes non-sporting, historical processes. On the other hand, there has been a market integration of online betting with other neighbouring industries. If the cultural perspective identifies the origins of online betting as a cultural phenomenon, the market perspective observes it as a commodity, discussing the aggregation of multiple media, entertainment, and sport markets into new gambling commodities. The market integration speaks about the colonization or cannibalization of non-gambling niches by gambling industries, a process described as gamblification in the context of sports. Combined, these two perspectives tackle the complexities of gambling on sports in the digital era and research is needed to offer a comprehensive understanding of the intersecting forces behind the rise and proliferation of online sports betting as a form of leisure and entertainment, but also as a motive for social concern.

This PhD focuses on the evolution of these new forms of gambling practices and concerns the acquisition, development and maintenance of one or more of the following gambling behaviours: in-play sports betting (the betting on events within a sporting event such as football, cricket, etc.), fantasy sports betting (a type of online game where participants assemble imaginary or virtual teams of real players of a professional sport and make bets on such activity, and eSports gambling (where individuals gamble on eSports [also known as electronic sports, esports, e-sports, competitive video gaming, professional video gaming, or pro gaming]). The project is flexible and could include the psychosocial examination and impact of one (or more) of these three new sporting gambling forms. The project will preferably take a mixed-methods approach and include a number of different methodologies including systematic reviews of available literature on one (or more) of these activities, qualitative interview studies, and/or online surveys. Empirically, little is known about any of these sporting gambling activities, and proposals are invited from prospective doctoral students to examine and carry out research in one (or more) of these contemporary forms of sports gambling.

Specific qualifications/subject areas required of the applicants for this project (e.g. First degree in specific subject area):

UK 1st Class / 2.1 Bachelor’s degree (or UK equivalent according to NARIC) in psychology or cognate area, and a Master’s degree in psychology or cognate area with expertise in advanced research methods.