Sport in the context of sports betting and gambling from the perspective of university students: Case of the Czech Republic

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The sports sector with all its aspects has become an inseparable part of modern society and its influence is manifested in both, local and global, aspects of the life in every country. Not only does sport create and promote friendship, team play, regardless of gender, age, education, religion, ethnicity, social status, etc., but it is also associated with numerous undesirable consequences. AIM: The primary objective of the research paper at hand was to examine the correlation between the amount invested in sports betting, as a form of gambling, and selected characteristics of university students in the Czech Republic. METHODS: Various scientific methods, including analysis, synthesis, induction, and deduction, were employed in the preparation of the research article. Additionally, selected key databases such as the citation and reference database Scopus and the bibliographic and citation database WOS. The study comprised university students from the Czech Republic. The first group included 391 participants with prior experience in sports betting, while the second group comprised 679 respondents who had no previous exposure to sports betting. RESULTS: The results confirm the dependence between the amount invested in sports betting, as a category of gambling, and one’s biological age, as well as gender or the type of faculty the respondent studies. Furthermore, the results in relation to sports betting confirm its dependence on the respondent’s relationship to sports. CONCLUSIONS: The most common betting platform (bookmaker) preferred by university students in the Czech Republic for sports betting is an online or internet betting agency.