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Article
The Determinants of Betting Volume for Sports in North America: Evidence of Sports Betting as Consumption in the NBA and NHL
International Journal of Sport Finance (2010)
  • Rodney Paul, Syracuse University
  • Andrew P Weinbach
Abstract
The National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Hockey League (NHL) are studied to ascertain the determinants of betting volume on an individual game-to-game basis. Actual betting volume was obtained and aggregated across three on-line sportsbooks for the 2008-09 season. Independent variables such as the quality of teams, television coverage by network, day of the week, time of day, month of the season, etc. are included in a regression model to determine the factors that influence betting volume. The results reveal betting behavior is much like fan behavior as key fan-attributes, such as the quality of teams and the availability of television coverage, are shown to have a positive and significant effect on betting volume. The results imply that consumption plays a major role in the decision to gamble on sports. Pure investment-based gambling appears to be the exception, rather than the norm. The implication of this result as it relates to models of sportsbook behavior is explored.
Keywords
  • sports betting,
  • efficient markets,
  • consumption,
  • television
Disciplines
Publication Date
May, 2010
Citation Information
Rodney Paul and Andrew P Weinbach. "The Determinants of Betting Volume for Sports in North America: Evidence of Sports Betting as Consumption in the NBA and NHL" International Journal of Sport Finance Vol. 5 Iss. 2 (2010)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/rodney_paul/14/