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Smartphone technologies and prominent marketing campaigns continue to contribute to the growth of sports betting in contemporary Australia, shifting the practice from pubs and clubs into the domestic and intimate lives of young bettors. This article seeks to build on prior studies of sports betting in the lives of young Australian men by focusing on how gambling shame and stigma is navigated by bettors and their romantic partners. Data collected from 20 interviews with young sports bettors and their intimate partners is used to highlight and contrast how men and women perceive and engage with modern sports betting. Drawing on the work of Elspeth Probyn, we show how shame directed by betting men towards problem gambling behaviours and perceived illegitimate forms of gambling, such as betting alone or betting on racing, helps legitimise men's own betting practices and position them favourably in masculine betting hierarchies. In contrast to men's shaming responses, women who have been romantically involved with sports bettors instead show feelings of understanding and indifference towards the practice, provided their partners bet at a recreational level. These findings illustrate the ways young Australian gamblers use 'betting shame' to navigate and justify their engagement with a rapidly transforming, stigmatised leisure practice.
Irving et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
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