College Students and Gambling: Do Student Athletes Really Gamble More?

Abstract

A large amount of scholarship has focused on the historical prevalence of gambling, in general, and within the world of sport. In the early part of the 21st century, sport gambling behaviors on college campuses came under scrutiny. The NCAA now has gambling programs designed to educate student athletes on the dangers and illegality of sports gambling, but prevailing concerns regarding sport-related gambling are still evident. The purpose of this research was to identify the differences in gambling behaviors of student athletes and non-athletes in an urban university setting. A survey was developed and distributed to a sample of college students and student athletes regarding their gambling-related behaviors. Survey sample consisted of college students present in a priori identified classes on the day of data collection. Data were collected at a public, state university in the high plains region of the US with an urban-serving mission. Contrary to the previous literature, statistical analyses indicate college students engage in more gambling activities as compared to student athletes but there are no significant differences between gambling behaviors and these two groups. Limitations and avenues for future research are discussed.

Keywords:

• Sport(s) gambling
• student athletes
• college students
• betting/wagering

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mark Vermillion

Mark Vermillion is an associate professor in the department of Sport Management at Wichita State University. His research interests include the sociocultural dimensions of sport such as crime, deviance, and delinquency in sport, coaching factors associated with athlete motivation, and factors impacting sport participation. Mark also teaches courses in the sociology, psychology, and ethics of sport, and a course developed for the sociology department regarding sports, deviance, and violence.

Angela Leivian

Angela Leivian is certified in sports counseling and has a background in psychology, sociology, sport management, and social work. She has experience in not only program development in the sport setting, but also with developing, assessing, and evaluating clients with children’s case management services. Her research interests include examining the role sport plays in understanding character development, and how athletic departments facilitate or address student athlete development.