The betting and playing world has grown at a fast tempo over the previous few years, with know-how making it simpler than ever to entry sports activities and on line casino operations on-line.
Whereas the business is gaining main traction, some research recommend that males usually tend to be recognized as downside gamblers than ladies. There seems to be some disparity, with experiences suggesting it might be resulting from plenty of elements, together with psychological and societal norms.
The most recent at Younger Males Analysis Initiative: @YalePolling 's personal @milansingh03 on the stark gender divide between younger males and younger ladies on playing. Younger males gamble extra (and thus, lose more cash) however are additionally extra against playing rules.https://t.co/5RmQIf5d1d
— JR (@johnlray) December 1, 2025
We’re taking a look at whether or not the betting world skews male, if there’s nonetheless a gender hole, and whether or not these statistics are beginning to change.
Is there a gender hole within the betting world?
There’s a public notion that playing is basically male-dominated, however the precise statistics go in opposition to societal opinions in some areas.
In England, a well being survey discovered that males (57%) had been extra probably than ladies (51%) to have participated in a playing exercise within the final 12 months, however the margins aren’t substantial.
Ladies face distinctive challenges with playing, together with greater dangers of experiencing gambling-related harms.
Hear as #BiancaColclough, an professional by expertise, shares her story.
There’s help and therapy for everybody. We can assist. pic.twitter.com/hcWSrHFCKn
— GambleAware (@gambleawaregb) September 4, 2024
There’s a query, nonetheless, as as to if playing operators focus extra on males in advertising than on ladies, which might lean into the social notion that males usually tend to have an interest within the sector. A research by the College of Bristol discovered that an enormous 98% of all individuals featured in social media-based playing adverts had been males, with 79% being aged 18-34.
Operators have lengthy centered their advertising on younger males as a result of they are typically essentially the most energetic sports activities bettors, which creates a type of loop the place advertisements function males and the viewers finally ends up being largely males too.
However regulators are paying nearer consideration to how playing is promoted, particularly when advertisements may enchantment to weak teams, so firms are beginning to rethink their method.
On the similar time, there’s a gradual transfer towards extra gender-neutral and women-focused campaigns because the business realises there’s an viewers it has largely ignored, though these sorts of advertisements are nonetheless far much less widespread than the standard male-centric ones. Whereas each firm can be completely different, this vital statistic may doubtlessly trace on the business’s audience.
A group of girls gamblers is effervescent
Whereas it has typically been declared as a person’s world, ladies have gotten extra outstanding inside the business. We spoke with Val C. Martinez, founding father of Betting Girls, who defined how there wasn’t something for girls in betting when she first launched her community-like website: “However slowly and absolutely, we began to see firms like FanDuel and others speaking about how one can greatest join with a feminine viewers.
“Ladies like to attach with different ladies who guess, and proper now we’re one of many only a few locations on-line the place this could occur.” – Val C. Martinez, Betting Girls founder
“Since then, there’s been elevated concentrate on increasing into ladies’s sports activities, which has attracted extra ladies to betting.”
She described how there was the ‘Taylor Swift second‘ which “helped enhance consciousness across the feminine demographic, and immediately it was apparent there was a solution to converse to ladies about sports activities that might unlock a beforehand untapped market.”
Whereas she says the hole remains to be there, Val shares why persons are becoming a member of her women-based model – “…we’re filling that void. Ladies like to attach with different ladies who guess, and proper now we’re one of many only a few locations on-line the place this could occur.”
Do women and men guess in a different way?
Drawback playing has now change into a outstanding matter inside the media, with tales of males struggling being extra commonplace. Matt Bresler, CEO and cofounder of Odditt, suggests there are some variations in the best way women and men gamble: “Ladies are positively extra risk-averse than males, and are typically much less emotional than males on the subject of sports activities betting…”
The CEO continued to develop on the doable affect of the variations: “This implies much less chasing of losses, and extra managed sports activities betting habits general, because the charges of downside playing amongst women and men clearly present.” Though he highlighted how older feminine gamblers take part in social types of playing comparable to bingo at greater charges than their male counterparts, he shared how the “social and longstanding custom of taking part in bingo within the US” has “a lot much less of an related taboo than with the a lot newer sports activities betting.”
Various kinds of playing additionally entice completely different demographics, which provides nuance to the gender hole. Sports activities betting stays essentially the most male-dominated area, fueled by sports activities tradition and advertising that traditionally targets younger males. On line casino desk video games and on-line slots have a tendency to attract a extra blended viewers, whereas each on-line and in conventional bingo continues to skew feminine resulting from its social, community-based nature.
In the meantime, fantasy sports activities and day by day fantasy leagues sit nearer to sports activities betting of their gender profile, with participation dominated by youthful males. It’s additionally vital to notice that age, revenue, and ethnicity can form playing conduct and danger simply as strongly as gender, which suggests any dialogue of a “gender hole” solely captures a part of a extra complicated image.
These product-specific variations matter, as every carries its personal tempo, danger stage, and potential for hurt, shaping how women and men expertise playing general.
Why younger males have gotten essentially the most at-risk group
The the explanation why males are falling sufferer to the perils of playing might be due to some elements, with Dr Robert Lefever telling the BBC that males’s character traits make them more likely to change into downside gamblers.
When describing why he believes this to be the case, he argued that males are typically extra hedonistic than ladies. “Males are typically higher danger takers than ladies, they are typically quite pleased with it,” he instructed the broadcaster.
One other professional, Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, instructed the writer that there’s analysis that implies that extra impulsive individuals have additionally confirmed to be males. Whereas some specialists attribute these patterns to inherent character variations, researchers warning that such traits are troublesome to isolate, and the noticed gender hole is probably going formed simply as a lot by cultural norms, atmosphere, and focused advertising as by any underlying psychology.
The enchantment of playing seems to be attracting younger males, too, with the Nationwide Council on Drawback Playing having said in 2023 that someplace between 60 and 80% of highschool college students reported having gambled within the final yr. It’s thought that the accessibility of playing, with it now being viewable in just some clicks on a smartphone, may have induced the business to swell. Beforehand, individuals must enter a on line casino or sports activities guide to guess.
Are extra ladies turning into liable to playing habit?
In 2022, the GambleAware charity stated that as much as a million ladies in Nice Britain might be in danger from playing harms, with two in 5 (39%) doubtlessly refraining from searching for assist or therapy resulting from perceived stigma.
Whereas analysis has beforehand pointed to extra downside gamblers in males, may this alteration because the business continues to develop and entice audiences?
As operators rethink who they converse to and the way they promote their merchandise, the problem forward is guaranteeing that this progress is matched by accountable practices that shield all gamers, no matter who they’re.
Featured Picture: AI-generated by way of Ideogram
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