The pandemic lockdown reduced betting options, but over half of bettors were already gambling online
A new report from Roy Morgan shows half of all adult Australians gambled in some form in an average three-month period over the year to March 2020. Betting — on horse races, trotting, greyhound races and sports — was the third most popular form of gambling, behind buying scratch or lottery tickets and playing poker machines. However of the three, betting has by far the most online participants.
The newly released Roy Morgan Gambling Report found that more than 9.9 million people (50% of the adult population) gambled in a typical three-month period. For the vast majority, this consisted of buying scratch or lottery tickets, but the money spent this way was a fraction of the money spent on poker machines by a far smaller group.
In all, 8.4 million (42.6% of all adults) bought scratch or lottery tickets, spending $2.5 billion annually. Fewer than a third as many people played poker machines (2.4 million or 11.9%), but they spent more than three times the amount ($8.7 billion annually). Betting was the third most popular form of gambling, with 2.1 million participants (10.4%) in an average three months, and an annual spend of $4.2 billion.
The percentage of people betting has trended downward over the past 15 years but rose slightly in the past two years, driven by sports betting. While lockdowns in all states saw the closure of betting venues, more than half of bettors were already placing bets online. Of those who placed a bet, 54.1% did so in a TAB outlet, while 55.2% did so online (some did both). In contrast, just 0.9% of poker machine players and 24% of scratch and lottery ticket purchasers did so online. The pandemic also brought a halt to live sport, however betting websites have been heavily promoting ‘novelty bets’ along with a grab-bag of international sports in an effort to generate business.
Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, says:
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
