Betting promotions can lead players to increase their gambling expenditure by as much as 11% according to a recent study in Ireland.
The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland conducted research focusing on men under 40 to find out how bettors react to offers like casino sign up bonuses and money-back promotions.
It was carried out in the weeks prior to the Euro 2024 football tournament, where participants were asked which offers they were most likely to select in real-world scenarios.
Overall, the study concluded that players were considerably more likely to spend more when a promotion was on the table. Participants spent around 11% more when handed an offer or bonus than bets without.
Players More Likely To Place ‘Bad Bets’ With Promotions Attached
A damning conclusion of the survey revealed a worrying trend that players often made bad betting decisions when promotions were involved with sports betting apps.
The data showed that 27.2% of participants opted for ‘bad bets’ – defined as a wage where odds were worse than other bets – when they included a free bet, compared to just 7.9% who chose bad bets without any bonuses.
Players spent on average four times more when it was partnered with an offer. It was a similar story for money-back offers as 19% opted to dig into the promotion and 4.9% brushed it aside.
Those surveyed spent an average of just over €2 on bad bets linked to free bets, compared to an average of less than €1.50 for money-back offers. Evidently, the attraction of free bets encourages bettors to take risks they wouldn’t even consider otherwise.
Bonuses & Free Bet Offers Likely To Cause More Problem Gambling
“Our findings add to growing evidence that inducements lead more people to gamble and gamblers to spend more, increasing financial losses for consumers and raising profits for operators,” the study reported.
“We also find that inducements disproportionately affect those with evidence of problem gambling.”
Researchers urged Ireland online sports betting websites and apps to consider adding more restrictions to inducements in gambling.
They used Spain as an example, whose gambling ad restrictions led to a 55% decrease in new accounts being opened since its introduction in 2022.
The 2020 Royal Decree in Spain banned sign-up bonuses and capped offers to existing customers at €100.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
