The Gambling Turn: Sports Betting in Professional Sports

The increasing legalization and commercialization of sports betting has profoundly transformed the global sports landscape. In particular, the legalization of sports betting in the United States of America following the 2018 repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) – a federal law enacted in 1992 that effectively prohibited sports betting in most U.S. states, and the regulatory liberalization in Germany through the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag (Interstate Treaty on Gambling), especially the 2021 reform that established a nationwide framework for the licensing and regulation of online sports betting, have reshaped the relationship between sport, media, commerce, and society.

This special issue invites contributions that examin how sports betting has become embedded within contemporary sports cultures, institutions, and economies. We are especially interested in comparative perspectives on the development and legalization of sports betting in the United States of America and Germany, including analyses of how and when legal frameworks changed and the broader consequences of these developments.

We welcome interdisciplinary contributions from sociology, media studies, economics, law, history, political science, cultural studies, sport management, public health, and related fields. 

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Legalization processes and regulatory developments in the United States and Germany
• Historical trajectories of sports betting and gambling policy
• The transformation of sports through betting markets
• Technical aspects of digitization and mediatization relevant to sports betting
• Changes implemented within sports to accommodate betting enterprises
• Sponsorships, partnerships, and commercialization
• Audience and clientele demographics (age, gender, race, and/or socioeconomic status)
• Gambling addiction, debt, bankruptcy, and other social consequences
• Ethical questions surrounding sports integrity and match-fixing
• Differences between sports and game formats in relation to betting cultures
• Media representation and normalization of sports betting
• The role of mobile technologies, apps, and live betting
• Fan engagement and changing spectator practices

Submissions may be theoretical, empirical, methodological, or comparative in nature.

All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit full manuscripts according to the journal’s style guidelines: https://budrich-journals.de/index.php/fug/einreichungen

Further information regarding formatting and submission procedures will be provided upon expression of interest.

We look forward to receiving your contributions and to fostering an interdisciplinary discussion on one of the most significant transformations in contemporary sports culture.

Papers may be submitted in English or German!

Contact

Brian O'Hara, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Metropolitan State University of Denver
bohara2(at)msudenver.edu 
Prof. Dr. Jochem Kotthaus
University of Applied Sciences and Arts Dortmund
jochem.kotthaus(at)fh-dortmund.de

Call for Papers (PDF)