Pepper Partners explored what drives young Australians to place bets and compared two audiences: those who bet on racing, including horse and greyhound racing, and those who bet on sports such as football, Australian rules football, rugby, cricket, basketball, and tennis. This distinction reflects the specifics of the local betting culture, where racing has historically existed as a separate category from other sports.
Methodology
🔵 The study surveyed 188 people aged 18−30, 84.6% of whom were men
🔵 Participants were asked what motivated them to bet: earning money, improving their mood, social interaction, or relieving stress
🔵 Researchers also recorded how often they placed bets and how much they spent
Who Bets on Racing
🔴 These players want to win, earn money, apply their ability to analyse races, and they also recognise the cultural significance of racing itself
🔴 Money and stress are not just reasons to place a bet — they are also factors that keep players engaged. The stronger the financial motivation and the more often betting becomes a way to escape anxiety, the more frequently a person returns
🔴 For this audience, betting functions as a tool to earn money or relieve tension rather than simply as entertainment
Who Bets on Sports
🔵 These players bet for social interaction, the emotional excitement of the game, and their personal interest in the match
🔵 The desire to enjoy betting is around three times stronger than among racing bettors
🔵 However, this motivation is only weakly connected to whether the player will return to bet again. Players enjoy the experience, but enjoyment alone does not necessarily make them more engaged
What This Means for the Product: Racing
🔴 Give players analytical tools, including statistics on previous races involving the horse and jockey, probability calculators, and the ability to review the accuracy of their predictions
🔴 Monitor situations where a player bets late at night or suddenly changes their strategy after losses
🔴 In such cases, automatically introduce betting limits or temporarily disable push notifications. This behaviour may indicate that betting is becoming a way to cope with stress rather than simply a way to earn money
What This Means for the Product: Sports
🔵 Make the product more social by adding live match chats, the ability to share bets with others, and prediction tournaments
🔵 Focus retention on experiences rather than money through free broadcasts, merchandise, match tickets, and free bets
🔵 Help players maintain the sense of excitement and enjoyment associated with watching sports instead of focusing only on encouraging new deposits
Conclusion
Racing and sports create two different betting engagement scenarios, depending on the role each sport plays in the culture and how fans perceive it. The more accurately a product reflects this difference, the greater the likelihood of long-term player retention.
🔵 The study surveyed 188 people aged 18−30, 84.6% of whom were men
🔵 Participants were asked what motivated them to bet: earning money, improving their mood, social interaction, or relieving stress
🔵 Researchers also recorded how often they placed bets and how much they spent
Who Bets on Racing
🔴 These players want to win, earn money, apply their ability to analyse races, and they also recognise the cultural significance of racing itself
🔴 Money and stress are not just reasons to place a bet — they are also factors that keep players engaged. The stronger the financial motivation and the more often betting becomes a way to escape anxiety, the more frequently a person returns
🔴 For this audience, betting functions as a tool to earn money or relieve tension rather than simply as entertainment
Who Bets on Sports
🔵 These players bet for social interaction, the emotional excitement of the game, and their personal interest in the match
🔵 The desire to enjoy betting is around three times stronger than among racing bettors
🔵 However, this motivation is only weakly connected to whether the player will return to bet again. Players enjoy the experience, but enjoyment alone does not necessarily make them more engaged
What This Means for the Product: Racing
🔴 Give players analytical tools, including statistics on previous races involving the horse and jockey, probability calculators, and the ability to review the accuracy of their predictions
🔴 Monitor situations where a player bets late at night or suddenly changes their strategy after losses
🔴 In such cases, automatically introduce betting limits or temporarily disable push notifications. This behaviour may indicate that betting is becoming a way to cope with stress rather than simply a way to earn money
What This Means for the Product: Sports
🔵 Make the product more social by adding live match chats, the ability to share bets with others, and prediction tournaments
🔵 Focus retention on experiences rather than money through free broadcasts, merchandise, match tickets, and free bets
🔵 Help players maintain the sense of excitement and enjoyment associated with watching sports instead of focusing only on encouraging new deposits
Conclusion
Racing and sports create two different betting engagement scenarios, depending on the role each sport plays in the culture and how fans perceive it. The more accurately a product reflects this difference, the greater the likelihood of long-term player retention.