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Money for nothing and kicks for free? – Aspects of the long-term relationship between sport and gambling in Britain

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Published/Copyright: December 2, 2023
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Summary

The intention here is to trace the development of the sport-gambling nexus in Britain from the early-nineteenth to the late-twentieth century. An overview of this kind facilitates an understanding of a relationship that has often been characterized as symbiotic. Over the long run, as Britain has transitioned from a pre-industrial to an industrial and then to a post-industrial society, the relationship between sport and gambling has remained intact. In particular, it survived a long period between the mid-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries when the ideological hegemony of amateurism in British sport predisposed governing bodies to view gambling with suspicion and even, at times, hostility. The article draws extensively on recent published research into the history of sport in Britain and outlines key developments in the relationship between particular sports and gambling, notably cricket, football, horseracing, greyhound racing and pedestrianism. Recent changes related to the advent of online gambling are identified and briefly discussed, with particular reference to cricket.

Zusammenfassung

In diesem Beitrag wird die Verbindung zwischen Sport und Glücksspiel in Großbritannien in ihrer Entwicklung vom frühen 19. bis zum späten 20. Jahrhundert nachgezeichnet. Ein solcher Überblick dient dem Verständnis einer Wechselbeziehung, die oft als symbiotisch bezeichnet wurde. Während sich Großbritannien von einer vorindustriellen zu einer industriellen und dann zu einer postindustriellen Gesellschaft transformierte, blieb die Beziehung zwischen Sport und Wetten bzw. Glücksspiel intakt. Sie hat auch die lange Periode zwischen der Mitte des 19. und der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts überdauert, als die Sportverbände Glücksspielen aufgrund der ideologischen Hegemonie des Amateurgedankens mit Misstrauen, zeitweise sogar Feindseligkeit begegneten. Der Artikel stützt sich weitgehend auf neuere Forschungen zur Geschichte des Sports in Großbritannien und skizziert die wichtigsten Entwicklungen im Verhältnis von Sport und Glücksspiel am Beispiel ausgewählter Sportdisziplinen, vor allem von Cricket, Fußball, Pferderennen, Windhundrennen und Geher-Wettbewerben über lange Strecken (pedestrianism). Auch die Veränderungen der jüngeren Zeit im Zusammenhang mit dem Aufkommen von Online-Sportwetten werden erläutert und kurz erörtert, wobei ein besonderer Schwerpunkt auf Cricket gelegt wird.

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Published Online: 2023-12-02
Published in Print: 2023-12-15

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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