Following the FBI’s arrest of NBA player Terry Rozier and NBA coach Chauncey Phillips for alleged involvement in a match-rigging scheme, the UK-based research agency YouGov conducted a survey.
The survey asked several questions, the main one being: “How frequently do Americans believe that Professional athletes perform differently for sports bettors to profit?”
Out of the 19,000 participants, 65% were found convinced that athletes play in a way that benefits bettors.
Other questions were also present in the survey, such as the people’s opinion on the legality of sports betting.
A graph made by using the data collected shows that the largest percentile of people, at 32% sometimes think that athletes change their playstyle to suit certain betting outcomes, followed closely by 29% of people who simply shared they weren’t sure.
Only 6% of respondents said that professional athletes would never try to influence the outcome of games to secure a betting payout. 28% of the people surveyed have made bets on sports before.
Differing Opinions
In the data provided by the survey, it is clear that there exists a gap in the way most people and those who bet on sports actively perceive the questions of survey.
It was discovered that almost 30% of those who had taken the survey had bet on sports events before.
The data shows that sports bettors are more likely to believe that athletes “sometimes” deliberately perform differently.
And again, data indicate they are more likely to believe that athletes “often” play differently.
The survey also demonstrates that at least four-fifths of the sports bettors who participated in the survey had shown a lack of trust in the athletes.
Another difference in the opinion of US citizens and bettors was found when asked for their thoughts regarding the impact caused by the legalization of sports betting.
Less than 10% percent of non-bettors believe this to be a positive, while with sports bettors that amount rises to 24%.
Opinions on Sportsbooks
Another question of the survey asks whether people would be “PROUD” or “EMBARRASSED TO WORK” for any of the top 10 Sportsbooks.
Only a single sportsbook scored higher than last year’s YouGov survey: Betway had its reputation increase by a whole 0.1% since last year.
Two had their reputation dip by 3.1%: FanDuel and DraftKings.
It was discovered that since last year, the aforementioned sportsbooks had lost an average of 1.1 percentage points.
Many answered this question with еmbarrassed rather than pride.