Overcoming a Bad Beat: An Examination of Sport Gambling Consumer Motives, Dehumanization, and Athlete Blame

The integration of gambling into the sports industry presents both opportunities and challenges that warrant careful examination. Guided by frustration–aggression, self-determination, and dehumanization theories, this study investigates how distinct gambling motivations (excitement, escape, and money) are combined to shape sports gamblers’ negative attitudes and behaviors toward athletes following a gambling loss. Structural equation modeling results confirmed the mediating role of dehumanization in the relationship between both excitement and athlete blame, as well as escape and athlete blame. Specifically, excitement followed an indirect-only mediation pattern. Additional exploratory analysis revealed that escape demonstrated a complementary mediation pattern, with both direct and indirect effects on blame, while money exhibited a direct-only effect on blame. These findings underscore the potential adverse impacts of sports gambling on athletes, an area that has received limited attention. This study also offers practical implications for sports professionals to develop tailored marketing strategies while creating policies to protect athletes.