Austria’s Anton Proksch Institute has revealed that around 300,000 of the adult gambling population is suffering from problem gambling behaviour, with global sporting events like the World Cup posing a higher risk to exacerbate the issue.

The news was presented by Oliver Scheibenbogen, Head of Academy, Research and Digitalisation at the Institute – one of Europe’s biggest addiction support centres – who confirmed that there’s been “a massive increase” in problem gambling inquiries relating to sports betting over the run of the World Cup.

He said: “During major events such as the World Cup, betting is omnipresent. Those people who are already betting would do it even more intensively. In some cases, people who were already abstinent would also have relapses due to such events.”

Scheibenbogen further highlighted that the issue becomes greater when factoring in that players are increasingly adopting the belief that sports betting is not gambling, but instead is a skills-based endeavour. And while to some extent this is true, wagering on sports is still placing money on a scenario in which the outcome is not guaranteed.

Not realising this greatly lowers the player’s inhibition of catching themselves experiencing problem gambling behaviour.

“A particularly great danger comes from combination bets: not only the outcome of one game is bet on, but of several,” Scheibenbogen said. “Of course, this has a charm. But it is very unlikely to win. And it’s completely irrelevant whether you know your way around football or not.”

The majority of problem gamblers that reach out to the Institute are men, with the male demographic eclipsing the female one by between four to five times, Scheibenbogen noted, and a big chunk of that are men aged between 25-28.

Pathological gamblers that are admitted for treatment in the Wien-based clinic are indebted with between €35,000-€50,000 (£29,700-£42,420) on average, with the most severe cases of debt being up to €300k.

“Many have ruined their existence so much that they have suicidal thoughts or actually commit suicide because of the massive debt.”

Problem gambling and player protection legislation is central to any long-term sustainable gambling market. 

As it is, Austria currently has a state monopoly regime in place with Casinos Austria. However, the market is heading towards liberalisation in October 2027 at the latest. 

Perhaps welcoming new international companies with decades of built-in know-how around safer gambling will help Austria bring that 300,000 figure to a lower figure over the next few years.