YouGov: Singapore, China, and Spain Oppose Online Gambling Legalization

A new study conducted by YouGov, a data firm, has shown a prevalent opposition to online gambling in Singapore. Nearly six in ten Singaporean adults oppose the idea of the legalization of internet gambling, whether it concerns sports betting or online casinos “Global Gambling 2022: The consumer view in the gambling debate” found.

New Study Probes Global Consumer Support for Online Gambling

The study did compare moods in Singapore against those in other countries, as the survey was more comprehensive and surveyed other countries around the world and people’s attitudes towards the legalization of online gambling. In Singapore, the anti-gambling sentiment regarding online activities was stronger and above the average of 46%.

Some countries that expressed greater opposition to online gambling legalization included India and Spain with 57% each. Surprisingly, China saw 56% of its residents oppose online gambling, even though the country exerts much tougher control on gambling in the country and does not allow anything but the national lottery to take place at home.

The 43-page study itself was very comprehensive, surveying 18 international markets and looking into particular and often sensitive topics in the gambling industry. The countries that actually seemed the most open toward online gambling legalization included Poland with 32% opposition, the United States with 33% opposition, and France with 34%.

However, many respondents in the survey agreed that there was too much advertising and sponsorship in sports betting. 72% of Australians believed that there was too much betting advertisement going on in sports, followed by the United Kingdom where 71% of respondents believed that the same applied to their country.

Spain, Sweden, and Denmark nationals were also very much opposed to sports betting advertising in the sense they believed there was too much of it with the people’s level of agreement to this statement in each country sitting at 71%, 69%, and 64% respectively.

In the Online Gambling Industry, We Do Not Trust

The strong opposition against gambling was accompanied by distrust in the industry, with few consumers and respondents agreeing with the statement that online gambling companies care about their customers’ well-being. Indian consumers agreed with the statement in 38% of the cases, but only 24% of Mexican respondents – the second largest number in the survey – responded in the affirmative.

In Denmark, the percentage was only 9% and in Singapore, 10%. German consumers believed that companies are out to do well by their customers in only 9% of the cases, and in the United Kingdom, this percentage was only 1% for “strongly agree” and 6% for “tend to agree.”