UP230 A Gambling Addict's View of the Sports Business

Former professional cricketer Patrick Foster has written a searingly honest memoir about how he became addicted to gambling while at university, developing a habit that cost him £4million and ruined his relationships and career.So this is an opportunity to discuss sport’s commercial relationship with the betting industry, something that’s often couched in abstract terms, of new deals being struck by rights holder, team shirt sponsorship and Ray Winstone at half time.We don’t tend to hear from the people who are being targeted by all that marketing activity and how the sports business looks from the perspective of a gambling addict.Patrick Foster was a professional cricketer, who became a city trader.We talk about what it feels like to lose everything to addiction, and how he views the marketing strategies of the betting industry, its use of sport as a sponsorship and advertising medium, the psychological triggers within brand communications and the gateway drugs of gamification, fantasy football, the addictive nature of crypto currency trading and football’s embrace of fan engagement tokens.Patrick’s last bet was on King Crimson in the 2.10 at Wolverhampton on Thursday, March 22nd 2018.  Following rehab, he has a new career - educating young people about the perils of gambling. He can be contacted at Epic Risk Mangagement.Might Bite: The Secret Life of a Gambling Addict by Patrick Foster is published by Bloomsbury Sport.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.