Documentation
Films, investigations and journalism about the industry.
Part of Gambling
28 moments in this segment.
- - BBC News: Betting machines 'heroin of gambling'. News report on fixed odds betting terminals in British bookmakers, built around one woman's account of what the machines cost her. The phrase quoted in the piece, calling them the heroin of gambling, comes from critics of the terminals rather than from any regulator.
- - Racing's Dirty Secrets starring Brian Wright, Kieren Fallon & Dermot Browne. Investigation into corruption around British horseracing, covering claims of doping horses, arranged losing rides and bookmakers working with those laying bets. The programme sets out allegations against named figures in the sport including Brian Wright, Kieren Fallon and Dermot Browne.
- - Panorama - Greyhounds drugged to rig bets. Undercover reporting that the programme says found greyhounds being given drugs so races could be fixed for betting purposes, with trainer Chris Mosdall filmed selling a dog to the reporter. Broadcast in November 2014, it prompted calls for changes to how the sport is regulated.
- - Inside the brain of a gambling addict - BBC News. A neuroscience experiment filmed for Panorama scans people while they place bets, testing whether the pull of gambling can be traced in brain activity. The report also follows Wendy Bendel, whose partner took his own life after struggling with gambling.
- - Star Wars Battlefront II controversy. Local television news segment covering the dispute over the crate and progression system in a major Star Wars game release, the scale of the online reaction, and the questions parents raised about children spending inside the title.
- - Behind the Big Business of Football Gambling: VICE World of Sports. An examination of how money moves through betting on American football, covering the legal grey zones, the lobbying fights and the arrival of daily fantasy as a parallel market. Contributors set out where the line between wagering and fantasy contests was being drawn.
- - Inside The Gambling Ring of NBA Referee Tim Donaghy. Jimmy Battista, the bookmaker at the centre of the 2007 NBA officiating scandal, gives his account of how referee Tim Donaghy came to bet on games he worked. The film reconstructs the chain of intermediaries between the betting ring and the court.
- - Gamblers Like Me: The Dark Side of Sports Betting - BBC Africa Eye Documentary. Reporters follow a young football fan across Uganda as sports betting spreads through the country, testing whether the odds offered match what operators advertise and who profits from them. The film asks how well punters understand the margins built into the products they buy.
- - MAJOR INVESTIGATION: Star Casino accused of laundering millions | 60 Minutes Australia. Broadcast investigation alleging that Star Casino allowed millions of dollars to be laundered through its operations, following the same programme's earlier reporting on Crown. The claims were made by the programme alongside the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and are presented as allegations rather than as established findings.
- - How mobile games are designed to SCAM you.. An examination of the monetisation patterns common to free-to-play mobile titles, walking through timers, currency layers and randomised purchases, and arguing that the designs work on players psychologically rather than through the games themselves.
- - How the Sports Betting Industry Quietly Consumed America. An explainer tracing how sports wagering went from largely prohibited to a mass-market product across the United States, following the state-by-state legalisation wave and the economics that made operators expand so fast. It sets out how advertising, league partnerships and app design drove the growth.
- - My Gambling Addiction Ruined My Life | Minutes With | @ladbiblestories. Patrick Foster, a former professional cricketer, describes his own gambling, the scale of the bets he placed and the debts that followed, and the effect on his teaching career and his family. The interview covers the point at which he sought help.
- - Tim Donaghy: The ref who bet on NBA games; Legal sports betting hits U.S. | 60 Minutes Full Episodes. Two reports paired together: a 2009 interview with former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who was arrested and prosecuted over betting on games he worked, and a 2019 piece on what the arrival of legal sports betting meant for college sport. The second half examines pressure on athletes once wagering on their games became lawful.
- - Football’s secret gambling deal exposed | Four Corners. An Australian investigation into commercial arrangements between major sporting codes and wagering companies, including agreements under which codes take a share of revenue from bets placed on their own competitions. The programme reports that such deals extend down to lower-level and junior-adjacent fixtures.
- - The Wild Economics of Online Gambling. Business analysis of how online gambling firms actually make money, working through customer acquisition costs, retention, margins by product, and how much of revenue concentrates in a small share of accounts. Presented with charts and operator financial disclosures.
- - The Big Gamble: The world of online sports betting in the US | Fault Lines Documentary. Report on the fastest expansion of legal gambling in United States history, with around thirty states opening online sports betting and billions in revenue flowing to operators. It sets that growth against rising call volumes to helplines and interviews people on both sides of the industry.
- - The trusted inside man who stole millions from his 'brothers' then gambled it all away | 7.30. A Queensland family describe a multi-million dollar fraud committed by a man they trusted, who they say lost the money through sports betting accounts. The report puts their account alongside legislation then before parliament on online gambling harm.
- - I Got Bribed By Casinos, But I Exposed Them Instead. An investigator recounts being offered a paid bounty to target a particular Counter-Strike skin casino, then turning the approach itself into the story. The film traces ownership and promotion arrangements behind the sites involved.
- - Young man's warning after gambling addiction struggle | A Current Affair. A young man named Dylan describes eleven years of gambling he kept hidden, starting as casual bets with friends, and the jobs and friendships he says it cost him. He speaks about the point at which he told people.
- - Inside Russia's creepy sport farms. An investigation into obscure lower-tier clubs in eastern Europe whose fixtures attract heavy betting turnover despite negligible crowds. The reporters examine who owns the clubs and how such matches end up on international betting markets.
- - The 'Sports Betting' Epidemic, Explained. Explainer tracing how the 2006 federal law aimed at gambling businesses and payment processors carved out certain fantasy sports contests, and how that opening was later used by FanDuel, DraftKings and others. It covers the marketing methods and app design the industry now uses to hold attention.
- - How Illegal Sports Betting Actually Works | How Crime Works | Insider. Owen Hanson, a former University of Southern California football player, describes how he built and ran an unlicensed sports betting operation and how it connected to drug trafficking and money laundering. He recounts the mechanics of taking bets, collecting debts and moving cash, drawing on conduct he was prosecuted for.
- - Exposing the Gambling Epidemic. A long-form investigation into the spread of betting through American sport, media and social platforms since legalisation, following the money between operators, leagues and the promoters who steer traffic to them. It documents the experience of customers who lost heavily.
- - Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase & Luis Ortiz allegedly involved in gambling scheme | SportsCenter. Reporters set out the charges of fraud, conspiracy and bribery brought against Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, which allege a scheme to fix the outcome of individual pitches for the benefit of bettors. The allegations were untested at the time of broadcast.
- - Can you lose money to gambling without ever placing a bet? | Four Corners Unpacked. A short explainer on an Australian investigation finding that wagering companies can lawfully retain money that was stolen and then bet, leaving fraud victims without recovery. It sets out the regulatory gap the reporting identifies.
- - How Tim Donaghy Pulled Off the Biggest Betting Scandal in NBA History. Reconstructs the case of former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, the FBI investigation that surfaced it and the wiretaps that connected the scheme to organised crime figures. Works through what Donaghy was betting on across four seasons and the unresolved question of whether his own officiating moved results.
- - The Gamble: The impact of sports betting in North Carolina. Investigative documentary on what followed the launch of mobile sports betting in North Carolina in 2024, by which point residents had wagered more than thirteen billion dollars. It examines the speed of the industry's growth in the state and the concerns raised about its effects.
- - David Pocock highlights ‘bonkers’ situation facing podcasts over gambling ad opt-out. At Senate estimates, officials confirm that live-read sponsorships within podcasts would fall inside proposed restrictions on online gambling advertising. Senator David Pocock questions the practicality of requiring podcasters to produce separate versions of episodes for listeners who opt out.