Write 6 pages with APA style on Betting Exchanges Impact Upon Consumer Welfare. The issue of increased consumer welfare within the sports betting industry due to betting exchanges has been examined by the social scientists and empirical researchers from varied perspectives (e.g. Bird and McCrae, 1987, p1552. Tuckwell, 1983, p106. Bolton and Chapman, 1986, p1040. Hurley and McDonough, 1995, p949. Sung et al, 2005, p75). It is revealed that the betting exchanges offer a wide array of benefits to the consumers however, at the same time, there are some disparaging issues that lower down the credibility of the betting exchanges (Michael, 2009, p2). The dominating school of thought argues that the betting exchanges work significantly to increase the welfare of the consumers of the sports betting industry because these exchanges offer certain unique opportunities and options that were not available to the consumers through traditional bookmakers (Hurley and McDonough, 1995, p949). This impression is supported by a growing body of evidence that substantiate the significance of betting exchanges for the sports betting industry.

The following essay aims to examine the extend up to which the betting exchanges have contributed towards the enhancement of consumer welfare in the sports betting industry. The essay discusses the issue in references to different research works and empirical studies conducted around the topic. It is revealed that the betting exchanges have radically added to the welfare of the sports betting industry consumers as they allow them to avail of different unique and superior options for betting upon forthcoming results of sports events.

Gambling is not a new phenomenon for the sports industry because it is supposed to be as old as society. There used to be thousands of betting shops in different areas of the UK owned by independent bookmakers. Soon, these shops were merged to form the bookmaker chain that acquired strong power&nbsp.and influence in the market.&nbsp.