Sports Betting, Horse Racing and Nanobiosensors – An Ethical Evaluation.

Horse racing has begun to enter an economic decline in many countries, notably represented by a decline in revenues in betting volumes. A number of reasons may be attributed to this: the success of other sports; new online betting practices; and concerns over animal welfare. In response to this, horse racing institutions have begun to modify its practices, employing technologies such as GPS sensors and Wi-Fi active racetracks, with the aim of engaging a new generation of spectators, including betting spectators, to the sport. We consider a new biotechnological potential for the sport to develop through the use of nano/biosensors in horse racing. The biological data collected by these sensors in real time could be used to offer a number of potential benefits to the sport, such as new forms of bets, support for animal welfare and increased levels of immersive spectator experience. Despite these potential benefits, the use of nano/biosensors can also expose the sport to a number of disbenefits such as increased opportunities for corruption, technological determinism, and issues concerning unethical use of the data collected. We present a critical ethical evaluation of this potential development and argue that stakeholder consensus is required before the technology is implemented, and that an appropriate regulatory framework is established to support its (potential) implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]