Tag Archives: Social responsibility

ATG chief slams bonuses as “embarrassing”

ATG chief slams bonuses as “embarrassing”

Hasse Lord Skarplöth, CEO of Swedish state-affiliated horse racing operator ATG, has said that bonuses are “embarrassing” and “drive gambling addiction” in a blistering critique of the common industry practice.

Bonuses are the practice of offering free or extra bets to consumers in order to attract or retain players to their platforms; with the method sometimes coming under criticism as an inducement that helps contribute to negative social responsibility outcomes.

Sweden has a stringent bonus regime, only allowing operators to offer one bonus per player at sign-up, worth no more than SEK100. This has been criticised by the Swedish Moderate Party – which have called for the rules to be reformed:

Hasse Lord Skarplöth

“This would make it easier for gaming companies to retain customers in the licensed market and have long-term relationships with the players, both of which increase consumer protection,” said the party.

Much of the industry has also opposed the bonus ban. However, as ..

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Dutch minister defends sponsorship transition timeline

Dutch minister defends sponsorship transition timeline

Dutch minister for legal protection, Franc Weerwind, has defended the timeline of the country’s sponsorship ban, amid further questioning on the subject from MPs.

In July, the Dutch government announced a number of measures to curb gambling advertising, following severe pressure from MPs. Many forms of ads will be banned from the start of next year, while gambling sponsorships in football will be banned from 2025.

When asked about the upcoming sponsorship ban, Weerwind said that the two-year adjustment period set out for the ban is a “reasonable” length of time.

“That is why a period of two years has been provided for the entry into force of a ban on sports sponsorship,” he said.

“In view of the serious importance of addiction prevention and the special importance of sport, I consider this a short, but reasonable period of time.”

He was questioned in parliament last week (23 September) by Mirjam Bikker, a member of political party ChristenUnie.

The questions mostly dealt with foo..

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English football must distance itself from the Pogos

English football must distance itself from the Pogos

iGB op-ed: Zak Thomas-Akoo argues that in the wake of criminal scandals regarding offshore operators based in the Philippines, the continued association by English football clubs with the sector could be a ticking time-bomb for scandal.

Most fans of Premier League clubs probably couldn’t tell you much about the Pogo sector, but it has become deeply embedded in top-flight English football.

A Philippines Offshore Gambling Operation, or Pogo, is a Philippines-based gambling site that broadcasts games of chance to other jurisdictions – usually elsewhere in Asia. Almost by definition, this comes without approval by local authorities in the operator’s target markets. While China has been the highest-profile target, a number of Pogos also specialise in the Korean or Vietnamese markets.

The sector is also widely believed to be infiltrated by criminal organisations and has been linked to crimes such as human trafficking, slavery and prostitution, with the situation getting so bad that a sena..

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FanDuel expands responsible gambling efforts

FanDuel expands responsible gambling efforts

Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel Group has announced a series of new responsible gambling initiatives to coincide with the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Responsible Gaming Education Month.

The group hosted its first, business-wide “Play Well Day” where workers were invited to an employee-only event, promoting the role of staff in creating a culture that embraces safer play.

During the Play Well Day, FanDuel announced the appointment of professional boxer, mixed martial artist and wrestler Amanda Serrano as a responsible gaming ambassador.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

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Danske Spil GGR remains steady as slots growth offsets betting decline

Danske Spil GGR remains steady as slots growth offsets betting decline

Danske Spil, the Danish National Lottery, reported that gross gambling revenue (GGR) has largely remained steady year-on-year as positive and negative trends intersect.

The lottery received DKK2.35bn (£271m/$317m/€316m) total GGR in the first six months of 2022, which results in an after-tax revenue of DKK796m.

This result is largely similar to the total which the lottery achieved in the first half of 2021; with the lottery receiving DKK11m less in GGR in that period. However, after-tax revenue slightly fell by DKK4m.

The small increase in GGR can be explained by the increased popularity of lower-revenue-per-unit games such as lottery draws in tandem with a small decline in sports betting and casino. The decline in sports betting revenue can be attributed, in part, to the 2021 UEFA European Championship football tournament which was delayed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the games beginning 11 June that year. The fact that 2022’s Fifa World Cup has been delayed until the..

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FDJ’s ParionsSport launches anti-cyberbullying campaign

FDJ’s ParionsSport launches anti-cyberbullying campaign

ParionsSport, the sports betting division of Française des Jeux (FDJ), has launched an anti-cyberbullying campaign to raise money for online harassment helpline 3018.

The campaign, titled #SmashTheHaters, intends to support the French Tennis Federation’s (FFT) fight against cyberbullying suffered by tennis players.

As part of the campaign, ParionsSport released a video on their Twitter account to raise awareness of online harassment in tennis.

The operator said that for one week, they will donate five euros for each retweet to 3018, a free and anonymous service for victims of digital harassment.

The service was launched in February this year and is made up of a team of psychologists, digital experts and legal professionals.

Earlier this month, FDJ signed a sports content deal with Sportradar. FDJ also launched a safer gambling campaign in April of this year.

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NatCen study claims 10% of online accounts responsible for 79% of GGY

NatCen study claims 10% of online accounts responsible for 79% of GGY

A new study conducted by NatCen for GambleAware claims that 79.0% of online operator revenue comes from the highest-staking 10% of accounts, with online slots showing a particularly concentrated spending pattern.

The study used records from seven online operators, which each provided data about 20,000 accounts active between July 2019 and June 2019. These seven operators together made up more than 85% of the UK betting market, though only 37.5% of the gaming market.

It then weighted the data from these accounts to be representative of the overall online gambling market.

For each customer, NatCen had access to betting data showing the exact date, time and stake of all bets placed by each customer, while for gaming, data was split into 15-minute windows.

For both online betting and gaming, the research found that revenue at these operators was highly concentrated among a relatively small share of accounts.

Overall, it found that the 10% of gamblers with the largest stakes – all stak..

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Regulator calls on Norsk Tipping to launch betting loss limits

Regulator calls on Norsk Tipping to launch betting loss limits

Norwegian regulator Lotteri-og Stiftelsestilsynet has called on monopoly operator Norsk Tipping to reduce the availability and number of casino games on its site, and for the introduction of loss limits for sports betting.

In the regulator’s 2021 annual report, it found that both customer and turnover numbers reached a record high for Norsk Tipping, one of the country’s two monopolies alongside racing operator Norsk Rikstoto.

“There may be several reasons for the growth,” the regulator said. “One of the reasons may be that people through the corona pandemic have had more free time due to restrictions in leisure activities.”

This came despite the operator reducing its monthly loss limit for “high-risk” games from NOK10,000 (£869/€1,037/$1,117) to NOK7,500 in December 2020, before cutting it further, to NOK5,000, in September 2021.

While it noted that this represents a success for channelisation, the regulator added that it had asked the operator to strengthen its player protection ..

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Nairobi bill would only permit betting in five-star hotels

Nairobi bill would only permit betting in five-star hotels

The Nairobi County Assembly has approved at first reading a bill that would only allow gambling operators to be located five-star hotels, and would only allow them to operate between the hours of 8pm and 6am.

The Nairobi City County Betting, Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Bill, 2021 would amend the country’s Gaming Act, which only became law last year.

The bill was approved at its second reading last week, bringing it one step closer to becoming law.

It would add new provisions to the country’s gaming laws, including only allowing betting, lotteries and gaming facilities to be “domiciled in a five-star hotel”, as rated by Kenya’s Tourism Regulatory Authority.

In addition, licenced premises would only be allowed to operate between the hours of 8pm and 6am.

Meanwhile, gambling advertisements may not be broadcast during the watershed period, which occurs from 10pm to 5am. Physical advertisements such as billboards would be banned entirely.

The law would also require all operators ..

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Flutter aims to use its scale to overcome short-term challenges

Flutter aims to use its scale to overcome short-term challenges

Online gaming behemoth Flutter remains confident that its unmatched scale will help it make long-term decisions in the UK, US and mainland Europe, as chief executive Peter Jackson and chief financial officer Jonathan Hill revealed on the operator's 2021 earnings call.

The operator revealed in its 2021 results that it struggled in some of its international markets, where Pokerstars leads its offering. In Germany, terms of the country’s Fourth State Treaty on Gambling allowed online casino nationwide for the first time but with strict conditions and high taxes, while in the Netherlands, operators that did not receive a licence were required to block all Dutch customers. Last year, the business agreed to acquire Tombola, which does hold a Dutch licence.

While these struggles impacted business in 2021, Hill said that the scale of the Flutter business meant that it could afford to work in difficult conditions.

“One of the benefits of having a portfolio is, just because international..

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