On November 13, SBC is hosting SBC Digital – Player Protection, a one-day online conference presented in partnership with Vixio Regulatory Intelligence. SBC Digital – Player Protection will help build momentum for Safer Gambling Week in the UK, which takes place the week after the online conference. The agenda includes sessions such as: The esteemed…
International Centre for Responsible Gambling (ICRG) President and Secretary Arthur Paikowsky has told SBC Americas that lawmakers and regulators are making too many “uninformed decisions”. Paikowsky offered his insight on the current state of research and regulation in a conversation with Jessica Welman, Editor of SBC Americas, during an SBC Webinar celebrating 25 years of…
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy has underlined the government’s commitment to ensuring the “players can continue to enjoy gambling as a pastime without the harms”.
Her comments come as trepidation within gambling elevates following proposals by two Labour-backing think tanks pitching the doubling of gambling tax, leading to warnings from the industry and analysts of the detrimental economic consequences.
Addressing Parliament, Nandy urged the house not to believe everything that they read in the papers, emphasising a desire to “strike the right balance” when it comes to regulation.
She added: “We’re aware of the value of this industry and the importance of it, not just to the UK economy, but to the joy that it brings to many, many people, and the employment prospects that it offers to people in every nation and region of the United Kingdom.
“We are also very aware of the problems that can be caused by problem gambling and, as the previous government d..
Canadian Premier League (CPL) soccer teams have undertaken an International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) sports betting integrity program designed to educate players in the league on the intersection of sports and gambling.
Created by the IBIA using its 3Rs training model, the program utilized a combination of dedicated in-person training and online resources. Sessions were delivered by the Professional Footballers’ Association Canada (PFA Canada) through its Protecting the Integrity of the Game workshops.
In total, nearly 200 players have been trained through the IBIA/PFA Canada partnership at all eight CPL teams. The program started in Ontario and finished in Alberta, also covering teams in Nova Scotia, Manitoba and British Colombia.
It concluded the first part of a two-year player education agreement between IBIA and PFA Canada. The program, first announced in May, was the first to be delivered from a $300,000 three-year fund invested by IBIA and its members bet365, Betwa..
SOFTSWISS has launched its social initiative “A Minute Today, a Future Ahead” to raise awareness around breast cancer.
The igaming supplier’s charitable campaign places emphasis on the importance of early detection and efficient prevention, as when an early diagnosis is made the five-year relative survival rate is 99%.
Detection can be supported through monthly breast self-exams and regular clinical breast checks. SOFTSWISS’ campaign will see the supplier offer each of its female employees reimbursements for all ultrasound and mammogram appointments they make across October and November.
Valentina Bagniya, Chief Marketing Officer at SOFTSWISS, commented: “Health is a crucial value beyond everything. Here, at SOFTSWISS, we aim to help and support our employees’ well-being and health every day.
“By promoting the Pink October initiative, we want to stress the importance of well-timed self-care and make this issue visible both within the igaming industry and beyond.”
The igaming so..
Crown Resorts has been fined AUS$2m by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) for over 200 self-exclusion breaches that took place during an eight-month period at its Melbourne location.
In a statement, the VGCCC said that between October 2023 and May 2024, Crown Melbourne allowed 242 people who had self-excluded from gambling to place bets at the casino. These self-exclusion breaches were detected through the commission’s ongoing monitoring of the casino’s operations.
Through its investigations, the VGCCC determined that the breaches were “due to system and control failures rather than deliberate or egregious disregard by Crown of its regulatory obligations”.
Fran Thorn, Chair of the VGCCC, commented: “It is an offence under the Casino Control Act 1991 (Vic) to allow an excluded person, including anyone who has self-excluded, to enter, remain or gamble in the casino. It also contravenes Crown Melbourne’s obligation to protect people at risk of gambling harm.
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The Senate of Brazil has authorised a Commission of Inquiry (CPI) to investigate the financial impacts of the upcoming Bets regime, which will regulate fixed-odds betting and online gambling in the country.
Senator Soraya Thronicke, representing Mato Grosso do Sul, initiated the request for the inquiry and gained the support of 30 senators to launch the “CPI of Bets.”
According to SBCNoticias, Thronicke called for the CPI to assess how gambling affects the finances of Brazilian families.
This request follows alarming findings from the Central Bank, revealing that recipients of Bolsa Família, Brazil’s financial aid program for low-income families, spent BRL 3 billion (€500 million) on gambling, as tracked by the PIX payment system.
Concerns about the financial risks of the Bets framework have prompted the government to carefully oversee the launch of federal fixed-odds betting and online gambling.
In a meeting with senior ministers, President Inácio Lula da Silva warned that he wou..
The Netherlands’ gaming authority, Kansspelautoriteit, has published its semi-annual monitoring report for the Dutch online gambling market, noting that gross gaming result (BSR: stake minus payout) in the first half of 2024 is up by 8% in comparison to the last six months of 2023.
Regarding channelisation, KSA’s report revealed that it is currently expecting legal operators to see 87% of total BSR in 2024, while 95% of players are also only playing with licensed operators.
However, these channelisation figures have caused concern from the trade associations Vergunde Nederlandse Online Kansspelaanbieders (VNLOK – Licensed Dutch Online Gambling Providers) and Nederlandse Online Gambling Associatie (NOGA – Dutch Online Gambling Association).
Online BSR for the Dutch market has risen in H1 2024 to €752m (H2 2023: €696m). KSA attributed this increase to the number of bets placed during the Euro 2024 football championships, and “therefore not necessarily an indicator of the total growth ..
AGCOM, the Media and Communications Authority of Italy, has sanctioned a ‘technical measure’ to impose “mandatory age verification to ensure the adulthood of Italian audiences”.
On Friday, the agency alerted Italian media of its new technical framework to impose mandatory measures for verifying the age of audiences engaging with adult content.
The new measures sought by AGCOM will require Italian media to enforce an age-verification check before users can view content related to gambling, pornography, and adult-specific social media categories.
AGCOM had previously proposed the technical measure of age verification controls as part of the thirteen measures introduced by the Caivano Decree – Italy’s online safety and protection bill.
As AGCOM proposed to the government: “The measure enforces stronger age verification mechanisms to protect minors from content harmful to their physical, mental, or moral development, requiring stricter safeguards across information society services.”
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UK Gambling has been warned that the Labour government is reviewing proposals to increase tax revenues by up to £3bn.
As reported by The Guardian, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has received two proposals to increase gambling taxes, considered as a measure to plug the UK’s £22bn public finance deficit.
A proposal endorsed by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) calls for the Treasury to double taxes on gambling’s “higher-risk segments,” such as online casinos, slots, and sports betting, to raise £2.9bn next year and up to £3.4bn by 2030.
The IPPR underscores its recommendation to introduce a “polluter pays principle” as higher taxes will incentives UK gambling to promote lower risk games to consumers.
A separate proposal from the Social Market Foundation (SMF) urges Reeves to double taxes on all online gambling activities from 21% to 42%, raising £1bn annually.
The Guardian noted that a tax increase on gambling is “definitely on the map,” according to a sourc..