SBC News

Apuesta Total, BetConstruct, Betcris, Betsson Group, Pragmatic Play & Sportradar were among the companies celebrating well-deserved victories at last week’s SBC Awards Latinoamérica ceremony.

The lavish ceremony was dedicated to honoring outstanding contributions to the iGaming and sports betting industry in Latin America. The 25 award categories encompassed the remarkable achievements of operators, affiliates, and suppliers, as well as payment, marketing and platform providers.

The third edition of the SBC Awards Latinoamérica saw Mexican sports journalist and TV personality Inés Sainz return to hosting duties, in front of 450 industry executives at the Terrace Ballroom, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

Kaizen Gaming secured the title of Sportsbook Operator of the Year for the second year in a row, while Betsson Group was awarded Casino Operator of the Year for the second consecutive year. Betsson Group’s marketing output was also awarded, picking up Marketing Campaign of the ..

Spanish authorities have vowed to deepen academic research to bolster the treatment, intervention and prevention of gambling disorders.

Yesterday, DGOJ – Spain’s General Directorate of Gambling – announced that 26 projects will receive research grants in the field of ‘gambling disorder prevention’.

The initiative is led by Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs, which has reserved €1.3m funding for academic studies needed to bolster Spanish authorities’ understanding of gambling disorders in the public and local communities.

A tender process was launched in April, which saw 39 research projects submitted by academic institutions, reviewed by the Evaluation Commission of the DGOJ and supported by AEI – the State Research Agency of Spain.

Grants were approved for the University of Oviedo and University Castilla La Mancha who will lead projects focused on improving the early detection of risks and identifying common behaviours related to gambling disorders.

The University of the Church..

René Jansen, outgoing Chairman of Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Netherlands Gambling Authority, has stood up for the tighter scrutiny of the Dutch online gambling market.

Jansen, who last week announced his inbound retirement as Chairman of KSA in January 2024, backed tougher regulatory demands on duty-of-care, record keeping and the monitoring of advertising campaigns.

Writing a blog titled: “Gambling addiction: prevention is better than cure”, Jansen recognised that the developments of Dutch online gambling marketplace have gained significant media coverage.

Of concern to the public is ‘the size and growth of the market and the number of players on the one hand, and the behaviour of providers in that growing market on the other’, he explained.

From a regulatory standpoint, it is a challenge to accurately estimate the number of new and existing players due to the previous prevalence of illegal gambling prior to the launch of the KOA marketplace on 1 October 2021.

As such, KSA g..

The Secretary of State has confirmed the appointment of seven Commissioners to oversee the governance and regulatory oversight of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).

As announced by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS), the Gambling Commission welcomes the appointments of Charles Counsell, Helen Dodds, Sheree Howard, and Claudia Mortimore as new Commissioners, who will serve a five-year term.

The board of the UKGC will be further strengthened by the appointment of Lloydette Bai-Marrow, Helen Philips, and David Rossington as Commissioners for terms of four years.

Charles Counsell (OBE) is a policy expert on public finances, who previously served as the Chief Executive of The Pensions Regulator from 2019 to 2023.

DCMS noted: “Throughout his career, including previous roles as CEO of the Money Advice Service, he has concentrated on implementing large change programmes and strengthening stakeholder relationships.”

Acclaimed international lawyer, Helen Dodds, currently se..

GamCare is making progress in its employment and HR policies, the charity’s Director of People and Organisational Development, Debby Morrell believes, particularly with regards to closing the pay gap.

The organisation, which provides treatment and support services for problem gambling, has set itself a goal of achieving a zero pay gap across both gender and ethnicity, as well as keeping up momentum with post-COVID working practices.

According to its Ethnicity and Pay Report for 2022, the charity’s mean figure on gender pay remains ‘roughly the same’ as in 2021, having fallen from 13.34% to 11.61%, largely as a result of having a higher number of women working at the group particularly in lower-paid roles.

Meanwhile, GamCare’s mean ethnicity pay gap for 2022 also remains broadly the same as the year prior, with a marginal difference between 2.82% against 2.92% in 2021.

“As we continue to grow, we are working to close the gap and work on next steps to maintain a more inclusive view g..

Spelpaus, Swedish gambling’s centralised self-exclusion system has hit the milestone of registering 100,000 users at risk of gambling harms.

Operated by Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s Gambling Inspectorate, Spelpaus was launched on 1 January 2019 as the primary player protection service of Sweden’s relaunched online gambling marketplace.

By law, Swedish online gambling operators are required to connect their databases with the Spelpaus register, to ensure that self-excluded customers have no access to websites and cannot be marketed to.

In 2022, Spelinspektionen was granted funds to launch the revamped Spelpaus 2.0 self-exclusion system, as part of the government’s review of Swedish gambling’s consumer protections and safeguards.

Launched at the close of 2022, Spelpaus 2.0, featured enhanced self-exclusion functionalities, improved ID verification services and a new website design with clear guidance on self-exclusion and family referrals.

Furthermore, 2023 saw the Inspectorate lau..

Today marks the conclusion of the annual boot camp titled “10:0 for people against addiction” in Bulgaria, created to support those affected by addictive behaviours, including people suffering from gambling harm.

Organised by community support groups ‘Rematch’ and ‘Help Against Addiction’, the three-day initiative saw its 10th consecutive edition held at the football complex Boyana in the capital city of Sofia, with the support of the Bulgarian Football Union.

It is a sports-therapeutic programme that offers people struggling with addiction, including gambling, a variety of physical activities, social skills seminars, the chance to participate in a football tournament, as well as a discussion titled “People before everything else”.

This year’s event was attended by more than 60 people from the Bulgarian cities of Varna, Gabrovo, Sofia, as well as members of the community currently living in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The opening ceremony took place this Wednesday, with special guest..

The London Assembly has launched an inquiry seeking to ‘understand the health impacts of gambling in the capital city’.

The inquiry will be led by the London Assembly’s Public Health Committee with the aim of informing the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, about developing policies and initiatives to reduce gambling-related harms.

The Committee has issued a ‘call for response’, seeking insights from lived experiences on the availability of support services for those experiencing gambling-related harm within London boroughs.

Open until 29 November, the consultation for the inquiry is looking for insights on key concerns. These range from changes in gambling participation in London and the prevalence of gambling-related harms to the effectiveness of support services and the role of the Mayor in reducing these harms.

The London Assembly would like to invite those who have experience or knowledge of the health impacts of gambling in London to provide written evidence to the Committee.

The ..

Ygam and GamCare have launched an English nationwide intervention and harm prevention portal alongside several regional organisations as part of a GambleAware-commissioned project.

The English Gambling Education Hub (EGEH) portal is a collaborative effort between the duo and five other organisations – Aquarius, ARA, Beacon Counselling Trust and Breakeven.

Its remit goes beyond England’s borders, however, as EGEH will also work in collaboration with the Scottish and Welsh Gambling Education Hubs. As a GambleAware-backed endeavour, this falls in line with that body’s newly adopted regional approach.

Anna Hargrave, Chief Commissioning and Strategy Officer at GambleAware, said: “Gambling harm is a serious public health issue which can affect anyone – including children and young people. Early intervention and prevention programmes, such as these education hubs are vital to keeping people safe from gambling harm.

“Young people are increasingly exposed to gambling through the wider envi..