SBC News

BETBY has advanced its corporate social responsibility via a charity fundraiser for Common Ground, a community centre located in Riga, Latvia.

The sportsbook supplier held a charity auction for the organisation, with prizes including a speedboat trip with CCO Chris Nikolopoulos and a wine-tasting session with COO Eva Berkova.

On a business note, the company also organised a series of online talks and meetings involving BETBY staff and the company’s executive team, including CEO Leonid Pertsovskiy, who took questions about the firm’s future plans.

Pertsovskiy remarked: “Celebrating our five-year anniversary by giving back to our staff along with people in the wider community in Riga is a fitting way to mark this occasion.

“We take great pride in putting people first and without the talented and dedicated staff we have, we would not have seen our business go from strength to strength and be in the wonderful position we are today. I am very thankful to everybody who has joined us on o..

Svenska Spel has announced that it will sponsor “50 Swedish athletes from 40 different sports” continuing its ‘Elite Sports Scholarship’ programme in partnership with Riksidrottsförbundets, Sweden’s Sports Confederation.

The flagship sports directive of Sweden’s state-owned gambling and lotteries monopoly received applications of 353 athletes from 36 different Swedish sports federations to join its 2023/2024 programme.

Scholarship recipients will receive SEK 50,000 (€4,500) in financial support from Svenska Spel, alongside access to athlete resources such as sports psychology, medicine and mentoring offered by Riksidrottsförbundets.

Nicklas Biverståhl, who oversees the Scholarship programme for Svenska Spel, commented: “Svenska Spel is Swedish sports’ biggest sponsor, and talent development is very close to our hearts.

“Combining an elite investment with studies requires a lot of will and we are happy to help the scholarship holders realize their dreams. It’s especially fun to se..

An academic research project backed by £1.6m in funding has been launched as a ‘direct response’ to the government’s review of the 2005 Gambling Act.

The project will be conducted by the University of Nottingham, University of Glasgow and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, with financial backing from the Welcome Institute.

Addressing and building on a common talking point seen throughout the debate on the Gambling Act review, the research will examine gambling’s impact on public health, particularly with regards to sports sponsorships.

Anna Greenwood, Professor of Health History at the University of Nottingham, said: “We are so excited to have achieved this award which will show just how important historical precedents have been in shaping contemporary responses to sports sponsorship by unhealthy industries. We need to better understand the past to avoid making similar mistakes in the future.”

Researchers noted that the Gambling Act review White Paper had a number of pro..

British doctors and healthcare professionals have been advised to question gambling habits when treating patients with mental health issues.

The advice forms part of a ‘draft guidance for consultation’ published by NICE – the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence – on identifying, assessing, and managing harmful gambling within Britain’s public health network.

The institute advises healthcare practitioners, such as GPs, to ask patients about gambling, mirroring the mandatory questions on tobacco (smoking) and alcohol consumption.

As reported: “NICE has identified that when people present at appointments with depression, anxiety, or thoughts about self-harm, suicide, or a possible addiction (for example, alcohol or drug misuse), they may be at increased risk of harm from gambling. NICE recommends this risk be identified and addressed by healthcare professionals.”

To aid the assessment of mental health issues, practitioners should encourage patients to self-evaluate their..

Gambling issues may have been overshadowed by HS2, the smoking age, immigration, trans rights and Penny Mordaunt’s impression of the King of Sparta, but the industry did get a mention at the Conservative Party conference.

The industry got more than a mention in fact, as it was actually the subject of a panel on Day Three of the conference titled “The Gambling White Paper: Implications for Treatment’. As the title suggests, the panel examined the Gambling Act review White Paper, one of the 2019 election pledges of the Conservative Party.

After being promised four years ago and commencing two years ago, and being overseen by no less than nine Ministers – both Secretaries of State and Parliamentary Undersecretaries – the White Paper was finally published in April, with a key and highly-anticipated recommendation being a mandatory research, education and treatment (RET) levy.

Speaking on the panel in Manchester this week, Dr Jane Rigbye, CEO of Ygam, asserted to assembled MPs and journa..

The government of Ireland has been warned “that there is far more problem gambling in the Republic than previously believed.”

The assessment comes from independent public policy research agency the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) which published its “Measures of Problem Gambling in Ireland” report.

The ESRI study was commissioned by the Implementation Team supporting the establishment of the new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland.

Applying a new ‘anonymous online survey’, the ESRI outlines its best assumption that 1-in-30 Irish adults has a problem with gambling. The figure is 10X higher than the 2019 estimate guiding the Irish government’s current agenda on gambling harms.

The ESRI survey was conducted in August 2023 with a user sample of 2,850 adults aged 18 and over, in which researchers underlined that they had carried out ‘multiple validity checks’ in comparison to previous studies measuring harms.

As such, the “validity of the 1-in-30 figure is supported..

Gluecksspiel (GGL), the Federal Gambling Authority of Germany has launched a new ‘public information campaign’ on online gambling safeguards.

The initiative was announced this week as the headline directive of Germany’s first ‘nationwide action day against gambling addiction’ hosted on 27 September.

The authority detailed: “GGL is supporting this annual day of action by providing an information brochure in which all player protection measures of the GlüNeuRStv 2021 are presented in a consumer-friendly and clear manner.”

Coordinated by the GGL, the campaign will see Germany’s 16 Federal Bundeslander promote public awareness of player protection measures under the State Treaty on Gambling (GlüNeuRStv) of 2021.

GGL Co-Chief Executive, Ronald Benter, stated: “ It is important to us that the general public is informed about the legal regulations and that players can better assess which offers are illegal and which are legal, i.e. that they adhere to the strict rules for player protect..

The consumer protection challenges of loot boxes remain present in EA Sports’ rebranded flagship football title, EPIC Risk Management has asserted.

EA Sports FC 24 is the new incarnation of the long-running FIFA franchise, rebranded after EA Sports failed to agree terms with the global governing body of association football.

The presence of loot boxes in video games has been a controversial topic for many years, although the debate around these features intensified – as did many other discussions – during the Gambling Act review.

Loot boxes in FIFA have been a particular focus of this debate, although the products are present in other titles such as CS:GO, a popular esports – and by extension esports betting – product.

EPIC noted that FIFA/FC 24 loot boxes are prominent in the Ultimate Team segment of the game in the form of ‘player packs’, where gamers purchase a pack containing unknown players based on the chance some high-ranked footballers could be included.

The gambling harm ..

Flutter Entertainment has reinitiated its ‘Cash4Clubs’ commitment in support of amateur sports clubs and organisations across the UK.

Kicking-off the Cash4Clubs 2023 programme, Flutter has pledged to donate £200,000 to community clubs and charities over the rest of the year.

Cash4Clubs will allow cash-strapped sporting organisations across the UK and Ireland to bid for direct grants of £2,000 a time to improve their facilities, purchase new equipment, help fund coaching programmes, or to invest in the sustainability of their club.

Since Cash4Clubs was launched in 2008, Flutter has invested £5m into community sports by Flutter through its home brands of Betfair, Paddy Power, Sky Betting & Gaming and Tombola.

Ian Brown, Flutter UKI chief executive, said: “We want to help small sporting clubs to play an even bigger role in their communities so I’m delighted that Cash4Clubs is back.

“Research shows that for every £1 invested in sports, an average of £6 is returned in social value. We..

Danish retail bettors will be required to use player ID cards in order to place a wager from 1 October 2023 as new government-backed rules come into effect.

The design and implementation of the new player IDs is the prerogative of licensed Danish operators. Betting firms can decide whether ID cards are physical or virtual, such as incorporated into company apps.

However, all player IDs must be linked to the gambling account held by the player in which winnings are paid out. An omnichannel requirement, this may require existing retail customers who do not have online accounts to open one.

The stated purpose of the IDs is to bolster consumer protection and to reduce the risk of under-18s from entering betting shops. The cards allow players to set deposit limits, and it is hoped digital record keeping will prevent loss of player winnings if a physical betting slip is misplaced.

Additionally, Danish players who are registered with the ROFUS self-exclusion scheme after 1 October, by whi..