SBC News

The UK gambling sector has pledged the highest participation and coverage to promote Safer Gambling Week (#SGWeek23) taking place from 13th – 19th November 2023.

Organised by the trade bodies of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), bacta and the Bingo Association, Safer Gambling Week is now in its seventh year, which sees “the whole industry coming together to further promote safer gambling, by highlighting the tools available so customers can stay in control and signposting help and advice to those who need it.”

SGWeek is supported by the government and UKGC and will once again see a blitz of safer gambling messages both online and in land-based venues, to spark a nationwide conversation about responsible gambling.

DCMS Gambling Minister Stuart Andrew said: “Safer Gambling Week is a good reminder of the work already underway by government, industry and the regulator to prevent harm. “

“We are taking action to prevent gambling addiction, improve safer gambling tools and strengthen..

Sky Bet the English Football League (EFL) have announced the launch of the Building Foundations Fund to provide £6m towards community projects across England and Wales.

Sky Bet – Flutter Entertainment‘s UK sports betting brand – in its role as the current title partner of the EFL, will invest £1m per year into what has been described as a ‘vital’ fund.

The initiative represents the largest multi-year sponsor-backed fund dedicated solely to community activity, and will give the 72 EFL clubs a chance to bid for grants of up to £100,000 to invest in ongoing programmes or to develop new initiatives.

Dan Colton, Managing Director of Sky Bet, emphasised how the firm is ‘incredibly proud’ of its long-standing partnership with the EFL.

“It’s a relationship that has gone from strength to strength over the past decade and we wanted to raise the bar further still with the ‘Building Foundations’ Fund,” he said. “The Fund is a core pillar of our new agreement with the EFL and we’re very excited..

Microgaming is demonstrating vast support for responsible gambling practices in partnering with several safer gaming charities.

Some of the charities that have received support from the online gambling provider in 2023 include Ygam, Gordon Moody, Beacon Counselling Trust, Betknowmore UK and Motiv8 Addiction Services.

The firm is reportedly in ‘close cooperation’ with each charity to identify projects that will benefit customers, whilst providing financial support for projects, expanding services, creating educational content, developing websites and improving digital infrastructure.

Director of Compliance at Microgaming, Sarah Campbell, commented: “Safer gaming and responsible gambling is in our DNA.

“We take huge pride in working with and supporting a range of charities that are doing truly great work in this area. Together, we can create a safer and more responsible gambling environment for all.”

In detail, Ygam utilised its Microgaming donation to expand its educational train..

Creating the right balance for safer gambling strategies requires a collaborative effort between operators, regulators and players, according to Tereza Tokmajyan, the Chief Marketing Officer of TotoGaming.

Speaking during the ‘Balancing Player Protection and Growth’ panel at SBC Summit Tbilisi, Tokmajyan detailed the importance of operators providing players with the opportunity to make informed decisions about their gambling.

“Catch the right balance, as responsible gaming represents more than just the tools provided; it also takes into account the user interface and user experience when delivering these resources,” she explained.

“When we display the timely pop-ups, reminding users how much time and finances they have spent, we’re not just offering information, we’re giving them an opportunity to embrace responsibility.”

The session, which saw Tokmajyan joined on stage by RomBet President Dan Alexandru Ghiță and 4H Agency Partner Ivan Kurochkin, examined the growing importance..

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..