GVC to invest $5m in new global RG campaign
Operator unveils Changing for the Bettor campaign in collaboration with Harvard Medical School and pledges to double treatment funding to 0.2% GGR
GVC Holdings will invest $5m into research around online gambling-related harm as part of a new global responsible gambling campaign called ‘Changing for the Bettor’.
The new campaign has been endorsed by the UK government’s DCMS and will undertake a problem gambling research project through Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital.
GVC has pledged $5m over five years to Harvard Medical School’s Division on Addiction, as well as providing access to anonymised player data across its sports betting and gaming brands.
The research will focus on behavioural markers of gambling problems as well as the “effects of the expansion of gambling into new markets”.
According to GVC, researchers will seek to evaluate the effectiveness of algorithms used by the operator and its competitors to detect at-risk behaviours, assess the effectiveness of intervention messaging and the impact of operator’s responsible gaming tools.
GVC has also pledged to increase its responsible gambling funding to 0.2% of gross gaming revenue.
“We wanted to get a leading educational institution to head this research and I don’t think you can get any better than Harvard – it doesn’t get more credible than that,” GVC CEO Kenny Alexander told EGR.
“More and more of our revenues are coming from online and quite frankly we can do a lot more for our digital customers because we have total visibility of their behaviour.
“We can look after our players far better and monitor their behaviour in a way that we could never do in the retail channel which is why we are focusing on online with this initiative,” he added.
The Changing for the Bettor campaign comprises of the seven pillars listed below:
Understanding the problem and best solutions – Including today’s announcement of a five-year, multi-million pound research project with the Division on Addiction, Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital.
Educating our key stakeholders – Including the national roll-out of youth education programmes with the charity GamCare in the UK – the largest project of its kind in the UK, as well as a state-school awareness campaign with EPIC Risk Management.
Promoting responsible attitudes – Leading the industry in recently agreeing a ban on pre-watershed gambling adverts on television, around live sports.
Empowering customers – Rolling out the Senet’s nine-point ‘markers of harm’ algorithm to all UK facing parts of the business.
Funding treatment for those in need – Doubling GVC’s donation to research, education and treatment on problem gambling to 0.2% of gross gaming revenue (GGR).
Championing responsible product design – Developing more responsible product design principles.
Drive cultural change within our business – Ensuring that a safer gambling approach underpins all aspects of the GVC business.
UK gambling minister Mims Davies said: “Gambling operators have a key role to play in protecting people from harm and identifying potentially risky betting behaviour.
“Research is essential to progress in this area and GVC’s ‘Changing for the Bettor’ campaign will make an important contribution to tackling problem gambling.
“We are committed to protecting consumers across the country and are working with industry to create a healthy and more socially responsible sector,” she added.