Industry predictions for 2023: The end of the BGC and deeper customer interactions

Matt Zarb-Cousin, Clean Up Gambling director:

A statutory levy to pay for gambling harm

The white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review is imminent and it’s looking increasingly likely that the voluntary arrangement between the gambling industry and those in receipt of funding won’t last. The government is looking more minded to introduce a statutory levy, calculated on the basis of harm associated with different gambling sectors, and administered independent of the industry. At around 1% this would generate upwards of £140m a year for treatment and research, which would provide NHS clinics and third sector providers vital funding at a time when budgets are under strain.

Stake limits for online slots

Online slots account for more than 50% of remote gambling gross revenue, and around 45% of those that engage with them are either addicted or at-risk. If the white paper sought to bring our analogue legislation into the digital age, then imposing stake limits online that are equivalent to the product’s machine-based counterpart is a no brainer. Particularly when the government acknowledged the benefits of this policy by reducing the maximum stake to £2 a spin on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBT). This was a hugely successful policy by every metric, which has seen a reduction in the association between FOBTs and those presenting with gambling problems, as well as a significant decline in police callouts to betting shops.

The end of the Betting and Gaming Council

The belligerent practice of the self-styled ‘standards body’ (or lobby group to the rest of us) has been divisive and counterproductive. The white paper will represent the failure of their approach to public affairs, which has resembled the (now defunct) Association of British Bookmakers’ defence of FOBTs. The more forward-thinking gambling operators that tolerated this, on the basis it might deliver results, will come to the conclusion that they no longer wish to be represented by those who don’t understand gambling or know how to engage like grown-ups in highly complex debates. At the very least the personnel at the BGC will be replaced by people who can build bridges with the public and politicians, rather than create antagonisms.

David Richardson, Better Change strategic partnerships manager:

Collaboration in safer gambling

The time has come for words to turn into action. If safer gambling is really something to move forward and is as important as it is talked about, the industry needs to collaborate. This includes operators and all different organisations coming together to make gambling a safer place for those that need protecting. Importantly, this shouldn’t mean individuals are void of any responsibility but the people at risk will get the education and subsequent treatment if the whole sector is more joined up.

The delays in the white paper’s release can no longer be used as an excuse either. After further consultation and amendments it might be several months before anything is enforced and, in that time, we as an industry can make so many improvements. The most recent GambleAware conference had a strong theme of collaboration talking about the expertise and resources we have in the sector, and I predict, and hope, that this comes into fruition.

Customer interactions

Communication with customers is something which will take another leap forward. With the advancements of AI technology and specialist companies, like Mindway AI, operators have no excuse to not treat each customer as an individual and most importantly, identify those who might be vulnerable before major harm is suffered.

I think these developed customer interactions will be particularly noticeable in customers who have previously had cooling off periods or have been self-excluded, as an operator will be under great scrutiny to ensure that these obviously vulnerable customers are well looked after. Education and reality checks can be individually directed to these people through things like the Better Change e-learning modules which can be bespoke for individual operators and customers. Combining the early identification technology from Mindway AI and the e-Learning from Better Change, operators theoretically should have no surprises if a customer suffers from gambling-related harm.

These interactions need to be more in-depth than ever before and the technology and support already available for operators makes this quite simple for them to do, it is just a question of will the investments be made and will actions reflect the rhetoric.

Reciprocal learning between land-based and digital gambling

After the last two decades of the incredible boom in online gambling, 2023 could be the year that land-based gambling redresses the safer gambling balance with the opportunity for reciprocal learning between both land-based and online operators, a lot of which occupy both spaces now anyway. Looking after people who either favour land-based or are returning to land-based is something the industry will need to look at carefully. Digital stake restrictions like the changes to FOBT are likely to come in again showing that both sides of the industry can and will learn from each other as they become more closely linked again.