ESG Watch (April 2022)
All the latest ESG news from the igaming industry, including updates from DraftKings, Parimatch and YGAM
DraftKings celebrates Earth Day
DraftKings collaborated with model Gisele Bündchen and the Arbor Day Foundation to launch several tree-planting campaigns for Earth Day 2022.
Known as DraftKings S.E.R.V.E.S, the programme is dedicated to creating a better world. Bündchen works closely with the firm to advise the board on ESG projects and the Arbor Foundation.
Recently, S.E.R.V.E.S announced that it had reached its goal of planting one million trees across 14 US states and eight international countries in time for Earth Day 2022.
Parimatch Foundation launches a new Ukraine aid project
To help with the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, due to the military action by Russia, the Parimatch Foundation has launched a new programmme called Help for Ukraine.
One of the projects of the programme is the Ukraine Hospitals Appeal. The Parimatch Foundation has teamed up with WeHelpUkrainians and prominent British doctors in a new initiative to provide medical aid in Ukraine.
The appeal aims to raise money and provide medical aid for the local hospitals saving the lives of Ukrainian kids. The aim is to raise €1m (£841,995).
YGAM collaborates with universities on loot box education
YGAM has teamed up with the universities of both Plymouth and Portsmouth to tackle the potential harms of video game loot boxes.
The project’s aim, which launches in May, aims to highlight the potential mental health issues and financial problems associated with in-game microtransactions on young people. The project will see tailored material offered to schools and specialised services to educate young people on loot boxes.
University of Plymouth academics Dr Helen Lloyd and Dr James Close will work closely with YGAM on this project by translating the knowledge gathered in the research to vulnerable groups.
Lloyd said: “We are grateful to the University of Plymouth for funding us to work with YGAM and providers of services for vulnerable adults and children in the southwest.”
Director of programme engagement at YGAM, Keb Clelland, said: “We’re delighted to be working with the University of Plymouth team; the study supports our commitment to ensuring all our programmes are evidence-led and external evaluations are used to further enhance our work.”
“The subjects of loot boxes and video game monetisation feature heavily in the public and political conversations on gambling and they also form a key part of our education workshops and our resources,” Clelland added.
Kindred Group extends its partnership with the Rangers FC foundation
Kindred Group has renewed its investment in the Rangers Charity Foundation’s mental health initiative, Team Talk.
The project offers mental health support and advice to men. Kindred has also taken its brand 32Red’s logo off the club’s shirt for the match against RB Leipzig in the UEFA Europa League semi-final. The Team Talk logo replaced the sports betting brand for the game.
The Team Talk branded shirt will be worn again if Rangers reach the final.
Connal Cochrane, director at the Rangers Foundation, said: “We know talking can save lives, and we can now extend the programme for another year, building on the success it had last year.”
Kindred also sponsors English Championship sides Derby County and Middlesbrough and has invested in the project at both clubs.
Neil Banbury, GM UK at Kindred, commented: “The investment we are announcing today means Rangers Charity Foundation can continue the fantastic progress it made during the first year of the project.”
“Using the unique relationship supporters have with their local club, we hope to reach hundreds more men with the expanded mental health support services who would otherwise be suffering in silence.”
Patchwork programme launches in Bury, Rochdale and Oldham
The first gambling support programme for women in Greater Manchester will launch in Bury, Rochdale and Oldham.
The Patchwork programme is funded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and will be open to women affected by gambling, as well as affected others such as friends or relatives.
The programme’s facilitators all have lived experience of gambling or have been affected by it themselves.
The 24-week programme will have two groups that run in parallel to each other, one for the women affected by personal addiction and women who are in the affected other’s camp.
An in-person meeting will follow five online sessions; this system will be repeated four times before a final in-person meeting for the end of the programme.
Beth Sammut, Deal Me Out head of community development and engagement, said: “While there are services out there, a lot of them are quite male-centric.
“Like Gamblers Anonymous – predominantly [men] go there, and that can sometimes make women feel uncomfortable and like they don’t have much in common.
“So we’ve set up the Patchwork programme, which has been funded by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.”