Former Paddy Power CEO: Gambling has become the new cigarettes
Stewart Kenny stresses cross-sell from sports betting to casino is the greatest factor in battle against gambling addiction
The former CEO and co-founder of Paddy Power has urged the Irish government to introduce legislation on gambling as he likened the industry to cigarettes and tobacco.
Speaking to Prime Time, Stewart Kenny revealed he left the bookmaker he helped establish in 1988 due to a lack of meaningful action against gambling addiction and now fears the “explosion” of the internet has helped facilitate a new generation of those at risk of gambling harm.
Kenny said: “The internet was the explosion, it brought [gambling] into everybody’s pocket. In fairness to the industry, we didn’t realise how much it would take over people’s lives.
“I must take responsibility for some of the developments, I was part of it, and I have deep regrets that I was not more proactive. I resigned [in 2016] because they refused to do anything really meaningful on gambling addiction,” he added.
Kenny went on to note the cross-sell from sports betting to online casino is one of the most significant factors in the growing levels of gambling addiction, as well as quick-play slot games.
He said: “Games that are repeated very quickly have a much greater propensity to addiction. So, the quicker you can repeat the dose, the more addictive it is.
“I don’t want my grandchildren to be opening a betting account now because of the luring in from sports betting to casino.
“It is, in my view, the greatest challenge in gambling addiction that is out there, and that needs to stop,” he added.
Finally, Kenny urged the government to take the same proactive action they did against the tobacco industry.
He concluded: “The gambling industry has become the new cigarettes. What they found in cigarettes was that it doesn’t matter how much the companies told you they weren’t encouraging young people, the government had to move in to legislate and we need the government to legislate now.”