GVC Attend House of Lords to Tackle Safer Gambling

Gambling safety and player protection often make itselfheard within Parliament and the House of Lords. It is a topic that seniorfigures want to discuss and get right in the interests of the UK public.

Recently, a select committee from the House of Lordslistened to the chief executive of GVC, Kenny Alexander, who discussed thecontemporary issues. He stated that the general public are confronted with toomuch noise, and there are currently too many betting adverts.

The Key Details

The GVC boss was one of many senior figures attending the Houseof Lords from the gambling sector. All of whom were there to give evidence anddiscuss the current issues; with the Social and Economic Impact of the GamblingIndustry Committee.

The relationship between gambling and elite sport, as wellas industry advertising, took up most of the time in the almost-two-hoursession. During which the controversial and well-known campaign leading theslogan, ‘when the fun stops, stop’ was announced to be stopped.

When industry leaders were questioned by Lord Butler ofBrockwell on what they want the committee to consider, the GVC boss reiteratedhis point of everything being too much, from advertising and specificallysponsorship within sport. This has been raised before with the current PremierLeague season having more than 50% of teams with gambling sponsors. Thecommittee agreed to this request from Alexander.

However, not everyone in attendance agreed that advertisingposed an issue for players and potential gambling addiction. Most notably SkyBetting chief, Conor Grant, suggesting that 70% of Sky’s betting adds relayed asafe gambling message to viewers. He wanted the committee also to realise thepositive additions that advertisements offer as well as criticising them.

John Coats, who is both owner of Stoke City FC and anexecutive at Bet365 declared his concerns about the connection between gamblingadvertising and elite football, suggesting that the revenue helps provide fanswith free travel and cheaper match tickets.

When questioned about what would happen if the relationshipwas reduced, Coats claimed that Stoke City considers this money as essential tooperations.

Other Notable Topics and Comments

Along with the above, many other questions and importantpoints were raised, including:

• Criticismof the aforementioned advertising slogan was responded to with an announcementthat they recognised the criticism. As saying it was actually a gambling advertabove anything else, and that the slogan was being pulled.
• Aban on in-play betting was debated with William Hill representatives claimingthis sort of exposure had been reduced by over 90%.
• DanTaylor, chief executive of Paddy Power, suggested that Gambling Act 2005 shouldnow be looked at to improve clarity between industry players and the law.

The committee will now discuss issues before replying tostatements and taking action.