UK Gambling Operators Decide to Boost Responsible Gambling Funding

The gambling operators Bet365, Flutter Entertainment, GVC Holdings, Sky Bet and William Hill have decided to boost their voluntary responsible gambling levy from 0.1% of gambling revenue to 1% over the next five years.

The new decision was made in a letter sent to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which oversees gambling activities. The letter was followed by a meeting between industry reps and the DCMS, at which the government told the industry that its responsible gambling proposals were inadequate to deal with the scope of the problem.

The companies issued a statement saying that they hoped to agree on “a long-term costed plan” for their voluntary contributions by the end of 2019.

In May, GambleAware reported that the voluntary levy from gambling operators had totalled £9.6m in the 12 months ending March 31, a mild improvement from the previous fiscal year. Many companies were found to have contributed only token amounts.

Anti-gambling groups are now focusing their evil eyes on online slots, which they argue are effectively indistinguishable from FOBTs but are currently limited only by what individual operators consider an upper stakes limit.

UK operators have also agreed to restrict their television advertising in order to minimise the likelihood of minors viewing the promotional come-ons. Even that’s not enough for some operators, like GVC, which has called for a complete TV ad ban.