Richard Flint, CEO of SkyBet, held his hands up on the first day of the ICE gaming convention this week and acknowledged publicly that the industry, SkyBet included, had “not done itself any favours” in the past with its approach to problem gambling. He suggested that the industry be much more receptive to critics, as well as the general public, and called on the industry to support the work done by regulators, encouraging them to create a “sustainable industry which can be trusted by regulators, politicians and, above all, customers”.
The SkyBet CEO (SkyBet being an exclusively online platform) outlined a four-point plan which he felt would best address the shortcomings seen in the industry in recent times:
First on the agenda was the use of data on existing customers to closely scrutinise player pools for problem gamblers and to generally better understand player tendencies, in order to spot warning signs of harmful gambling behaviours before they become fully fledged problem gambling cases.
Secondly, Flint suggested that operators needed to promote safe gambling more clearly and give better access to tools for self-help, such as self-exclusion and gambling limits. This is clearly an acknowledgement of the failures seen in the UK industry in the past year, some of which (such as on 888) led to thousands of self-excluded players being able to continue wagering.
Flint also suggested that firms needed to have a greater degree of direct interaction and communication with players who had shown indicators of harmful gambling behaviour, and to go into detail in such discussions. Recent studies found many staff in gambling venues were either untrained on such matters or uncomfortable raising such issues with players.
He concluded with a recommendation that gambling companies enact a greater number of full interventions with players who had shown clear signs of problem gambling.
While Flint’s focus was clearly on the need for operators to be more proactive in how they deal directly with customers and customer data, he also made references to worrying trends in advertising, including the sheer volume of advertising seen in recent times. He also stated that the industry should embrace a statutory levy to help fund problem gambling research, education and treatment. Ultimately, his point seems to be that the industry needs to find a new balance between personal freedoms, developments in the technology used by gambling companies, and protections for the vulnerable parts of society impacted by gambling.
