A call for operators involved with sports sponsorship has been issued by Great Britain’s Betting and Gaming Council (BGC). The call has emphasised how important it is for them to promote safer gambling to their fans.
Sponsorship Funding & Safer Gambling
Each year, BGC members provide horse racing with £350m / $471m in sponsorship, media rights and levy payments. Across the English Football League, a further £40m on sponsorship is spent, £10m is spent on darts and snooker; the rugby union gets £2.5m.
It has been evident throughout the Covid-19 pandemic that this sponsorship has proven vital but the BGC has highlighted how important it is for members to promote safer gambling among fans and sports stars.
Great Britain’s Betting and Gaming Council calls for sports sponsorships to promote safer gambling.
Included in this is A £1, 5-year gambling education that was launched back in 2018 and has been funded by EFL sponsor SkyBet and delivered by EPIC Risk Management.
Raising Awareness
A training scheme has been launched by Betway who sponsors West Ham United which is aimed at every English Premier League Club that it partners with. The program aims to deliver safer gambling and responsible marketing sessions for employees which also includes players and their coaches.
Further to this, Kindred Group rolled out a four-part “Know Your Limits” series featuring huge sports stars like Wayne Rooney, retired boxer Carl Frampton and horse racing jockey Paddy Brennan in a bid to promote responsible gambling.
There’s also a £10m Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention Programme that relates to sport across the country which includes the Premier League club Leicester City and Birmingham City of the Championship.
Code of Conduct
The call issued by the BGC also introduced their own code of conduct on the use of social media by football clubs. They announced that calls to action or links to gambling sites would be prohibited on organic tweets on the social media feeds of the clubs. BGC members have also pledged 20% of all television and radio adverts are safer gambling messages.
BGC Chief Executive Michael Dugher said “Our members are proud to provide financial support to sport in a variety of ways, but it’s also important that this goes hand-in-hand with our work on promoting safer gambling.
Around 30 million people in Britain – half the population – enjoy a flutter, and the vast majority do so safely.
Dugher also added, “As we wait for the Government to publish its Gambling White Paper, I hope that promoting safer gambling continues to be an integral part of the betting and gaming industry’s commitment to supporting sport.”
