Gambling problems to take center stage
An industry first, a new Safer Gambling Forum has been announced to debut at September’s CasinoBeats Summit in London.
Due to be held on Thursday, September 19, the forum will give industry leaders the opportunity to focus on the darker elements of gambling, such as sustainable gambling and addiction, while aiming to come up with possible solutions.
Problem gambling, including the strict rules around advertising to children, is a debate that still continues across the world. It is receiving particular focus in the UK right now, where advertising regulation and financial levies on the gambling world are under scrutiny and discussed regularly by the government and its opposition.
A platform for industry leaders
The Safer Gambling Forum has been integrated into the CasinoBeats Summit to provide a platform of discussion for industry leaders.
The forum will give industry leaders the opportunity to focus on the darker elements of gambling.
CasinoBeats and other events like Betting on Sports form part of a network of similar worldwide summits hosted by the Sports Betting Community (SBC), which has over 5,000 industry members worldwide.
The Safer Gambling Forum will host practical sessions by prominent speakers chaired by Graham Weird, founder and CEO of Safer Gambling Solutions. He regards Betting on Sports and the CasinoBeats Summit as
the perfect platform to talk about reducing gambling-related harm from a business perspective.”
He also believes that, as more companies embrace safer gambling in their daily operations, this will benefit the “long-term health of the industry and society at large.”
Multiple in-depth sessions
The sessions announced to take place at the Safer Gambling Forum so far include:
Understanding Player Finances
Identifying & Interacting with Problem Gamblers
Marketing’s Role in Prevention & Education
CSR: The Key to Sustainable Gaming
Charities are also heavily behind the event. The exhibition hall at the Olympia venue in London will include stands from EPIC, YGAM, GamCare, GAMSTOP, GamBan, BetKnowMore, and Mindway AI.
Making gambling “safer for everyone”
Lee Willows, founder and CEO at YGAM, who will be at the Summit in September, said: “The challenge of making gambling safer for everyone is something with which everyone in the gambling industry and beyond should be involved.”
With some regarding the focus of the gambling industry as changing to a more holistic role, there are plenty of calls for further investment in problem gambling and additional regulation of issues such as high-level football sponsorship.
Stuart Darwin, Managing Director at Casino Beats, believes that the very existence of such a summit has marked an industry shift, with the subject of safer gambling practice having “evolved from a topic of conversation to a critical business activity for leading operators, suppliers and affiliates.” The forum, he adds, seeks to offer
a valuable opportunity for the sector to discuss and develop the safer gambling agenda and, in doing so, help move the industry forward.”