In 2024, gambling is more accessible than ever, the online side of the industry keeps swelling, and more and more countries are choosing to implement or look into exploring the possibility of legalizing betting pastimes as a source of economic development and new tax income streams. Global revenues in this sector are expected to grow at a rate of 6.46% per year until the worldwide market hits $133 billion in 2029, where the projected number of people indulging in gaming and betting hobbies should reach 281 million.
Naturally, with so many people gambling, there is a cause for concern that many of these individuals will fall prey to getting addicted to the thrills this entertainment form provides. Those worries have been exacerbated by a novel German study conducted by the country’s Ministry of Health, which claims that the number of people in Germany that has grown addicted to this activity has increased to 1.3 million, tripling over five years. In late 2023, the UK Gambling Commission came out with its report on this topic, and it estimated that Great Britain also has 1.3 million adults addicted to playing games of chance and betting on sports.
Hence, simmering concerns surrounding the rise of online gambling are not unjustified. That is why regulators and governments around the globe are expanding their responsible gambling measures, looking to curb gaming/betting addiction. For those unfamiliar with the term responsible gambling, it refers to social responsibility initiatives designed to promote awareness of gambling-related harms, and the latest trends in this sphere are covered in the content below.
Gambling Sponsorship Codes of Conduct
Due to an astounding number of sports teams partnering with gambling operators via sponsorship deals, sports associations have responded to complaints from the general public that these deals aid in exposing vulnerable populations to gambling by creating sponsorship codes of conduct. These codes of conduct govern how franchises can work with operators.
For example, in the UK, the FA’s Code of Conduct will become enforced at the beginning of the 2024/25 season, and from 2026, no EPL team can have a front-of-shirt gambling sponsor. The British Horseracing Authority has brought forward a similar code, and on August 8th, 2024, England’s Rugby Football League also published its code, which forces the competition team to deliver marketing materials in a socially responsible way, not allow operators to compromise competitions; integrities, reinvest sponsorship income into the sport, and restrict ad reach to individuals under eighteen.
The Emergence of Financial Checks
For a long time, online regulators advertised the basic seven steps to apply when gambling responsibly to anyone curious about testing their luck or sporting knowledge over the internet. These are budgeting, setting time limits, being realistic, boasting emotional awareness, looking at gambling as an entertainment-based activity, not wagering under the influence, and seeking help when it is clear that a gambler can control their betting impulses.
In 2020, the UK Gambling Commission decided to tighten up its regulation on the responsible gambling front, stemming from a publicized YouGov survey that showed that the number of addicted gamblers in the UK was rapidly growing. The UKGC responded to this by implementing spin wait times for slot games, mandatory operator participation in the country’s national self-exclusion scheme – GamStop, and setting lower bet limits for all gambling Internet games.
In 2021, it threatened the potential implementation of a source of funds checks. In 2024, it decided to go through with light-touch financial vulnerability checks, bringing this concept into life in four stages. The first goes live in August 2024, and the last in February 2025. Per the Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes, these checks will look to walk the thin line of respecting adults’ decisions to participate in online gambling but also trying to protect them from the negative effects of this activity.
The Kansspelautoriteit, or KSA for short, the Netherlands gambling regulator, recently decided to obligate operators to incorporate a new set of rules that include financial checks of players between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four when these gamblers deposit over €300. The goal is to discern if these people can afford to gamble such sums. For gamblers over twenty-four, these analyses activate when they put more than €700 in their balances (monthly). This measure will begin getting enforced starting from October 1st, and many other European licensors/overseers are researching imposing similar rules to their operators at both land-based venues and online. Many, including the Netherlands, are also considering more in-depth real-time monitoring to spot the development of harmful gambling behavior.
The US Launches a Responsible Gaming Association
In March 2024, North America’s seven most established operators decided to join forces and form ROGA— the Responsible Online Gaming Association. Its founding parties are FanDuel, Fanatics, Bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, Pen Entertainment, and Hard Rock Digital, seven entities that own over 85% of the US market share.
ROGA’s executive director is Dr Jennifer Shatley, who facilitates widespread education concerning how Americans should gamble responsibly. Shatley notes that this organization will promote best practices, build an independent data clearinghouse, expand consumer education, conduct in-depth research, and create an independent certification program for various responsible gambling fields of interest.
ROGA got $20 million in operational funding from its founding members, and experts expect similar organizations to pop up in other countries on initiatives from their governments.
