The UK’s Parliamentary Under Secretary for Sport, Tourism and Heritage Nigel Huddleston is warning gambling operators to be mindful to not take advantage of problem gamblers during the country’s unprecedented COVID-19 lockdown. His warning came in the form of a letter to executives at Bet365, Flutter Entertainment, GVC Holdings, The Stars Group’s Sky Betting & Gaming and William Hill, and is the latest example of the UK’s ongoing crackdown on online gambling and the marketing techniques the industry uses to acquire and maintain its customer base.
In the letter, Huddleston took issue with the already existing plan for best practices during lockdown that had been issued by the industry trade group, the Betting and Gambling Council (BGC). The Minister branded the BGC’s efforts as weak and urged the CEOs to take measures well beyond what was already recommended.
In particular, Huddleston called on the UK-facing online gambling to hurry up and institute plans to limit controversial VIP promotions; reduce their advertising profile in places where children could be exposed to them; and to institute game play changes such as slowing down the speed of online slot machines.
Huddleston also spoke of the need to protect problem gamblers from themselves and told the CEOs to expect a request for more of their internal data on problem gamblers, according to a report in the UK Guardian.
For their part, the executives and the BGC seemed amiable to the Minister’s requests, which aren’t that different from what they’ve already proposed, and responded with a statement saying, “We will work with you, the government and the regulator to address any further areas where there is an identifiable increased risk to customers during the current crisis.”