Responding to “public concerns” about responsible gambling, the four major providers in the UK took the unusual step yesterday of taking full page advertisements in national newspapers to announce measures to illustrate their commitments.
James Henderson, CEO at William Hill; Richard Glynn, CEO at Ladbrokes; Carl Leaver, group chief executive at Gala Coral; and Patrick Kennedy, CEO at Paddy Power, all signed the joint proclamation.
It announced that in response to recent concerns about gambling – particularly because of “the tone of some of the advertising of betting on TV at times when children may be watching,” they were making changes to their operating practices.
From October 1 they would introduce a voluntary TV advertising ban on sign-up offers (which include free bets or free money) before 9pm. They would also withdraw all advertising of gaming machines from betting shop windows and would commit 20 per cent of shop window advertising to responsible gambling messages.
At the same time, they would fund a major new advertising campaign to educate people on responsible gambling; all TV advertising would carry more prominent responsible gambling messages; and, to “increase public confidence,” a new body, the Senet Group, chaired by an independent Standards Commissioner, would “hold us to account.”
The four industry leaders invited others with similar standards in their commitment to responsible gambling to join them.
