The negative perception of gambling perpetuated by the media needs to be challenged if the UK government is to make "positive policy changes," influential cross-industry group Business In Sport and Leisure has claimed.
Dominic Harris, chief executive officer of BISL, said the UK gambling industry must present a united front in the face of several major issues in 2011.
The Gambling Prevalence Study, the findings of which are used by the Gambling Commission to help develop policy for future gambling regulation, is scheduled for the end of February and could have wide-reaching implications. In addition to this, Harris said, the whole machine operation and manufacturing industry is "desperate" for the category B machine review and must work to influence the development of a new tax regime for machines.
"Then, of course, there remains the economic situation and particularly how things play when the government cuts begin to bite; the licensing reforms will affect some in the industry, as will changes in planning policy and other aspects of the Localism Bill," he told InterGaming. "This is a busy government and we have to be on our toes to keep up with what may affect business in general not just gambling in particular."
Perhaps the largest obstacle in the way of gambling as a business is the way it is portrayed in the largely disapproving mainstream media. Addressing this problem is among the organisation’s chief aims this year.
"This negative narrative needs to be challenged because it simply makes politicians too nervous to want to make the kind of positive policy changes we would like," Harris explained. "Only last month, [Minister for Tourism and Heritage] John Penrose, at a BISL meeting, basically said the government would not support changes which might create any negative media coverage. That says it all really."
Bringing the industry together, Harris argued, is the most effective way of tackling the issue. Ahead of the publication of the Prevalence Study, BISL has been working with the various trade associations and has received the financial support of a broad spectrum of gambling businesses in order to present a powerful voice for the industry.
"We’re not naïve," he said, "we know the individual sectors have some unique issues but there is a commonality to this issue where we believe coordination to be the best approach.
"The industry has suffered in recent years but an event like ICE showcases what it’s capable of - the energy, the innovation, the resilience. For BISL, the gambling sector is one we work hard to represent and so an event such as ICE is a valuable opportunity to catch up with key industry figures and hear what they have to say - it will help inform our approach going forward."
