The main group that has been lobbying for the UK gambling sector has faced accusations of making inaccurate statements linked to the regulation of the industry only a day before its boss is set to appear before a parliamentary committee.
The chief executive officer of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), Michael Duger, is expected to appear before the select committee for culture, media and sport later today, with Members of Parliament set to ask him some questions as part of a review of UK Government’s proposals aimed at improving the country’s gambling regulation.
Yesterday, the Liberal Democrat peer Lord Foster addressed the members of the select committee to raise some concerns regarding the reliability of BGC. In a letter sent to the members of the aforementioned committee, Lord Foster referred to a press release of the gambling industry’s trade body regarding a report it had commissioned and, according to which, there was a significant increase in the use of illegal online gambling platforms during the World Cup in Qatar – between November and December 2022.
The controversial press release of the gambling sector’s lobby group said that the report showed that British gamblers could start betting primarily with illegal gambling operators in case the Government’s regulation of the sector went too far. The full report of the Betting and Gaming Council, which was prepared by the gambling analysis firm Yield Sec, was not made public. The Guardian managed to obtain a copy of the report and reported that, according to the data in it, the overall penetration of the illegal gambling market was still low, despite the increase in the number of Brits who gamble with unlawful operators.
The BGC claims that the parallel market accounted for about 1% of the overall British gamblers’ spend.
BGC Warns about the Potential Outflow of Gamblers to the Illegal Black Gambling Market Following Restrictions
After the Betting and Gaming Council issued its press release in January, CEO Michael Dugher noted that the report proved that the UK Government should take into account the potential negative effects of the implementation of stricter affordability checks that may be considered “too intrusive” by local people. The proposal for the mandatory checks was unveiled as part of the suggested measures aimed at tackling gambling-related harm experienced by British residents since they are supposed to make sure that gamblers are able to afford their losses. The report, however, did not mention the implementation of affordability checks as something that could encourage Brits to start gambling with illegal gambling operators.
According to research commissioned by the Racing Post, most of the survey respondents said that enhancing the regulation of the legal gambling sector and implementing affordability checks would make people turn to unlawful and unlicensed gambling platforms.
According to Lord Foster, however, these BGC claims had not been “fully accurate” when it comes to the representation of the results of the survey or the scale of the parallel illegal gambling market. He shared that the introduction of proper regulation and enforcement measures would help lawmakers address the black market and the issues associated with it. Apart from that, Lord Foster shared his concerns that the gambling industry’s trade body has not been entirely accurate in other instances, too, hinting about the Betting and Gaming Council’s position on the Government’s regulations.
In December 2022, the BGC boss published a tweet saying that the gambling sector’s lobby group fully supported the proposed ban on the use of credit cards for gambling transactions. However, according to a paper published by the UK Gambling Commission in 2020, none of the licensed gambling operators in the UK had supported such a measure during the consultation announced by the Government.
The trade body of the industry has also repeatedly praised a voluntary ban on gambling advertising during televised sports events, saying that such a measure reduced the volume of gambling adverts seen by underaged individuals by 97%. According to data provided by the sector’s regulator, that figure was 70%.
- Author
Daniel Williams
