AGA joins European homologues to address global gaming challenges

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has teamed up with European counterparts the Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) and the European Casino Association (ECA) to form a new alliance that seeks to address the global challenges the gaming industry is facing.

As part of a new Memorandum of Understanding which solidifies this newly established partnership, the three trade groups will work on addressing key issues that currently persist in the gambling industry not just in localized markets, but globally.

Fighting illegal gambling, improving security, innovation, and RG

Amid those issues are hot topics such as responsible gambling, illegal gambling, and match-fixing, along with innovation and security. The alliance will start by focusing on illegal gambling during a roundtable that will be hosted in January 2025, and bring a variety of law enforcement officials, regulators, and industry leaders to talk about this specific issue.

AGA CEO Bill Miller has welcomed the opportunity to see his organization join forces with other trade groups that are equally committed to making gambling safer on a global level and protecting consumers no matter where they are. Miller added:

"By sharing our unique resources, we will expand our fight against illegal gambling to new fronts, work together to strengthen responsible gaming, and innovate around business best practices."

Miller was happy to see the three bodies come together to come up with proactive approaches to safeguard the integrity of the legal gaming industry and contribute to growth.

For its part, the ECA’s Chairman of the European Casino Association Erwin van Lambart was similarly pleased with the opportunity.

Building a better industry for everyone involved

Fighting illegal gambling has been a long-time priority on the trade body’s to-do list, with the new resources now available certainly going to contribute towards limiting the scope of the activity.

"On behalf of the ECA, I look forward to participating in the forthcoming law enforcement roundtable and to sharing the benefits of these learnings with our members," Van Lambaart added.

The BGC CEO, Grainne Hurst, was equally happy with this opportunity and said that it would bode well for the organization’s efforts to build a trusted, sustainable and world-class betting and gaming class.

"BGC members are rightly proud of their reputation as global leaders, and they know the power of collaboration," Hurst mused.

At a time when the gambling industry is spending record amounts on responsible gambling, more can be done to safeguard the industry and its leading trade groups are committed to doing as much.

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