US gambling giants form RG body

Amid fierce competition seven of the biggest betting and gaming companies in the United States have mounted a united front in addressing problem gamblers, an issue that is increasingly on consumer, lawmaker, and industry radar, with dedicated efforts to combat the problem proactively.

As problem gambling is a hot topic surrounding debates about the legalization of sports betting and online casinos in the United States, FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Penn Entertainment, Fanatics Betting & Gaming, bet365 and Hard Rock Digital have banded together to create the Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA), which will receive $20m as part of a collaborative funding effort.

The seven companies cover 85% of the legal online betting market, with a huge focus on sports betting, but online casinos becoming more important every year, and still a relatively untapped segment. Commenting on this new initiative, the organization’s Executive Director, Jennifer Shatley, had this to say:

"I’m incredibly excited to move this forward and to really do some impactful things and to really expand the knowledge through the research and to create these evidence-based best practices and to really empower players with information."

The companies will push this collaboration beyond a pro-forma agreement and develop tools and solutions that allow them to exchange know-how and learn from each other’s best practices in protecting consumers. One such is a database that will allow all members to tap into information that has to do with how to best safeguard consumers, although details about the solution are still forthcoming and a work in progress,

The exact number of problem gamblers is hard to pinpoint, although the National Council on Problem Gambling, one of the most prominent bodies in the United States, which already works with DraftKings and BetMGM on separate initiatives, puts the number at around 10m American adults.

This is not to say that all are problem gamblers, but 2m are believed to be pathological gamblers, while another 5m to 8m players either experience mild or moderate gambling problem levels. Calls for federal regulation on the gambling industry have been vociferous with seemingly breakaway lawmakers joining a growing choir of their colleagues and colleagues and calling for a more comprehensive approach towards regulation.

One such comes from New York’s Rep. Paul Tonko who has suggested following a federal regulatory framework that is akin to many of the best-regulated European markets. Although Rep. Tonko did not draw a parallel a parallel with Europe per se, he described problem gambling as a "public health crisis," and urged the federal government to consider a piece of legislation that would regulate gambling advertising across state lines as well as limit the size of deposits that players may place.

His piece of legislation is called Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act and is indeed an ambitious legislation that is going to be a challenge to see through. ROGA though wants to start by being proactive without regulatory pressure to do so. How far the companies make it remains to be seen.

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