Ryan McCarthy: “We need to interact with players before we see high-risk behaviors”

Today we sit down to speak with Ryan McCarthy, Director of Player Health at the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC). Our conversation focuses on defining what player health is and how BCLC has been leading the charge in promoting it through a series of innovative strategies across multiple verticals, including lottery, online, and casino.

Solutions such as GameSense, GameSense Advisors, and Game Break have all contributed to making gambling safer, argues McCarthy. He emphasizes the importance of understanding players better to offer personalized support and ensure that player health best practices are embedded into the industry.

McCarthy also highlights the need for proactive measures by the industry and continuous improvement to sustain player health.

Q: Ryan, thank you so much for this opportunity. Can we start by identifying what player health is in the gambling industry?

‘Player health’ places the well-being of all players at the centre of a business’s practices. It is much broader than just supporting those who are at risk of developing or have a problem with their gambling, it’s about offering safer gambling experiences and striving to minimize harm from all our products for all our players. That is how we approach player health at BCLC.

It’s also why we’re continually working on tackling core player health issues and opportunities with new and innovative strategies that support all of our players across all three business channels (lottery, online and casino) and finding ways to keep all players well-informed, so they keep their play fun.

Examples of work we have done at BCLC include:

• GameSense, BCLC’s player health program, which is designed to assist players in making informed decisions about gambling and to connect them to the most appropriate resources.
• GameSense Advisors, who help connect players to available support resources if and when they feel they need help. Advisors are available both virtually through PlayNow.com and at GameSense Information Centres in all casinos and community gaming centres.
• Game Break, BCLC’s self-exclusion program, which is a resource for individuals who recognize they are experiencing difficulties associated with gambling.

Q: Do you think there is a good understanding on the part of gambling operators about player health, and are they looking to preserve or improve it?

Operators understand that player health is key to the sustainability of their business and supports their growth. Many of the conversations I have been in with industry leaders in this space understand that safer play is a competitive advantage and supports a sustainable industry.

BCLC is committed to delivering the highest standard of care and support to our players. Our gambling facility service providers and retailers are required to follow standards and regulations as set out by BCLC that go above and beyond what is required by our regulator.

These standards include but are not limited to:

• Ensuring all marketing materials present gambling in a responsible manner
• Distributing responsible gambling information to easily accessible areas
• Clearly stating the odds of winning
• Protecting minors from gambling
• Providing information that allows players to make good choices
• Educating gambling staff on appropriate responses

Having an industry-leading voluntary self-exclusion program(Game Break) that includes support for return to play

Further, GameSense, BCLC’s player health program, is designed to assist players in making informed decisions about gambling and to connect them to resources, and GameSense Advisors and GameSense Information Centres are available in all casinos and community gaming centres across the province. Operators understand the importance of having these programs available to players.

It's encouraging to see that a lot of gambling operators are seeing the value of improving and innovating in this space.

Q: What do you think are the biggest challenges in player health protection these days? Are they regulatory issues, or are operators failing to meet certain standards? Or, perhaps, are things finally looking up?

Things are looking up. When you look at industry trade shows or conferences, for instance, you will often find player health protection related content. The industry does recognize that is a key part of their business strategy that needs to be considered. I also see this discussion not only happening in player protection focused forums but also on the main stage. Operators understand that innovating in this space and demonstrating a proactive approach to player health helps their relationships with regulators and shows they understand the importance and value of doing this work.

I think the biggest challenge is also our biggest opportunity – which is meeting people where they are at in their journey to safer play. Whether its online or in-venue, the more we know about our players and personalize our interactions to support them in safer play, the more we can support them. We need to be interacting with players before we are seeing high-risk behaviours so that we can try and mitigate those challenges as early as possible. I think operators more than ever realize that by being proactive in promoting safer play and reaching players in effective ways, it is good for the business and supports more productive relationships with regulators.

Q: Looking at the existing framework for protecting players, what do we know about player health in general? We can see many jurisdictions passing similar measures, but sometimes there are divergent approaches that seem unjustified. For example, some jurisdictions impose deposit limits while others ban credit cards, and so on. Is there a universal approach to player well-being in the gambling industry in your experience?

We do see a lot of similarities in player education across jurisdictions, whether it be player education around things like debunking gambling myths, teaching players about concepts related to safer play and safer gambling tool adoption online. These are all proven to be effective ways of supporting players in developing safer gambling behaviours.

At BCLC, we want players to gamble within their time and money limits. And we want those who exhibit high-risk behaviours to reduce their time and money spent or stop gambling altogether.

Our player health ambition is structured around four key commitments that help encourage healthy play.

1. Informed decisions: Ensuring players have the information needed to make healthy decisions about their gambling.
2. Positive play: Providing enhanced tools to help players adopt safer behaviours.
3. Referral and support: Training employees to provide knowledgeable and sensitive support to players who show signs of a problem.
4. Safer products and environments: Always seeking ways to improve products, environments and marketing so it’s simpler for players to keep within their limits.

There are also internationally recognized player health certifications for gaming jurisdictions. For example, in 2023, BCLC was re-certified at Level 4 for responsible gambling programs from the World Lottery Association (WLA). The WLA represents the interests of members from lottery and gambling organizations from 84 countries. BCLC is currently one of only 13 jurisdictions in North America to achieve WLA Level 4 certification, the highest level of certification achievable, and our fifth consecutive time receiving it.

Q: What would you like to see when it comes to player health from here on out?

Keeping the conversation at the forefront of responsible growth for our industry is key. Our aim with BCLC’s Player Health Strategy is to strive towards our players demonstrating the safest gambling behaviours in the world. We believe that by innovating in this space, it will lead to a sustainable player base and grow our business in a responsible way.

To achieve this, we are focused on the following three goals over the next five years:

We want to better understand our players, so that we can better understand their behaviours and choices, in order to provide the best support possible. The more we know about people, the more we can reach them where they are at.

We want to personalize our player health experiences, in order to deliver the best information, interactions and services and to support the adoption of safer gambling behaviours. Reaching people with the right messages at the right time in their player journey is critical to support them in adopting safer gambling behaviours.

We want to further embed player health into our industry’s ecosystem – starting with ourselves at BCLC and reaching out through our collaborative partnerships with our vendors, service providers and retailers. We know this work is a key driver of sustainable growth for our business and industry overall.

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