GVC Begins Changing For the Bettor Campaign

International gambling and betting industry titan, GVC Holdings, has officially announced the commencing of a massive global responsible gambling campaign, preceded by a major problem gambling research project conducted in conjunction with the Division on Addiction, Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital.

The campaign dubbed, “Changing For the Bettor,” will see $5 million invested by GVC Group into the Harvard Medical School faculty...

...this amount will be evenly spread over the next five years. The betting conglomerate will deliver its vast database containing anonymous players' info and stats to Harvard's Division on Addiction. The data will come from a wide array of the company's brands and gaming products.

Seven Major Problem Points

The brand's official press release states that investment into this rigorous research will be “fundamental to GVC's commitment to better understand and reduce the potential for problem gambling behavior.”

Campaign's final objective – beside making gambling environment safer for everyone – will be further establishing the Group's trustworthiness and fine reputation...

...which can be achieved if these seven pillars of the campaign, each containing a project of its own, are adequately looked into:

• Understanding the problem and best solutions
• Educating company's key stakeholders (which will include youth education programs with UK's GamCare charity, project of a biggest scale yet)
• Promoting responsible attitudes
• Empowering customers (with a 'markers of harm” algorithm launched soon in UK)
• Funding treatment for those in need (GVC plans to double their research, education and treatment donations)
• Championing responsible product design
• Drive cultural change within business (working with Safer Online Gambling Group to ensure “safer gambling approach in all aspects of their business”)

Five Main Focal Points

The problem gambling research itself will be focusing on several areas – these are:

• Patterns of normal internet gambling behaviors
• Behavioral markers of gambling problems among internet players generally and on specific betting and game types
• Cross-product and cross-brand analyses
• Effects of the expansion of gambling in new markets

According to the company’s Director of Responsible Gambling, Grainne Hurst:

“Whilst the vast majority of our customers enjoy playing with us in a safe and fun environment we are aware that for some players, gambling can impact their lives negatively. We are committed to leading the industry in minimising potential harm caused by problem gambling.”

Hurst added: “That is why we are today launching Changing for the Bettor and have partnered with Harvard faculty at the Division on Addiction to help us to better understand and tackle the issues around problem gambling.”

Government's Support

UK's Gambling Minister, Mims Davies MP, wholeheartedly supports the initiative, underlining that the gambling operators' role in protecting people from harm is crucial and that this research is essential for progress in this area.

Dr Howard Shaffer, Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Behavioural Sciences, Harvard Medical School and Director, Division on Addiction, said of the project:

“It is only by taking an evidence-based approach to examining gambling that we can develop better strategies and tools to limit its potential to cause harm. The collaboration with GVC that we have announced today will play a significant role in advancing our knowledge about gambling and intemperate gambling and is warmly welcomed.”

Source:

“GVC Launches 'Changing for the Bettor” Safer Gambling Campaign and Announces Major Research Collaboration”, George Miller, europeangaming.eu, January 25, 2019.