Making a difference: Shining a light on the industry's support for good causes

It’s been a rocky period for the online gambling sector over the past 12 months, with the industry confronted by a barrage of bad press. With tabloid headlines such as NHS mental health boss demands an end to ‘shameful’ bribes offered by betting firms to get customers to carry on gambling and Britain’s betting industry is out of control. A new gambling act must curb it, it’s clear that the sector has been through the wringer of late.

In January this year, for instance, bet365 faced enormous pressure from the government over an FA Cup streaming deal after campaigners condemned an arrangement allowing football fans to watch games if they opened a bet365 account.

Just a few months prior to that, MPs called for online casinos to face a maximum stake limit of £2 as well as a ban on gambling using credit cards, the latter of which takes effect from April 2020.

At a time when the industry has taken a hit to its reputation, more positive headlines about the industry’s charitable efforts are falling under the radar.

Earlier this year, gambling-related harm charity GambleAware published details of donations it had received during 2019. UK betting giants GVC, bet365 and William Hill accounted for the largest voluntary donations, donating £1.1m, £868,000 and £500,000 respectively.

But this is just one example of how the online gaming sector has been making a difference in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR) through donations to charitable organisations. And this generous activity is not just limited to the heavy hitters of the operator world but across the industry, from betting sites to game suppliers as well as social casino developers.

At the beginning of the year, affiliate casino site Mr Casinova made donations to five charities including two that are assisting Australia following the recent bushfires. “Our industry isn’t known for charity and we think it’s about time to change this up; we want to give back to organisations that are bettering the world in one way or another,” says Tobias Hols, spokesperson for Mr Casinova.

The site ran a campaign to donate £1 for every new user to the website, with punters also able to suggest charities they thought the firm should consider donating the money to. “With news of the fires in Australia hitting the headlines, with devastating images accompanying the distressing news, it was no surprise that we had many site users suggesting charities assisting with all aspects relating to the bushfires taking place on the other side of the world,” says Hols.

Making a statement

Mr Casinova CEO Sirp de Wit tells EGR Intel that charity is not new for the firm and it has been donating to charities in the past as a whole across the company. The difference now is that it forms part of the mission statement of its new website, MrCasinova.com. “It is overall a small part of the bigger vision of the website, but we feel happy and excited about donating to charitable causes for each new player signing up. It gives a different meaning to reaching monthly targets and it is definitely a booster to the overall company performance and this all is an extra motivator to have the numbers flourish,” he explains.

The online casino affiliate has pledged its donations to five charities in total. Two are specifically related to the bushfires (Wildlife Victoria and Givit), as well as environmental charities Plastic Oceans, Earth Day and Defenders.

Although the website is still in its infancy at only six months old, its CEO is hopeful that there will be a vast figure donated to charity by the end of 2020. “The website has a long-term strategy to take up market share globally, and we are just at the beginning of our journey. We believe that giving something back to this planet will simultaneously also drive more sales. So, the focus is on doing the right thing, over and beyond our normal day-to-day job,” he adds.

Just last month at the ICE exhibition in London, there was a big focus on the consumer protection zone. On the first day of the show, sponsors presented over £67,000 in cheques to companies focused on responsible gaming: Gordon Moody, YGAM and GamCare. Sponsorship donations were made by 888 Holdings, ALEA, Aspers, bet365, Gamesys Group, Genting Casinos, GVC Group, Hippodrome Casino, Kindred Group, LeoVegas Group, Microgaming, Sky Betting & Gaming, and Videoslots, plus a donation from sponsorship of the WrB webinar series by Onfido.

Another ICE initiative that has grown this year is the event’s partnership with charity Chips, which provides independence and mobility to disabled children. Chips was founded on behalf of the UK gaming industry to raise funds to purchase specialised powered wheelchairs for youngsters with varying disabilities. Over £2m has been raised and 590 bespoke wheelchairs have been provided to children with mobility issues since the charity was formed in 2001. Two new wheelchairs were also presented to children at the gaming show at London’s ExCeL this year.

CHIPS, ICE 2020

Meanwhile, on the operator side, Åland-based Paf has been very active with charities in the areas of culture, healthcare, sports and sea rescue, donating about €20m a year to good causes. Since Paf was founded in 1966, more than €300m has been dedicated to good causes/charity.

The selection of charities is decided by a council set up by Paf’s owners with the local Åland government. The founding institutions, which all have one representative in the council, are the local Red Cross, Save the Children, Folkhälsan association, Åland Disability Association, Åland Sports, Åland Youth Association, Åland Sea Rescue Society and Martha Association.

All of Paf’s charitable efforts form part of its CSR strategy, says Sverker Skogberg, senior vice-president, public affairs for Paf. “That is a part of our DNA and CSR is always taken into consideration by our owners when they decide on the money allocation for charity,” he explains.

A sporting chance

For international operator Parimatch, working with charitable foundations forms an important part of its corporate social responsibility strategy. A year ago, the operator created the Parimatch Foundation, a non-profit organisation which aims to promote health and well-being through education and community participation in sports. The mission of the foundation is to help unleash children’s potential through education and involvement in sports.

Speaking to Parimatch’s head of corporate development, Katerina Biloruska, at ICE 2020 in London, she explains that the operator has been involved with CSR and charity throughout its 25-year history. However, the initiatives had never been spoken about before, so creating the foundation was a way of making this more formal.

Parimatch Foundation is currently in discussions to work with the Crab Fund in Ukraine, which creates sports competitions for children who have suffered with cancer. Also, last autumn, Parimatch worked with the Ukrainian Federation of Mixed Martial Arts to offer a day-long MMA tournament for children where they also had the opportunity to meet Parimatch ambassador Conor McGregor.

The operator also works with the National Sports Committee for the Disabled of Ukraine, where it provides scholarships for children with disabilities to be involved with sports. “It’s a very important programme for us because we really want to change the attitude of the Ukrainian people towards those with disabilities. We also organise inclusive football training for children with disabilities, such as cerebral palsy and Down’s syndrome, together with the Shakhtar Social, which is run by the Shakhtar football team,” says Biloruska.

In Cyprus, Parimatch is planning to work with municipalities of Nicosia and Limassol to help support and provide stability for low-income families by supporting a programme to provide sports training for children from those families. “It’s not a social problem but it is an instrument to help children be physically active and healthy. Sport can also influence the emotional condition of children and it develops important skills like tolerance, teamwork and leadership,” Parimatch Foundation’s chief remarks.

The foundation, which is run by five employees, has plans to work in all the countries in which Parimatch operates. In the second part of 2020, Biloruska reveals to EGR Intel that she hopes the foundation can start working with charitable organisations in Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Parimatch Foundation

However, one of the challenges that many in the sector have faced is the negative view of the gambling industry. Biloruska shares her frustrations on the perception of the industry, even when it comes to charity donations. “Some individuals and organisations do not want to take our help and support because we are from the gambling industry. They put us in the same category as alcohol and cigarettes. What is the reason for not taking our money if we just want to do something for the community?” She gives the example of a potential exciting and relevant partner in Ukraine. “When I asked if Parimatch can be part of the institute in the future, I was told unfortunately no because they have very strict rules regarding gambling, alcohol and tobacco,” Biloruska explains.

Flow of donations

In the US, social casino developer FlowPlay has been running in-game fundraisers for organisations such as the American Cancer Society for over 10 years. To date, it has raised over $500,000 for various charitable organisations, including Homes For Our Troops and Girlstart.

FlowPlay CEO Derrick Morton explains that the charities the firm supports are based on the immediate needs in the world at that time. For instance, the social casino firm is currently running an in-game fundraiser for the New South Wales Rural Fire Service battling the wildfires in Australia.

This is FlowPlay’s third year working with the American Cancer Society as a result of interest from its community. “Our games are primarily played by older women, and for many of them cancer has had an impact on their lives. I’ve also been a member of CEOs Against Cancer for the past year and have seen its impact first-hand,” explains Morton.

FlowPlay, which raised more than $100,000 for the ACS in its biggest fundraising year to date in 2019, is also a member of the ACS’ Gamers vs Cancer programme. The initiative aims to bring gamers, industry partners and individual content creators together to position gaming as a new way to solve important societal issues. “Those who participate can get involved with a live-stream fundraising event, in-game fundraiser and organise a gaming tournament,” explains Morton. Through the sale of virtual ACS-branded charms in Vegas World, FlowPlay has raised more than $50,000 and $40,000 for the Road to Recovery and Reach to Recovery programmes. The funds have been allocated to provide patients with thousands of rides to cancer treatment and recovery assistance to hundreds of women battling breast cancer.

Play it back

At a recent roundtable discussion at this year’s EGR Nordics Briefing, game provider Swintt’s CEO David Flynn commented on his firm’s idea to use gamification as a way to donate to charity. Flynn tells EGR Intel that, according to research, donors that give to charity generally only give a fixed sum or fixed monthly direct debit. This is because donors can’t relate the amount given to the actual physical change in the real world. “If we can show the actual impact in a real-world environment, it is more likely that donors will donate again. Our aim with Swintt Play-it-back is to provide the opportunity for every online gambler to become a philanthropist, simply while they are enjoying their gambling entertainment,” explains Flynn.

For Swintt, being able to demonstrate the real-world impact from each donation is the primary motivating factor to use gamification. “Our aim is for each customer playing on any of our game portfolios, within the SwinttGamify ecosystem, to be able to select a cause that they wish to contribute to. Our main objective is to give a choice back to the customer to donate to what they believe is a worthwhile cause. Based on the customer’s activity and wagering, we have a pre-set points engine that calculates the impact that a customer is making,” explains Flynn.

But new innovation and ideas does bring its own challenges with it. “As with any new innovative product development, there are always hurdles that our team has to overcome. The main issue, bizarrely, is local regulation. In some countries, while lotteries can provide certain proceeds to charitable causes, regulated gaming companies cannot. Thus, we are discussing with regulators to ensure that players can actually give to charitable causes,” he says.

As a result of different regulations in different markets, Flynn tells EGR Intel that there will be multiple versions of the product to make sure it complies with the market’s needs “while still being able to facilitate customers into giving back in an engaging and gamified way”.

Regulatory restrictions

During discussions at the EGR Nordics Briefing, the subject of regulatory barriers also came up. In Finland, for example, the Lotteries Act prescribes how monopoly operator Veikkaus’ revenue has to be used.

All of Veikkaus’ proceeds, amounting to almost €1bn a year, are directed by relevant ministries into good causes, says Suvituuli Tuukkanen, VP, brand, marketing and customer loyalty for Veikkaus. Veikkaus’ beneficiaries are active in the fields of culture, sports, science, youth work, social welfare and health, and the equine industry.

The Finnish gambling regulator’s marketing guidance prohibits the promotion of games by linking gambling to good causes or by saying that the player is “doing good” by gambling. “Veikkaus can, however, inform Finns in general where the proceeds go, but it cannot be combined with a product promotion and cannot be a dominating element in Veikkaus’ marketing. Also, under the Finnish Lotteries Act, Veikkaus must direct all its proceeds to state,” adds Tuukkanen.

While there is clearly a great deal being achieved by gambling firms in the charity sector, many industry experts agree that the sector can still do more in this area. Swintt’s CEO emphasises the importance for companies in all industries to get involved with charitable efforts. He highlights that the global online gambling industry alone was reported to generate about €50bn in GGR in 2019, so even the smallest contribution would have a meaningful impact on the charities involved.

Skogberg at Paf agrees and points out that it also gives the industry more credibility when people are playing online games if the money is going to good causes rather than private owners’ pockets. “A government-owned company can more easily refrain from pushing profit requirements to the maximum, compared to stock exchange-listed companies, which will give more time and resources to take care of the problem gamblers.”

FlowPlay CEO Morton urges all corporations to be involved in charitable work, whether that’s through direct donations, employee volunteer time, fundraising and raising awareness. “There’s no special reason for social and online casino companies to be involved other than to be good corporate citizens,” he says.

And getting the message out there on the good work that the egaming industry is involved with is probably the biggest hurdle as it continues to battle against negative press. Perhaps when the unsung charitable work of the industry starts getting the praise it deserves, the critics might realise that the industry is certainly playing its part in supporting communities and charities, beyond just purely satisfying their responsible gambling requirements.