Kenny Alexander: Online industry has learned lessons from FOBT mess
GVC chief says the industry has “grown up” since the FOBT debate and is doing “a hell of a lot” to protect online players
GVC CEO Kenny Alexander has dismissed suggestions that the online gambling sector is in line for more regulatory pain, saying the industry has learned its lesson from the FOBT debate.
Industry analysts have predicted the online sector is set up for more scrutiny after the FOBT All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) rebranded to the Gambling Related Harm APPG amid a pledge to tackle online gambling last week.
Group chair Carolyn Harris has said that “not enough is being done” to protect online players, but Alexander disagreed, insisting it is impossible to compare online gambling with the FOBT situation.
“I think the industry is doing a hell of a lot online – GVC certainly is and so are many of our competitors because we want to be on the front foot,” Alexander told EGR Intel.
“Is there going to be a massive clampdown on online? I don’t believe so.
“I am not concerned that what happened with the FOBTs will happen online, but if the industry isn’t proactive then that could be the case.
“The industry is a lot more proactive than it was a few years ago and great steps have been taken over the last 18 months.
“I think the industry is illustrating that we are looking after our players in a perfectly responsible way without the need for any draconian measures from the government.”
GVC CEO Kenny Alexander
The reputation of the UK’s gambling industry suffered heavily as a result of the FOBT debate which rumbled on for years before UK culture secretary Tracy Crouch resigned over the delayed implementation of the reduced stakes.
A major backlash in parliament caused the stake reduction and subsequent rise in Remote Gaming Duty to be brought forward to April 2019 instead of October 2019 as planned, which could end up costing the industry upwards of £100m.
But Alexander insists the industry has matured since the FOBT debate, adding that the data available to online operators allows a much closer analysis of customers which aides player protection measures.
“You cannot compare the way the industry is reacting now to some of the problems we face around problem gambling online to say five years ago around the FOBTs,” added Alexander.
“It is absolutely incomparable. The industry has grown up, GVC is leading from the front and we are working with our competitors to take a responsible, proactive attitude to address this problem.
You just cannot compare the way we look after our online players and those in a retail estate – we have complete data and complete visibility of their behaviour so you cannot compare like-for-like with the FOBT situation.
“We have 100% transparency and that means we can look after players in a responsible way.”
Alexander was speaking after GVC unveiled its new $5m global responsible gambling campaign in collaboration with Harvard Medical School.
The Changing for the Better initiative, which has pledged to fund research into online gambling-related harm, was endorsed by the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport, as well as UK gambling minister Mims Davies.
“The fact DCMS were prepared to put a statement to it and endorse it illustrates that GVC and the industry as a whole is on the front foot,” said Alexander.
“I am bullish and optimistic about online and I am not at all pessimistic about draconian measures being introduced,” he added.