Why investing in diversity, equity and inclusion will lead to success

Working actively to pursue a diverse workforce and ensuring a workplace that is equitable and inclusive is no longer simply ‘nice to have’, it’s becoming a license to operate. And more so, it’s the path to being a successful and sustainable business as well as an attractive employer.

If we look at the sports and gaming industry, we still have some way to go before we can claim to be a truly diverse sector. Particularly so, when it comes to female representation.

This is certainly the case for Better Collective. When we look at our own organisation, we can quite quickly see that when it comes to women in leadership positions we are – like most other companies in our industry – lagging behind with a mere 17%. Looking at the overall group, we have 30% female representation, and in our board of directors we have had an equal gender distribution since 2021. We have set an ambitious target of 35% women to be met by 2023 as we work towards an equal distribution on all three levels.

The same goes for women’s sports content in sports media, which today is significantly underrepresented. It requires a change of perspective before we begin to see a more balanced representation, but it shouldn’t prevent us from trying to make a change. At Better Collective, we are currently discussing internally how we can contribute to a better balance.

Leading the way

Better Collective is on a journey to become the leading digital sports media group and we believe we have a responsibility to lead the way and take ownership of helping to push the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agenda across our organisation and the wider sector. We want to do better – for our employees, for the industry and for all the sports fans out there.

This is why we are constantly looking to widen our scope to encompass DEI in its broadest sense and play a pivotal part in shaping the role played by sports media in building an industry that is accessible and relevant to all.

We recognise that this is a journey in which we all stand better if we collaborate and help create awareness. We recently joined the All-In Diversity Project, the industry-driven initiative to benchmark diversity, equality and inclusion within the global igaming sector. We are proud to join as the first non-sportsbook founding member, alongside the likes of Entain, Caesars, Betsson, Flutter and Kindred Group, to provide guidance and support by sharing best practices and resources.

Our commitment to gender equality

We are committed to improving gender equality in the workplace and we recently signed both the Confederation of Danish Industry’s (DI) Gender Diversity Pledge along with the UN’s Women Empowerment Principles. The job market is, to this day, still quite gender-imbalanced and that curbs developments in businesses as well as society. The business community plays a large role in the battle to create a more inclusive society and by joining these initiatives Better Collective takes part in identifying and implementing measures towards helping make businesses more gender-diverse. We are proud to speak up on these matters and to keep this agenda visible to all.

Actively working with DEI

With close to 1,000 employees across 18 offices around the world, we acknowledge the importance of working actively to create a workplace that is diverse, fair and inclusive.

So, at the beginning of 2022, we established a framework for working with the DEI agenda. Through employee resource groups, we tap into the insights of our employees and actively engage them in initiatives that matter to them. These initiatives are further supported by mandatory training for all employees in anti-harassment and unconscious bias, complete with added measurable targets for each initiative.

I believe we have much to gain from staying on top of the DEI agenda, and this is why we made it part of our long-term strategy to build a sustainable business that is here to perform not only today and tomorrow but also far into the future.

Jesper Søgaard co-founded Better Collective, a leading sports media group, in 2004 and has been the driving force of the company ever since. As CEO, he has grown Better Collective from startup to a publicly traded company that is now a leading media group in the sports betting industry. An active business leader in his native Denmark, Søgaard has invested in a number of startup companies through his, and Better Collective co-founder Christian Kirk Rasmussen’s, investment firm Dreamcraft Ventures A/S. As an adviser and investor, Søgaard helps guide Nordic startups to reach their maximum potential.