This Valentine’s Day I will be showing love to good things being done by the gambling industry to address problem gambling and gambling harm. It’s easy to throw stones (and many have been earned), but I do see much progress being made.
V-Day Love #1: New Tools
Operators have introduced many new tools into their apps or websites such as deposit limits, cooling off periods, self-exclusion, and easier access to reports on spending. All positive steps.
V-Day Love #2: New Campaigns
Most major operators have a standalone responsible gambling campaign and are investing in media buys to promote these campaigns, increasing awareness of RG/PG.
V-Day Love #3: Engagement
Operators have started engaging with the gambling recovery community in an effort to learn from past mistakes and to improve in the area of RG/PG going forward. Putting names and faces with PG is important as it humanizes addiction/facilitates change.
V-Day Love #4: Data
Several operators have pointed to the data they have as a tool that can be used for research and identification of PG trends. I believe some are sharing data with researchers. This will be huge in furthering our understanding and creating models to spot PG.
V-Day Love #5: Advertising
Operators are addressing mistakes they have made in advertising (frequency & content) and are adjusting. Things like a whistle-to-whistle ban were unthinkable just a few months back.
CONCLUSION
The work isn’t done, but I believe it’s important to take a moment to look around and acknowledge that we are heading in the right direction.