Fighting for a responsible gambling future

How do you develop the NCPG report on how sports betting regulators are meeting standards?

I believe this is the third report we’ve had Vixio compile for us and it’s really an important step, because shaping policy is crucial right now in this market. These standards were intended to guide not just regulators and legislators, but also operators and vendors. By commissioning this report, we want to show the entire ecosystem where things stand but, most importantly, how each state can get to higher and better responsible gambling standards. It’s not intended to be a negative, adversarial audit. It’s about working together to find solutions.

Was it a surprise for the NCPG to see that many states are failing to meet the majority of standards?

We actually weren’t surprised because we’ve come to understand that regulators are not very nimble and flexible, and that it takes a long time to get some of these changes through. We almost doubled the criteria in our last major revision, so we can’t exactly be shocked that this process is still ongoing.

When we created these responsible gambling standards, they weren’t solely intended for regulators and they include some provisions in here that can prove difficult to put into regulation. For example, we think it’s critical to make sure that, when you’re training employees, you’ve got someone who’s actually had a problem.

I don’t know if that’s really something a regulator is going to put in their requirements for training gaming employees.

So, again, that’s a standard that is much more applicable to operators and vendors than it is to legislation or statute. The goal is to then encourage everybody, not just regulators, in the field to start pushing towards meeting those standards.

Is that why you believe these standards are still in the process of being met? The constant evolution of the industry?

Yes, but at the same time we don’t want to excuse regulators. This is a dynamic, fast-moving field. Everyone is learning a lot right now, whether it is us, the states or the operators. It’s no surprise that the best-practice standards may well be moving more quickly than state regulation is.

Again, however, we are looking to provide that guide – if you want your state to be at the forefront, with this guide, that can be an easy pathway for you. That’s really the intent of this report.

Of course. What gaps in laws and regulations is the NCPG currently trying to fill?

Well, when you look at the report, there’s not a lot of consistency and that’s certainly a big challenge; because one of the most important things this report does is look at these regulations from a consumer perspective. Most states look at it top down from the state’s perspective: tax revenue or the fairness of the game, which are all important parts of regulation. But few, if any, are looking at it from the bottom up. One thing we know is that there are some operators that maintain a high standard across their offerings, regardless of the minimum standards in the jurisdiction. But others don’t.

Someone could be in multiple jurisdictions, but the level of responsible gambling is going to be radically different on some apps than the other. We believe the player should have a similar set of safeguards and protections across their entire gambling experience. That’s not exactly the story right now.

Do you think operators and state legislation are currently functioning with a consumer-first mindset or more so branching away from this concept?

I would say most gambling regulations are to protect the state or to protect consumers from fraud and cheating. It’s not really designed to protect consumers from themselves, if you will, or to protect the public health of the state. So it’s not as much that operators and states are branching away from putting consumers first, but more their attempt to find what works best for them while also meeting industry standards.

We have an advantage that online gambling is still relatively new and many of these states already have at least some consumer protections set in place. But when you look at that report, you’ll see that some states even have very, very minimalist responsible gambling standards. It’s rarely been a primary focus of state regulation to help towards the prevention of gambling problems. It’s certainly something we’re trying to push, but when you look at gambling regulation history in the US, going back decades, responsible gambling and consumer protection was often not the focus at all.

I would say it’s coming that way, but I think your point is right. There is movement among these regulatory agencies towards more of a modern approach to gaming, which includes responsible gambling. There’s still great variation state by state and some are clearly doing it better than others.

Looking at the states that have only met 10-24 of the 82 NCPG-recommended standards, Florida and Nevada both fall into this group. Is that a major concern?

Well, I do believe it shows once again that traditional regulation or even current regulation in some large states isn’t always focused on responsible gambling. It’s often some of the newer jurisdictions that are learning from the

mistakes of the past and incorporating things like the online responsible gambling standards. We want to encourage a modernized and sustainable industry, but that decades-old legacy of indifference towards problem gambling concerns can become a roadblock.

That’s certainly what you see in Nevada; they’ve never had much of a problem gambling concern. They’re going to have to really modernize and update their approach if they want to not just keep up with the industry, but make sure they’re better protecting their own players. Nevada has been pretty wide open for a long time and it’s going to take a while to change that.

Would you say modernization increases the need to keep consumers protected?

Absolutely. The advances of technology have brought more risk into the online gaming space and, while there are some protective features, we don’t believe these are given enough attention by both operators and regulators for consumers. Due to this evolution of new technology, it really places a huge responsibility on operators and vendors to try to balance those costs and benefits in an attempt to minimize harm.

This is a real opportunity for the industry to show that it’s capable of self-regulation. If there’s one area among all gambling regulation that the industry could see improvement, it’s self-regulating and building responsible gambling initiatives. We’d love to see every operator make the pledge that they’re going to uphold the standards of the highest US jurisdiction in which they operate, even if the other areas they service happen to have lower standards.

Understood. Is the race for market share a factor in how slow this process seems to be moving?

Of course, it’s a new emerging market. Many companies jumped in, but have unfortunately already failed because their intentions were to make a quick buck. Most of those companies had little or no interest in doing anything beyond just compliance-based responsible gambling. But it’s no surprise that they’re already out of business.

I definitely think it’s a symptom of this expansion and that will probably continue for another couple of years before things really start to stabilize. I think, and again regulators have time to catch up, some of these companies have seemingly finally found their footing; they’re ready now.

Regarding your Huddle interview with Gaming America in 2021, you mentioned the US was pretty far behind the UK in terms of responsible gambling initiatives. Is that still the case?

That’s a great question. I think there’s still probably that same distance, but it’s because both countries have been moving further. We’ve certainly made progress, no question, and that’s been great.

The progress has been uneven, though, because it’s still state by state, whereas the UK’s progress has been on a national level. They’ve moved the bar significantly. There may be some ways where it may be too much, too quickly even in terms of the aggressive pace for regulation there. Both countries have moved forward but I think the US will always be hobbled a little bit because of that state-by-state nature.

Kirk Geller

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