Today, at London’s ExCel center, the industry's leading voices came together to discuss the perception of gambling by the mainstream media and government bodies.
From the outdated view of gaming as connected to organized crime, to questions about responsible gaming, each speaker agreed that the industry has made significant progress in terms of its perception in recent years.
Brigid Simmonds, Chairman, Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) said: “When the BGC was set up, we recognized that we have a huge perception issue.”
Simmonds added: “We have made some significant changes that will help the way that we are perceived going forward. Sports betting ads have been cut by about 50% in the uk.”
Speaking on the historical view of gaming, Richard Schuetz, CEO, Schuetz LLC, posited: “There is obviously a long standing perception of mobsters and organized crime being involved in gambling.”
Despite this historical perspective, each of the speakers agreed that huge strides have been made in recent years.
Keith Pickard, President, NCLGS, noted: “I think the perception is not as dire as some make it sound. We need to create a balanced perception of the jobs gambling creates, the money and the entertainment value. We need to balance the view of the benefits and the liabilities.
Pickard believes that education will be the driving force in improving perception:“The best thing that gaming can do is to educate, those in the business need to educate legislatures. The industry needs to take about more than just the benefits. What are the problems and how do we overcome the stigma?
“It will never come to a point where everyone agrees with gambling but once we can show that there are systems in place to prevent problem gambling we can make some headway.”
