Betting Companies Remove TV & Radio Advertising In Voluntary Agreement With The BGC
News has emerged from the Betting and Gaming Council that the organisation’s members have chosen to voluntarily remove product advertising from radio and television during the lockdown that has been put in place because of the current situation. It is one of a series of measures that the members of the BGC have introduced to help people during this time.
The decision will come into force on or around the 7th of May, remaining in place for six weeks, until around the 5th of June. The lack of adverts will include both sports betting and casino betting, in spite of the fact that this is a difficult time for betting companies and revenue has fallen significantly in both areas of the business.
What Will Happen
The Betting and Gaming Council’s members are keen to try to protect punters as best as possible during the current global crisis. As a result, a series of new measures are being introduced. One of the main measures has been to drop advertising spending by 10%, in addition to a drop-off in casino and sports betting advertising on the TV.
Now the BGC wants to go one step further and stop betting advertising altogether. The organisation’s Chief Executive, Michael Dugher, pointed out that the BGC has been working hard to protect punters from the moment the seriousness of the current situation became apparent. Ten pledges were made in March, which included ‘stepping up safer gambling measures’.
The decision to drop all gambling adverts will come into effect ‘no later than Thursday 7th May’, with a review planned once the lockdown measures have been relaxed. It will only be members of the BGC who will remove their gambling adverts, so other operators such as the National Lottery will have to make their own decisions, with Dugher hoping that they ‘follow suit’.
Industry Suffering
Many commentators predicted that there would be a sharp rise in betting during the current crisis, but Dugher believes that the opposite has actually been true. He said that total revenue is ‘down by up to 60%’, whilst overall gambling levels have ‘fallen significantly‘. A big part of that is due to casinos and betting shops having closed their doors, of course.
The lack of live sport has meant fewer opportunities for people to places bets, whilst it has also led to a smaller advertising spend from industry members. Dugher was critical of the ‘alarmist noises from anti-gambling prohibitionists’, saying that ‘serious, constructive and evidence-led’ work by the BGC’s members is the best way forward.
Protecting Customers The Key
The BGC’s chief aim is to do its utmost to protect customers that are potentially at risk, not only during the current period but also beyond it. Dugher made reference to the ‘high standards that the public expect from us’. He said that the BGC is ‘determined to do everything we can to protect customers’.
Dugher was also keen to ensure that praise goes to the parties that deserve it. He said:
“Throughout this crisis, as the new standards body, the BGC has worked very closely with the Government. Ministers and the regulator all deserve credit for their steadfast and consistent determination to have an evidence-led approach and to rightly call for higher standards”.
With BGC members limiting their direct marketing, Dugher made the point that they’ve also been quick to ramp up how visible the safer gambling tools are. This allows customers to help themselves if they feel as though they’ve got a problem. On top of that, advertising slots already in place on TV and radio will be replaced safer gambling messages, or donated to charities.
Is It As Responsible As It Seems?
On first look, there can be no question that this is a sensible and responsible move from the Betting and Gaming Council’s members. After all, reducing the number of gambling adverts will reduce the amount of people that turn to gambling at a time of boredom, frustration or even financial difficulty that might be being brought about in the current circumstance.
Yet it’s also difficult to escape the fact that there isn’t an awful lot for any of them to be advertising about anyway. The Premier League is one of the biggest sources of income for betting companies, yet the English top-flight remains suspended indefinitely. With that in mind, there’s certainly an argument that betting companies will be saving money by not advertising.
Stopping casino advertising is certainly a good thing, given that that is always available to punters. That being said, it would be tricky to only advertise for casino games in every advert being paid for. Whilst that is a responsible move, it’s certainly possible that the overall thought of the BGC is to keep advertising money back for when the current restrictions are lifted.
Will This Change The Future Of Betting Advertisements?
The most obvious question to ask on the back of the BGC’s announcement is what this will all mean for the future of betting advertisements. There has been significant pressure on the industry to change the manner in which it advertises its wares, with confirmation of a self-imposed ban on betting during sporting events resulting in encouragement that they need to go further.
Will the industry use this as a chance to pull things back, taking the opportunity presented by the obvious break in proceedings? Or will life simply return to normal for betting companies the second the restrictions are lifted? There’s always likely to be a slight shift initially, for the simple reason that gambling companies won’t have a huge amount of money to play with immediately.
The gambling industry is likely to be hurt by what’s currently going on, so the decision to save advertising money now to use when there’s actually sports betting to advertise is a wise one. Whether that will allow the industry as a whole to take stock and consider a different approach moving forward remains to be seen. Precedent suggests it will soon be business as usual, though.
