British operators beat £100m pledge to tackle gambling harms

In June 2020, the Betting and Gaming Council’s (BGC) five largest members pledged £100m in donations to support research, education and treatment of gambling-related harms.

While they originally intended to donate the £100m between June 2020 and March 2024, the total allocated by Bet365, Entain, Evoke and Flutter Entertainment comes to £122.5m, surpassing the original sums.

The quartet pledged additional funds to support the £10m Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention Programme. Delivered by the YGAM and GamCare, this has so far reached over two million young people aged 11 to 19. 

Other BGC members and British licensees have donated a futher £10m each year, taking the total industry contribution to funding gambling harm prevention and treatment to £172.5m.

BGC: Gambling harm actions backed by significant funding

“These figures demonstrate our actions are backed by significant financial contributions which are making a real difference,” BGC executive director of standards and innovation Wes Himes said.

Himes pointed out members have no say on how funding is spent, with research, prevention and treatment donations going to bodies accredited by the Gambling Commission to deliver services.

“For the BGC and our members, the priority is ensuring the money reaches these charities doing exceptional work in prevention and treatment and funds truly independent, evidence led research,” he added.

“As we go forward, this huge investment will continue, underlining this sector’s unrivalled commitment to responsible betting and gaming.”

BGC repeats calls for statutory levy

Despite the BGC members’ voluntary contributions the association continues to argue in favour of a statutory levy to fund gambling harm prevention.

In last year’s long-awaited white paper, the government proposed a new, mandatory statutory levy. It said this would be paid by operators to the Gambling Commission to fund RPT for gambling harms.

However, the recent change in government has raised concerns that this could be delayed or even shelved. On the whole, the BGC backs a statutory levy but voiced its fears about how the proposed system would impact the industry.

Initial proposals set out levy costs of 0.4% on gross gambling yield. The BGC said this would be a disproportionate charge for independent bookmakers and could threaten their future. As such, it is keen for the new government to reconsider the earlier plans.

“While the voluntary levy has delivered record funding, the BGC supports the replacement of the current levy scheme with a mandatory one, but the delivery of this new scheme must ensure future funding security for the third sector which is delivering such excellent work,” Himes said.

BGC donors reflect changing face of GB gambling

At the time of the 2020 pledge, the industry’s big five included Bet365, GVC Holdings, Paddy Power Betfair, Sky Betting and Gaming and William Hill. Bet365 is the only business that remains the same, with the others having evolved since the pledge was made.

Paddy Power Betfair and SkyBet form part of Flutter Entertainment while GVC rebranded to Entain in late 2020. Meanwhile, 888 acquired William Hill’s non-US assets in July 2022, with the enlarged business rebranding as Evoke this May.