Robins and Howe defend Pick’em stance
Pick’em defense, Reputation Matters, UKGC pod appearance +More
Good morning. On today’s agenda:
FanDuel and DraftKings CEOs parrot the same line on pick’em issues.
Reputation Matters final schedule announced.
UK Gambling Commission boss stance on financial risk checks.
RG storm clouds gathering on the horizon.
Caesars discloses further hack details.
Dem cut - cut - cut 'gainst them one another.
Pick’em apart
FanDuel and DraftKings CEOs say they are seeking clarity on pick’em games.
Tell me what you want: Jason Robins said DraftKings merely wanted to “understand the constraints” of what it can offer its fantasy customers while his counterpart FanDuel’s Amy Howe said there was a “legal and regulatory framework and it is up to the states to adjudicate this,” when questioned on the recent legal moves surrounding pick’em games.
Speaking with Contessa Brewer on the main stage at G2E in Las Vegas yesterday, Robins noted that DraftKings had not received a cease-and-desist letter from the Florida Gaming Control Commission.
This compares with rivals PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy, which both got their marching orders from the Florida authorities in September.
“We want to be able to compete with the same offer and whoever has the best product comes out on top,” he said.
“I think the same rules should be applied everywhere. It is up to the states but we are seeking clarity.”
It's a free ride when you've already paid: Questioned about the irony of both companies being on the other side of a debate around daily fantasy legality, Robins said he “recognized that now”. “Looking back, yes, I think daily fantasy was a great example of a product which went through regulation,” he added. “We got to a place where it was clear what was legal and what wasn’t.”
He noted that ambiguity “creates opportunity” and “creates lanes of innovation”.
But regulation was about “the friction that is being put in front of the consumer”.
“So creating an experience where you minimize for the people where you don’t want friction and still having control in place to protect the vulnerable is a lot trickier,” he added.
Howe said the issue was “where the lines blur” on skill gaming and real-money gaming.
The Persuaders: Meanwhile, Robins expressed confidence there would be further iCasino legislation despite there being no prospects on the horizon. “They will legalize,” he said of the so-far reluctant states. “It takes time, but I think it will continue to be something that more states pick up.”
However, both said there needed to be a better approach to persuading states of the consumers that were heading offshore.
“We need to do a better job in saying that this is quite similar to the sports story,” he added. “It is a large and existing market and it is about regulating it and doing it the right way.”
“It’s an important part of the ecosystem, and it’s happening already,” added Howe.
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Reputation Matters
The full schedule for the event on October 26 at the Barbican in London has been published.
The full schedule of discussions, fireside chats and keynotes for Reputation Matters is now available. They include a legal panel featuring Grainne Hurst from Entain, Antony Gevisser from Super Group, Lauren Iannarone from Playtech and Simo Dragicevic from The Game Safety Institute. That panel is moderated by Stephen Ketteley from Wiggin.
A panel looking at the vexed issue of financial risk checks follows with contributions from Charles Cohen at the Department of Trust, Kirsty Caldwell from Betsmart Consulting, Tom Farrell at ClearStake and Jeremy Lever from Armalytix. The moderator is Paula Murphy from Mindway AI.
The afternoon also includes a fireside chat between Matt Zarb-Cousin from Gamban and Dan Waugh from Regulus Partners as well as a keynote speech from Nick Rust, former CEO at the BHA.
The final panel session will look at the industry response to the White Paper and includes Tom Kerr from the Racing Post, Leigh Nissim from Future Anthem, Simon French from Panmure Gordon and Peter Hannibal from the Gambling Business Group.
The final moderator of the day is Robin Chhabra from Tekkorp.
The event takes place on the afternoon of October 26 at the Barbican. Tickets are still available from EventBrite.
Rhodes on the Gambling Files
The UK Gambling Commission has defended proposals to introduce financial risk checks on punters who exceed spending limits but admitted the message wasn’t getting through to large parts of the industry.
I’ll tell you something I think you should know: In a wide-ranging interview with the Gambling Files podcast, Andrew Rhodes, CEO of the UKGC, said the subject of checks that operators would have to carry out had “garnered a huge amount of interest”.
Controversy has surrounded the number of accounts likely to be affected, which the Department of Media, Culture and Sport and the Commission estimate to be 3%.
Also known as affordability checks, the process would take place primarily via a credit reference agency “with no impact on credit score”.
Rhodes has previously hit out at “misinformation” that the checks would inconvenience individuals and cause bookies to lose substantial business.
“This is part of the problem with the current debate; as soon as you introduce a number, people try to pull the number down to try and distract from the principle,” Rhodes said.
“We’re talking about a pretty narrow cohort of consumers, but they are very active in higher spending and as a part of business,” he said, adding that some bookmakers had told the Commission up to 80% of their clientele would be affected.
Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated: Rhodes said some of the rhetoric around the Commission’s intent had become confused given the emotive nature of the debate, but the regulator was not trying to act as a moral arbitrator.
“We’re not trying to frustrate anyone’s enjoyment and we’re not trying to be negligent towards people who ought to be protected,” he said.
“We’re trying to guard against people spending amounts of money that they clearly don’t have, and that puts them in a terrible position,” Rhodes said.
“When you’ve got a nurse on £30,000 a year spending £250,000, that can’t ever be a good position. It brings the industry into disrepute. It creates a political desire to do something about it.”
He said the Commission was committed to ensuring operators would be given help to make any necessary changes “otherwise you do genuinely risk damaging a very large proportion of income in the gambling industry without intending to”.
There’s a train a-comin: The first tranche of legislation stemming from the White Paper is likely to enter force within a year, Rhodes said, warning the industry to be ready.
“And I’ll say now what I’ve said to everybody in the industry I’ve spoken to, we’re interested in compliance at the earliest possible opportunity,” he said.
RG Approach
While the gambling industry is gathered in Las Vegas for G2E, there are storm clouds brewing on the horizon.
There is a well-reported focus on responsible gambling in US markets, but there is also a growing concern internationally and increasing calls for a wider-scale approach. A recent example of this comes from a dozen public health experts who would like to see gambling face the same scrutiny as tobacco and alcohol.
The group published an editorial in Health Promotion International calling gambling “one of the most innovative health-harming industries of recent times”.
“Governments have been unprepared and complacent in dealing with the impact of rapid technological developments in the gambling industry,” the editorial read.
The group also accused gambling of using the same playbook as tobacco and alcohol:
Delaying and circumventing regulation.
Developing innovative products and promotions.
Appealing to new markets.
Co-opting the production of research and knowledge.
Capturing ‘public health’ responses through corporate political activities
If there was a problem, yo I’ll solve it: One solution was to follow in the footsteps of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, ratified by 183 jurisdictions. “A range of powerful vested interests have contributed to ensuring an ‘exceptionalism’ in gambling research, policy and regulation.” The editorial authors believe this has led to governments, some researchers and community organizations not holding gambling to the same high standards.
Regarding tobacco and alcohol, government policies “have sought to prioritize public health and well-being through measures addressing advertising, packaging, labeling, taxation, access and supply.”
They contrasted this with gambling policies, which they said “have remained stubbornly focused on behavioral addiction, ‘informed choice’ and ‘responsible gambling’ approaches to harm minimization.”
Placing the individual “at the center of the narrative about responsibility for harm” while doing “little to alter environments to protect children and young people from widespread gambling marketing.”
What’s in a name: The authors also took aim at the “Safer Gambling” name-game that is currently occurring in RG circles, saying it reduces the accountability and role in preventing harm from the industry and government “while simultaneously preserving the mechanisms that normalize gambling to drive profits.”
As responsible gambling consultant Jamie Salsburg has stated, “There’s no need to continue beating this dead horse of responsible, safer, sustainable gambling. They are ineffective and I’ve presented a much better option [Be a Better Gambler].”
Cyberattack fallout
Caesars has officially notified the Maine Attorney General’s office about the recent cyberattack it suffered, disclosing that 41,397 residents of the state may have been affected.
Tell me when: Under Maine law, the Vegas casino giant must inform the regulator of the incident, which it said occurred following a social engineering attack targeting an outsourced IT vendor.
Hackers gained access to Caesars' network on August 18 and began stealing data, including sensitive personal information of Maine residents, five days later.
Caesars disclosed that names and other personal identifiers such as driver's licenses were taken.
While MGM Resorts suffered a similar attack, it has been reported that Caesars faced fewer issues restoring services as it paid about half of a $30m ransom demanded by the cybercriminals.
Litigation stemming from the hacks is now stacking up, with a 10th class-action lawsuit seeking damages from either MGM or Caesars filed in the US District Court in Nevada last week.
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Career paths
Continent 8 has appointed Jeremie Kanter as director of regulatory affairs. Prior to joining Continent 8, Kanter worked for William Hill, PokerStars, SBTech, Playtech and Station Casinos.
Underdog Fantasy has hired Adam Warrington as a consultant for the fantasy sports operator’s responsible gaming program. Warrington most recently was VP of responsible gaming at Flutter’s FanDuel.
US notebook
Nevada regulators have approved a conditional two-year license for sports betting technology provider GAN despite a boardroom wobble days before the hearing. While the sudden departure of longtime CEO Dermot Smurfit a week before the licensing decision was due to be made, Nevada Gaming Commission officials were satisfied over the direction the business is taking following a restructure.
The conditional approval stipulates that Seamus McGill, the newly minted interim CEO who also serves as GAN’s chairman, cannot hold both positions simultaneously, and a decision on who will steer the ship long-term will be made within a year.
Florida: Anti-gaming lobbyists have been given extra time to weigh in on the battle over Florida sports betting in state court. No Casinos, which has been active for 45 years in blocking gaming in the state, was granted a 10-day extension to file an amicus brief in the case involving two parimutuels bidding to torpedo sports betting in the Sunshine State.
West Flagler Associates and the Bonita Fort-Myers Corporation argue that an amended gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe and the State of Florida, which would open the door for the tribe’s sportsbook, Hard Rock Bet, amounts to an illegal expansion of gaming in the state on constitutional grounds.
European notebook
Ireland: Entain chairman Barry Gibson has warned the impact of Ireland’s proposed Gambling Regulation Bill could destroy horse racing in the country. Gibson told the Irish Times regulators should focus on limiting gambling advertising rather than banning it entirely.
The legislation includes a recommendation to ban wagering advertising across radio and television between 5:30am and 9pm.
Calendar
Oct 16: Gaming in Germany, Berlin
Oct 26: Reputation Matters, London
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