UK gambling industry at a glance: thoughts & insights

A review of gambling journalistic insights and industry forecasts by industry reporter

By Contributing Author

Having recently joined the writing staff of Gambling Insider, a leading news site of the gambling industry, author/reporter Owain Flanders has offered some unique thoughts on the whole industry but also to dive deeper into a story of gambling and its uniquities.

Previously serving as a B2C writer, Flanders identified himself with a felt-in-love teenager or a proud member of Alcoholics Anonymous when he reached the 12-weeks benchmark. Trying hard to embrace the B2B paradigm, he was tasked to operate the vast amount of industry-specific news and do it as quickly as he can.

Additionally, the lack of compassion in the gambling sphere also has manifested itself in the weekly UK press reports appeasing the players and producing biased content. Anti-gambling tendencies were a significant impediment for conscious and fair views, and negative coverage was seemed to add oil to the fire.

A famous campaign aimed at shirt sponsors titled “Save Our Shirt” was calling on gambling companies to stop sponsoring. The key figure in this campaign, Managing Director of Paddy Power Victor Corcoran, has proclaimed that “As a sponsor, we know our place, and it’s not on your shirt.” During Owain’s first weeks as a GI staff writer, he was impressed by the tons of biased and fake anti-gambling claims published along with the “Save Our Shirt” campaign. By placing itself as a “common-sense call for sponsors,” the campaign also provoked the post-truth approach for the whole industry. The UK media had a lucky day, says Owain.

When stories like “SOS” are grabbing the headlines, you cannot avoid the cynicism about the United Kingdom’s offline and online betting industry, although it for sure lacks transparency. The wake-up call for a conscious and sober view on the gambling sphere had appeared when Owain had first attended the Responsible Gaming Week event. Only after attending the numerous industry events, Flanders says, he started to realize the industry leaders’ struggle to protect their customers and increase their loyalty.

Throughout the Responsible Gaming Week, Owain had a small talk with one of the Gambling Commission’s executives who taught him about their attempts to do more for the fair and transparent betting across the country.

“We as a regulator and you as the industry need to do a lot more to build public trust that we are genuinely concerned and focused on protecting vulnerable people.”, said Tim Miller from Gambling Commission.

Owain Flanders himself later admitted that the desire to bring more transparency and trust into the gambling industry is a strategic imperative for all the regulation institutions, not only private entities. Both state, companies, and charities strive to gain a win-win solution for the area of gambling in the UK. 

And while the majority of UK media continue to spread anti-gambling biases and exaggerate the UK’s gambling problems, Flanders concludes: “After three months within the industry, my outlook is not so bleak.”