SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has put out a statement following the publication of the Gambling Survey of Great Britain (GSBG).
A BGC spokesperson explained that the methodology used in this survey is different to those previously conducted into betting and gaming.
Their statement emphasised: “As a result, the Gambling Commission has been clear, GSGB should not be used to make direct comparisons with results from prior surveys, as a measure of addiction, or to gross up problem gambling prevalence to the whole population.”
The survey collects the official statistics on gambling behaviour in the country, and is one of the largest surveys of its kind in the world, collecting data from 20,000 respondents each year.
The spokesperson added that BGC members are ‘concerned these findings may be unreliable’ because there is a significant risk GSGB overstates gambling participation and gambling related harm.
“Surveys using predominantly online self-completion consistently produce higher estimates of gambling participation and associated harms, compared to established alternative survey methods.”
Therefore, the BGC has explained that the organisation and its members are committed to raising standards, and that it ‘welcomes any robust study’ that accurately gauges betting and gaming participation and problem gambling prevalence.
This commitment is backed by record funding, with BGC members voluntarily donating over £170m over the past four years to independent Research, Prevention and Treatment services to tackle problem gambling and gambling related harm.
“Each month around 22.5 million people in Britain enjoy a bet and the overwhelming majority do so safely and responsibly,” the BGC continued.
“The most recent NHS Health Survey for England estimated that 0.4% of the adult population are problem gamblers.”
It was only this week that the BGC revealed that its largest members had donated £122.5m over four years to tackle problem gambling and gambling harm, new figures have shown.
Described as a record funding increase, this total is £22.5m more than the £100m the BGC’s four largest members pledged to contribute between 2020 and March 2024.
On this, Wes Himes, BGC Executive Director of Standards and Innovation, said: “Our mission to raise standards carries on strong and these figures demonstrate our actions are backed by significant financial contributions which are making a real difference,” he continued.
“Our members have no say on how these funds are spent and RPT donations only go to independent organisations accredited by the Gambling Commission to deliver these critical services.”
