SBC News EIG Berlin Notes - Reputational Matters

EIG Berlin Notes – Reputational Matters

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EIG Berlin – Reputational Matters

EIG Berlin Session Overview 

Panel session which investigates the current reputation issues effecting igaming and sports betting operations. The Panel sheds insight on corporate affairs concerning reputation and the igaming industry’s relationship with governance authorities and bodies. Panel discusses what actions can be undertaken to improve sector reputation and image as markets look to legalise and legislate online gambling. Can igaming operators set an agenda and and impact regulatory frameworks?

Session Speakers – David Chang, Gamblit Gaming (moderator), Catherine Colloms, Director of Corporate Affairs, Paddy Power, Mathias Dahms, Founder and CEO BetterBet Sportwetten & President, German Sportsbetting Association Chris Searle, former Chairman of the Portland Group

SBC Session Notes

  • Mathias Dahms said it wasn’t easy to answer whether social casinos should be considered part of the gaming industry, but added that as soon as they are dealing with money in any way then they should be strongly regulated.
  • Dahms expressed frustration that online poker and casino were still illegal in Germany. He said that given both poker and casino were at least as big as sportsbetting in the country, there is a real need to regulate the markets.
  • Catherine Colloms suggested that the fragmented structure of the whole gambling industry has meant that it has not actually listened to what government has been telling it over the years. She said that each sector had been approaching government determined to give its own message rather than listening to what the politicians wanted.
  • Colloms said that so much in fighting between the different gambling sectors, caused in part by differing taxation and regulatory regimes, was preventing the industry from communicating with a clear voice. Collums added that while the different sectors could usually agree to general principles, when it came down to securing the details there would be numerous disagreements.
  • Providing and outsider’s perspective, Chris Searle said that industries tend to deal with crises when they come along and then go back to the day jobs when they have passed. He suggested that instead that someone’s day job should be making connections and trying to stop the crises before they happened.
  • Searle suggested that the gambling industry should go back to basics when dealing with politicians and work out what it is that they offer society. While he suggested that providing leisure entertainment was perfectly valid, he also said that the industry should try and use its mastery of mathematics and it’s ability to improve numeracy.

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