DAZN seeks safer gambling lead as UKGC steps up industry pressure

Having launched three months ago, DAZN Bet continues to seek a broadening of its senior management and skill sets. 

The firm, the sportsbook arm of international sports streaming service DAZN, has advertised that it is recruiting for a Head of Safer Gambling vacancy.

Reporting to DAZN Bet’s Director of Customer Operations, the SG Head will manage all aspects of the company’s safer/responsible gambling policy. 

This will include ‘proactively identifying’ any customers that show signs of being at risk of problem gambling and providing support and guidance on options to manage said accounts.

In a Linkedin post promoting the role, DAZN said that it will be ‘critical in ensuring that the automated tools and processes are not only robust but seamless to the customer’.

“The Head of Safer Gambling is key to ensuring that DAZN Bet meets its Social Responsibility regulatory requirements and positions itself as a leading operator by providing a safe and responsible gambling environment for its customers,” the statement said.

The description further outlines that the Head of Safer Gambling will manage operational player safety procedures, set KPIs around customer protection and general lead and manage the team and facilitate cross-company communication.

The group added that the ideal candidate would be someone with ‘previous experience of running Safer Gambling teams in a Tier 1 betting & gaming operator’.

This suggest a continuation of the group’s recruitment policy which has seen a number of experienced industry veterans from several operators join its ranks, including CEO Kemp (former CEO, BoyleSports and MD, UK Tote Group) and EVP of Betting Ian Turnball and Chief Technology Officer Sandeep Tiku (both former Entain executives).

DAZN Bet made its first market launch back in August, entering the UK’s betting and gaming space with its beta product, intending to use the country as a testing ground for the offering to be further developed.

Mark Kemp, CEO of DAZN Bet, said at the time: “The initial launch of DAZN Bet is the start of an exciting journey across media and sports betting and further delivers on commitments we have made to revitalise sports viewing for fans.”

Over the past year, and in the months since  DAZN Bet’s UK operations began, however, the UK Gambling Commission has become increasingly vigilant against operators in breach of social responsibility requirements.

Firms hit by the UKGC’s regulatory enforcement over the past 10 months have included Entain (£17m), Smarkets (£630k), LeoVegas (£1.32m), 888 (£9.4m) and Sky Bet (£1.17m).

This, coupled with the potential publication of the Gambling Act review White Paper after nearly two years in development, has placed a heavier emphasis on social responsibility for gambling companies.