SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
A total of £13,209,805 in voluntary donations was received by GambleAware in Q3 of the 2022/23 financial year, with two familiar faces leading the table in terms of total contributions.
The charity explained that donations from the UK’s two largest operators, Entain and bet365, accounted for 90.4% of the total £13m figure, with the remaining 9.6% coming from a range of small to large operators.
Entain was once again the table leader for donations, somewhat unsurprising given its prominent market share in the UK retail and online sectors, with its Ladbrokes Coral holdings contributing £7m.
Donations from bet365’s three operating entities – Hillside (UK Sports) ENC, Hillside (UK Gaming) ENC and Hillside (Technology) Ltd – came in at £2.3m, £1.6m and £907,000, for a total of £4.9m.
GambleAware explained that the donations have been directed towards supporting its core objectives, saying: “All funds donated to GambleAware go towards activity which is delivered against the charity’s commissioning objectives.
“As part of our commitment to transparency and accountability, we recently published our commissioning intentions which set out our strategic commissioning approach for the National Gambling Treatment Service moving forward.
“These commissioning intentions support the delivery of our Organisational Strategy and are based on a robust understanding of population needs and the outcomes we need to achieve, to ensure the most cost-effective and impactful use of our resources.”
Additional firms to have contributed notable sums of money to GambleAware, between April and December 2022, were BetVictor, totalling £106,313, and Betfred with £50,000. Meanwhile, LiveScore Betting and Gaming donated £37,761 and In Touch Games contributed £42,300.
Entain and bet365’s fellow ‘Big Four’ UK brands, Flutter Entertainment and 888’s William Hill, were absent from the Q3 list, but have made substantial contributions in the past, weighing in with £17.4m and £4.5m in the FY2021/22 report.
Operators have until 31 March, 2023 to make an RET contribution to GambleAware before it finalises its Q4 and FY22/23 donations report, with the full list of donors handed to the UKGC in April.
So far, GambleAware has noted that the total industry contribution has been rising since 2020, attributed by the group to the commitment by the Betting and Gaming Council’s (BGC) largest members to increase their voluntary donations from 0.1% to 1% of total revenue.
However, with RET funding under the spotlight within the Gambling Act review debate, the charity has faced some hurdles – notably, the NHS made the decision to cut its funding for the organisation in early 2021.
Meanwhile, the charity has also made some choice words about the ‘inconsistent approach’ towards RET funding by the ‘wider gambling industry’ in recent years, despite the large donations made by the biggest firms.
As it stands, the largest firms donate the aforementioned 1% to GambleAware, whilst smaller firms with revenue under £250,000 are asked to contribute £250 at a minimum.
