Days after the American Gaming Association revealed that 91% of sports bettors and 84% of all gamblers were aware of responsible gambling tools, the organization’s vice president for strategic communications and responsibility, Cait DeBaun, shared some less encouraging news.
“The research we came out with showed that gamblers find [the messaging] to be effective, but they are not engaging with the tools,” DeBaun said Thursday during an iGB-sponsored webinar titled “Elevating responsible gaming: How the industry can sharpen its player protection capabilities.”
She then added, “We need to find a way to engage customers. We need to make sure we're doing it in a way that works. Sometimes things sound good, but we risk either pushing customers to the illegal marketplace or it has the opposite effect and encourages risky behavior.”
Over the last five years, the AGA has taken an active role in responsible gambling, rolling out its “Have a Game Plan” campaign and recently updating its Responsible Gaming Code of Conduct. Operators, regulators, suppliers, and vendors are now tasked with finding a way to make responsible gambling tools a seamless part of the experience. To accomplish that, the tools have to be effective, frictionless, and not too big-brotherish.