BGC CEO: Operators are not “cashing in” during Covid-19 lockdown

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher has refuted accusations the UK gambling industry is “cashing in” on the coronavirus lockdown, having claimed online revenue is down by 30%.

In an op-ed for Politics Home, Dugher cited actions taken by BGC members as negating a potential increase, insisting fears of an online gambling spike were unfounded, while the industry has raised standards throughout the pandemic.

Dugher said: “At the start of the Covid-19 crisis, anti-gambling hardliners warned there would be a huge increase in gambling, that operators would ‘cash in on Covid’ and that marketing and advertising would be stepped up to ‘groom’ new customers to online betting. None of this is true.”

The BGC CEO claimed online gambling revenue has dropped by 30% since the pandemic, with the drop in total gambling by UK adults equivalent to a £100m a week, while advertising by operators during this period had dropped by 10%.

The BGC further confirmed its members will adopt a 25+ age filter for all online gambling advertising, as well as trialling detargeting technology online.

Member operators will also work with the Gambling Commission to create an industry-wide list for suppressing advertising on certain subjects.

BGC members have increased safer-gambling messaging across social media and direct communications, according to Dugher.

He said: “I appreciate that working from home is driving us all a little stir crazy at the moment, but one prominent anti-gambling MP recently even said it was right to ban all advertising of gambling because “you wouldn’t advertise heroin on TV”.

“I’m all for engaging with the industry’s critics, but in all seriousness – comparing things like the National Lottery or online bingo, that still advertise on the telly, with heroin is just plain daft,” Dugher added.

Last week, the BGC confirmed its members would cease all above-the-line marketing for a six-week period beginning on 5 May.