Critics look to curb advertising
Swansea MP Carolyn Harris, chairwoman of a parliamentary group investigating the proliferation of fixed-odds betting terminals in the United Kingdom, decried the easy losses that can occur with FOBTs. Punters can bet up to £100 at a time on the machines. At that rate, Harris says, “These machines are capable of taking £100 every 20 seconds—that’s £300 every minute.”
Harris told the BBC News that electronic touch-screen machines make “phenomenal” amounts of money for the bookmaker but can leave the bettors empty-handed. “And the machine doesn’t give the punter the opportunity to stop and think about what they’re doing. It’s so rapid, it’s literally pressing a button.”
FOBTs first appeared in British betting shops in 1999, the BBC reported. In 2015, customers in the UK lost £1.7 billion (US$2 billion) on the machines. And though betting shops are limited to four machines per location, opponents say bookmakers have responded by simply opening more shops, often in depressed areas.
“When the bookies were on the high street and they were just doing horse racing and dog racing, they were part of the fabric of the community. Now they’re the scourge of the community,” Harris said.
Malcolm George, chief executive of the Association of British Bookmakers, defended his industry as well-regulated and staffed by people who are trained to spot compulsive gamblers.
“I think betting shops are probably the safest environment in which you can gamble,” George said. “I think if you look at the range of measures we have on our machines as opposed to, say, those in amusement arcades or casinos, they really are very effective and allow us to identify and spot people who can be getting into trouble with their gambling.”
A spokesperson for the government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport said lawmakers “will continue to monitor the effectiveness of existing gambling controls and will take further action if necessary.”
“In many ways we’d welcome an evidence-based debate around this,” said George.
Meanwhile, according to the Drum, bookies and broadcasters are ready to fight a proposal that would ban betting ads airing during daytime TV, when children reportedly are watching.
The UK Advertising Association said there’s no need for a ban. “We are open to the conversation and anyone putting new evidence around advertising gambling. Yes, advertising around online gambling has grown significantly but that hasn’t flowed through to any significant increase in problem gambling.”
Broadcasters have reaped £162 million (US$199 million) from gambling ads on so far this year, according to Nielsen figures cited by the Guardian.
The Daily Mail reports that gambling advertising grew fifteen times between 2005 and 2012 and the number of Britons with severe gambling problems has almost doubled, and is growing among people 18 to 24 because of online gambling and smartphone apps.
