Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council, which owns Foxwoods Resort Casino, shown at a forum on gaming expansion at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. The Betting and Gaming Council is a standards body committed to championing safer gambling. We represent U.K. Licensed betting shops, casinos and online operators.
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Those who tend to place bets on a regular or even semi-regular basis will no doubt have a solid idea of who the United Kingdom Gambling Commission are and what it is that they do. Many will be less clued up on the Betting & Gaming Council, however, not least of all because it has only been around since 2019 and is therefore relatively young.
In a nutshell, the organisation is the single industry association that represents online gaming businesses, casinos and betting shops. Around 90% of betting companies fall under their jurisdiction and they attempt to champion industry standards to ensure a safer, fairer and more enjoyable betting experience for customers.
Formed By Combining Two Bodies
On the 1st of August 2005, the Association of Remote Gambling Operators and the Interactive Gaming, Gambling and Betting Association decided to merge to create the Remote Gambling Association. Based in London and Brussels, the newly formed body was there to represent the interests of the online gambling industry in Europe.
The whole purpose of the RGA was to offer a single voice for the gambling industry when it came to things such as legislation and regulation. It was specifically about representing online companies so as not to step on the toes of the Association Of British Bookmakers. The ABB, as the name suggests, was the representative body for land-based bookies.
Around 85% of bookmakers were part of the ABB, whose aim was to ensure that integrity and safety were two of the main watchwords for the organisation. Obviously there was a degree of crossover between the two bodies, given that they were both looking after the best interests of the two main sides of the gambling industry.
As time passed, the ABB became less and less relevant. This was because very few bookmakers only operated in real life without any sort of online presence. As a result, the two organisations risked standing on each others’ toes when trying to fight against legislation and regulation. The RGA was the more powerful of the two thanks to the proliferation of online betting, but it wasn’t that simple.
It soon became an inescapable fact that the betting industry as a whole would be best represented by a unified body rather than two separate ones. The former Chair of the Association of British Bookmakers, Paul Darling, said that he hoped the creation of the Betting & Gaming Council would allow for the ‘sharing of best practices across the industry’.
The Aims Of The BGC
The betting industry employs more than 100,000 people and is worth in the region of £14 billion to the economy in the United Kingdom. It’s little surprise, therefore, that the industry as a whole feels that it needs an organisation that is there to ‘champion’ its causes. On top of that, the Betting & Gaming Council is also designed to ensure punters get the best experience possible.
Problem gambling will always be one of the chief issues facing the industry, so the BGC set that out as being one of the things that it wished to tackle upon its formation. By combining the effort of the various gambling firms it was hoped that the public’s trust in the industry would increase accordingly. In order to achieve that, the BGC set up a new ‘code of conduct’ for members.
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The Industry Working Together
As soon as the Betting & Gaming Council was set up, those behind its launch confirmed their plans to work as closely as possible with the rest of the betting industry. One of the biggest parts of the industry is, of course, its regulatory body: the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. Immediately they set out their desire to create a nationwide approach to combat problem gambling.
A big part of the plan was to work closely with the Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust as well as GamCare, the gambling support charity. With about 90% of the betting firms in the UK signed up to the organisation, the ‘enforceable commitments’ that it laid down were seen as a chance to bring the majority of the industry inline with the same aim of promoting the idea of safer gambling.
Whether it be anti-money laundering aims or the need to live up to the code of the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling, the Betting & Gaming Council was created to ensure a united voice in the gambling industry’s approach to getting things right. Working alongside financial services and advertising bodies is also a key part of the BGC’s approach.
The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) and Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) are to be wound up and replaced by the Betting and Gaming Council, a new UK-facing operator body that aims to act as the industry’s mouthpiece.
The Betting and Gaming Council aims to be fully operational by the Autumn, and will be dedicated to ensuring operators offer a safe and entertaining gambling experience for customers. It aims to set high standards for tackling gambling related harm, and build consumer and public trust in the sector.
It will replace the RGA, the body formed in 2005 through the merger of Association of Remote Gambling Operators (ARGO) with the Interactive Gaming, Gambling and Betting Association (IGGBA), and the ABB. Together the two bodies count over 100 operators, ranging from independent bookmakers to listed corporations, among their members.
“I welcome the creation of the Betting and Gaming Council which will enable the sharing of best practice across the industry and significantly increase the capability for innovation on new safer gambling measures,” ABB chair Paul Darling QC said.
Membership of the new body will be open to all gambling operators with a UK licence. The Betting and Gaming Council claims it will represent over 90% of the gambling sector, excluding lotteries. These members will be required to adhere to a new code of conduct to ensure they uphold the highest possible operational standards.
The Betting and Gaming Council is to be led by Brigid Simmonds OBE (pictured), who will serve as its chair. Simmonds currently serves as chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, having held the position since 2009.
She previously served on the Sport England Lottery Panel, and the main board of Sport England, a government body that encourages people to participate in sports. She has also chaired the British tourism industry association Tourism Alliance and is a former trustee of gambling charity GambleAware. Simmonds was named an Officer of the British Empire for her services to sport in 2006.
“I am excited to be joining the Betting and Gaming Council as its first chair,” Simmonds said. “The gambling industry is a hugely significant contributor to the leisure industry and to the economy. There are however, critical issues facing the sector and that is why I will ensure that creating a safe gambling environment is the top priority.
“I will be listening to all stakeholders to ensure that the Betting and Gaming Council is leading the industry in identifying effective measures to protect customers,” she continued. “I firmly believe the UK regulated gambling industry should be recognised as the world-leading industry in terms of safer gambling.”
RGA chair and bet365 co-CEO John Coates hailed Simmonds’ “outstanding track record” in her career to date.
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“I know she will drive co-operation across the industry on all safer gambling initiatives as it continues to come together to collectively address the challenges it faces,” Coates said.
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Darling added that her credentials with the Beer & Pub Association “speak for themselves”.
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“She will bring great insight to the new association as it focuses on building public trust in gambling.”