As noted by Kindred Head of Corporate Affairs Tom Banks on the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) website, the group’s data shows there was no increase in customer harm detection during the tournament in Qatar.
Kindred explained that 45% of its UK customer base had at least one voluntary control tool on their account in the third quarter of 2022, but over the last 90 days including the World Cup, this figure has increased to 57%.
The total represents a 185% increase from Euro 2020, when around 20% of its UK customers were using responsible gambling (RG) tools.
Kindred added that the results are ‘similarly promising’ for under-25s, where there is often a ‘large focus in the debate.’ In Q3 2022, 40% were using at least one voluntary tool, with that number up to 58% in the last 90 days including the World Cup.
That is a 346% increase from the 14% who were using RG tools during Euro 2020.
“We all know that betting is a popular pastime for Brits,” said Banks. “Almost half of all adults engage in some form of gambling - from playing the lottery, having a flutter on the football or horse racing to playing online casino games. For many, it forms part of our digital entertainment budget for the month - competing with the purchase of films, sport or music.
“The last thing that Kindred – a listed PLC - wants is players suffering harm with their gambling. Everyone loses when someone loses control of their betting. However, claims that problem gambling is in our interest or that half of our revenue comes from problem gamblers are wide of the mark, lack any factual foundation and actually make it harder to solve the underlying issue.
“And while things are changing at pace, there remains a lack of evidence in the debate that allows for poorly sourced headlines such as inevitable increasing levels of problem gambling or an explosion in unaffordable spending around tournaments like the World Cup.”
