RGA chief: Affiliates are an afterthought for regulators

Chief Executive of the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) thinks that gambling regulators have not given much consideration to gaming affiliates.

Clive Hawkswood was speaking as part of a panel at the Betting on Sports Conference in London last Friday, discussing potential regulation of the affiliate market.

When asked about the current landscape for affiliates, Hawkswood said: “As regulators have gradually started licensing across Europe, affiliates have been treated as a secondary issue. Because they’re not that well informed about the industry, most regulators haven’t grasped how important and central affiliates are to the industry.

“While they’re getting to grips with what you might say are the bigger issues, they’re starting to move down on to that next level. The Gambling Commission very recently published what was almost like a catch-up discussion paper on virtual currencies, eSports and social gaming. The next time they do one of these discussion papers, they will try to pull together issues they currently don’t have enough confidence talking about, which affiliates could be dragged into.”

Hawkswood also said he “wouldn’t advise regulation, as once they’ve got their claws into you, there will be no end to it,” and advised for a trade association to be set up by affiliates.

On a separate note, Hawkswood went on to say that the RGA plans to have a database listing all online gamblers to have self-excluded set up by the end of next year, where operators will not be able to input names into the system, but the names will be placed into the system automatically.

Hawkswood said: “One of the issues there is how we accommodate affiliates. How do affiliates get access to the site? An affiliate would advertise to the consumer, but the company would get the blame.”