What can the industry do? First, we need to gain permission to
speak. What this means is that currently, the gambling industry is
considered “rapacious capitalists” with no interests in anything but
profit, and anything we do will be just be ignored.
Take the recent self-imposed ban on TV advertising during
football matches. This was responded to with just a “they should
do that anyway.” Currently, the U.K. gambling industry could do-
nate £1 billion to problem gambling and it would be met with just
a shrug. The industry needs to gain permission to speak by proving
to Parliament, Whitehall and Fleet Street (Parliament, government
and the press) that we are good citizens worthy of their attention.
Of course, it comes down to money. It always does. But unlike
donations to charities, which just exist as statements on company
accounts, the industry should invest in tangible stuff that provides
ongoing evidence of the industry’s good intentions—£5 million
setting up a residential treatment center for problem gamblers, and
£5 million setting up a fund to provide funding for grassroots
sport. These will provide the stories that will regain the industry’s
permission to speak.
Once that is achieved, the industry has to have something to
say more coherent than it provides jobs and taxes. It needs to create
a narrative of how gambling is part of the country’s cultural recre-
ational tradition and how it is happily indulged in by the 99 per-
cent majority.
To do this needs foresight and an understanding that unless
drastic action is taken now, the road to tobacco becomes very
short. Unfortunately, there are few gambling CEOs out there who
seem to understand this, so my predictions for the future of the
U.K. industry are not good.Steve Donoughue is CEO of http://www.GamblingConsultant.co.uk Lim-
ited, a 25-year consulting veteran to the gaming industry and a spe-
cialist in U.K. gambling politics. Donoughue is also the secretariat of
the Parliamentary All Party Betting & Gaming Group and a Ph.D.
candidate at the University of Westminster, where he is researching the
Gambling Act 2005. His views are his alone, not of any organization
or this publication.2000 ATTORNEYS | 38 LOCATIONS WORLDWIDE ̊The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon
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Covers U.S. and International MarketsWith hands on experience in Asia, Latin America and
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understanding gaming law than just operating a casino.
Our attorneys have diverse backgrounds in all aspects
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address casino operations, gaming manufacturing,
Internet gaming, AML, anti-corruption matters,
lotteries, charitable gaming, and Native American
gaming. Our backgrounds include representing casino
owners, operators, executives, gaming manufacturers
and suppliers, private equity fi rms and investment
banks on gaming related matters.What can
the industry
do? First, we
need to gain
permission
to speak.
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