The Federal Drug Commissioner noted that German laws regarding addictive substances and sports betting were among the most relaxed in Europe, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. Blienert proposed an initial advertising ban and additional targeted measures against offending categories. The advertising industry opposed his claims, denying any need for legislative intervention.

Germany Has Relatively Lax Restrictions

According to Blienert, few other European countries treated alcohol and tobacco as liberally as Germany. The Commissioner added that addictive substances accounted for 150,000 deaths each year, and their impact on the country’s youth would continue to grow. Alcohol consumption in Germany is currently legal at age 14 with parental supervision.

Blienert called for comprehensive countermeasures to the alcohol and tobacco industries, starting with sensible youth protection and advertising restrictions. His immediate goal would be to remove ads online and in traditional media, at least during prime time, if not entirely. The Drug Commissioner also proposed that profits from alcohol and drug taxation should contribute to addiction prevention and counseling programs.

We need a real paradigm shift, a change of thinking when it comes to drugs and addiction policy.

Burkhard Blienert, Federal Drug Commissioner

Advertising industry representatives have already voiced their objections, disregarding any need for further safeguards. They argued that alcohol advertising already had adequate restrictions and that addressing young people was strictly prohibited. According to them, none of the categories required any new legislative action, as existing laws were already robust and included self-regulation requirements.

Gambling Addiction Remains a Contentious Topic

Sports betting also faced harsh criticism from Blienert, who insisted on improved youth and consumer protections. The Commissioner noted that one in eight adults in Germany. He acknowledged that federal governments had the last word in that regard, recommending a ban on all sports betting advertisements before 9 p.m., matching restrictions regarding online casinos.

This occasion is not the first time Blienert has tried to raise awareness of gambling addiction. In September 2022, he joined Germany’s Federal Center for Health Education, calling for a watershed ban on gambling advertising. He expressed concern regarding the rapid explosion in sports betting and gaming ads, particularly online, where the risk of addiction is significantly higher.

Any significant changes regarding gambling restrictions would likely require the input of Germany‘s new federal gambling regulator. The Gemeinsamen Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL) currently focuses on issuing licenses to trusted operators and rooting out illegal gambling operations. Once the initial rush to market is complete, the authority should be able to fully commit to enforcing existing regulations, undoubtedly playing a significant role in future legislative changes.

The Australian Football League (AFL) club has already spent the last two years showing its support for the initiative that aims to completely remove gambling advertising from sports. The fresh extension of the agreement will see the club spend the next two years continuing to reaffirm its commitment to put an end to the normalization of sports betting. 

The Initiative Is Supported by the Club’s Fans

The team has been the first AFL club to ink a partnership with the Reclaim the Game initiative that belongs to the government of New South Wales. So far, the club’s support for the initiative has been joined by many of its fans. Seven out of 10 Sydney Swans supporters believe gambling should not be included in the experience while nine out of 10 fans agreed about an overload of gambling advertising.

By deciding to continue the agreement, the club wants to raise even more awareness of the potential risks tied to gambling. They also wish to eliminate sports betting ads at their Sydney Cricket Ground home stadium. 

The decision is aimed at both men’s and women’s home matches. The club’s chief executive officer Tom Harley expressed his excitement to keep collaborating with GambleAware. The latter is now busy expanding its partnership with Sydney Swans’ women’s team.

Harley also spoke about the new partnership extension with GambleAware that will help the club continue its “important work in this area.” He described the partnership as one that will help their “ambition to provide a more family-friendly sporting experience” during all their home matches. 

How Was the Reclaim the Game Initiative Born?

The omnipresence of sports betting advertising and sponsorships has turned into a reality of our times. In 2021 alone, sports betting companies spent a grand total of $287.2 million on sports advertising. 

Youngsters are exposed to too many sports betting ads which causes many of them to consider betting a normal part of the sports-watching experience. Close to half of teenagers ages 12 to 17 watch gambling ads on TV while watching sports and races on TV every week.

GambleAware decided to collaborate with NSW sporting clubs and take an important stand against this phenomenon through the Reclaim the Game initiative which started in 2020. Their shared goal is to challenge the powerful impact of sports betting advertising on sports fans.

The Reclaim the Game initiative has attracted numerous partners in Australia’s A-League, the National Rugby League, the National Basketball League, and a series of important cricket competitions. 

So far, all of GambleAware’s partners have successfully turned down sports betting sponsorships and continued to express their commitment to tackling sports betting advertising at their home games. 

Last October, A-League Western Sydney Wanderers and Macarthur FC together with Cricket NSW joined the same initiative. 

Stats Perform, a leading sports data and analytics company, has received yet another Data Standards accreditation from the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA). This notably makes it the first company to ever achieve this accreditation three years in a row.

Stats Perform Receives Its Third Accreditation

The IBIA accreditation reflects Stats Perform’s devotion to integrity in sports data, as well as the company’s firm stance against fraud. The company’s products are used by a number of notable sports betting operators and sports federations around the world, making its commitment to integrity very important to the industry.

Stats Perform’s chief betting officer, Andrew Ashenden, commented on the accreditation, praising his team for achieving the standard for the third year in a row. Ashenden added that this shows why Stats Perform’s Betting and Opta sports data is used by so many pricing providers, sportsbooks and top sports federations.

Stats Perform is a long-term advocate for the highest standards of integrity and quality in sports data because we know it is critical for the accuracy and veracity of sports competitions and the betting markets that cover them

Andrew Ashenden, CBO, Stats Perform

The officer concluded that his team realizes the importance of accurate and trustworthy data to betting companies and sports leagues.

Stats Perform kicked 2023 off with an exclusive data deal with Tennis Australia, expanding its data distribution for licensed sports betting operators.

The IBIA Is Delighted by Stats Perform’s Commitment

The IBIA, meanwhile, praised Stats Perform for its commitment to integrity. Khalid Ali, the chief executive officer of the association, also shared his thoughts on Stats Perform’s performance. He congratulated the company on achieving accreditation for the third year in a row and pointed out that this is why its solutions are so popular.

Ali concluded that the IBIA believes the Data Standards protocols are the key to ensuring a better and healthier sports betting environment.

The IBIA consists of a few dozen gambling operators that are working together for a fraud and corruption-free betting industry. Many of the big gambling companies are a part of the association, with its members being responsible for more than 50% of all the regulated commercial wagering activity in the world.

A few days ago, the IBIA welcomed Simplebet as its latest member. The micro-betting specialist believes that integrity and trust are non-negotiable and, because of that, was excited to join the association. At the beginning of the year, the IBIA was also joined by BetJACK, a company operating sports betting in Ohio.

Coral Racing Club, a free-to-join racecourse ownership club for horse racing enthusiasts, has announced that it has surpassed 50,000 in just three months after its creation. The club proudly shared this exciting announcement on Twitter.

50,000 Members & Counting

The club has been quickly expanding ever since its creation in November 2022. As announced by Coral Racing Club, it now boasts a whopping 50,000 members and counting. The club’s simple concept has resonated with fans of racing, attracting many new users. The free-to-play aspect has further helped to sell the concept to the numerous horseracing fans across the United Kingdom.

Amid this exciting announcement, Coral Racing Club promised to continue with the Owner for the Day experiences and exclusive racing events. The company vowed to keep fans closer to the action throughout 2023.

As reported by Gambling Insider, Simon Clare, Coral’s PR director, commented on the announcement. He said that when his team launched the racing club, their primary objectives were to popularize horse racing among the customers of the Coral betting brand. As attested by the huge following the club now has, Clare and his associates have certainly achieved their goal.

Coral Racing Club Provides Premium Experiences to Racing Fans

Through Coral Racing Club, racing enthusiasts can experience a variety of racing-related experiences. Users can become the owners of a racehorse for an event. Before a Coral Racing Club racehorse enters an event, members vote on who the 10 owners will be. Most notably, temporary owners can win prize money if their horse wins an event.

Owners can also visit their horses at the stable and talk with the club’s professional trainers about the animals’ progress. Racing fans can learn more about the races in which the horse will participate and follow its journey.

In addition to the many behind-the-scenes opportunities and seeing everything that goes into training racehorses, club members have the chance to win free raceday tickets for a variety of events and may have their raceday hospitality costs covered.

Coral Racing Club is a venture of the Entain-owned sports betting brand Coral, which is famous for the exciting wagering opportunities it offers to customers. In November, for example, the company brought additional value to its players by introducing Bet Bundles, a set of five bets at a discounted price. This offering was released just before the FIFA World Cup and represented the company’s way of capitalizing on the exciting soccer event.

Maris Catania, an industry veteran with years of experience, will be joining the company as a safer gambling senior consultant, SG:certified announced.

SG:certified Welcomes Catania as Senior Consultant

Catania will be stepping into the office with an immediate effect and, as a safer gambling senior consultant, will be responsible for the company’s industry-leading content on safer gambling issues. She will be tasked with ensuring that this content is always relevant and effective.

The new appointee will leverage her experience in the industry, helping SG:certified bolster its portfolio of training, assessments, recommendations of best practices, benchmarking and research digest. Overall, Catania will help SG:certified’s clients get the safer gambling help they need.

As mentioned by the company, Catania has a wealth of experience in gaming and has worked in game integrity and safer gambling-related positions for over fourteen years. Prior to joining SG:certified, the hire worked as the head of responsible gaming and research at Kindred Group, a leading global operator.

SG:certified also emphasized that Catania has been doing a PhD on responsible gambling, consumer protection and harm markers, helping her cultivate further insight on the matter.

Catania Is Happy to Join SG:certified’s Experienced Team

Catania shared her thoughts on joining the responsible gambling tools provider. She shared that she feels thrilled to join its experienced and passionate team. The new hire believes that the company is poised to make a real difference – something she truly resonates with.

Catania concluded choosing to join SG:certified has been a no-brainer.

So, this company was a natural fit for me. I can’t wait to get started and help other companies get the benefits of the platform and build out safer gambling processes resulting in the implementation of better SG strategies.

Maris Catania, senior safer gambling consultant, SG:certified

Meanwhile, Laura Da Silva, SG:certified’s chief executive officer, welcomed Catania on board. The CEO said that she has always admired the new appointee’s passion for safer gambling and is extremely delighted to welcome her to the company. De Silva is sure that Catania has the needed experience to help SG:certified drive further change in the industry.

SG:certified is known for helping companies secure their offerings and make them safer for customers. The company provides its clients with all the tools and practices needed to ensure the safety of the end customers. To that end, it has been adding knowledgeable professionals to its team. Before Catania joined the company as a safer gambling senior consultant, the company welcomed Svend Aage Kirk as a partner.