No one knows the exact day, but I can tell you this for sure:
The African gaming industry is going to get well regulated. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next year, but we’re not going to live the rest of our lives in a nearly Free market.
Last week, I got the opportunity to speak at ICE in London which is the biggest gaming conference in the world, In one of the talks, we had a discussion about the FAI and FA's decision to cancel sports betting sponsorship deals with sport betting companies.
And after the event, I started thinking about the effect of this decision and where it could lead to and as African operators what we can possibly learn from this.
A lot of decisions are being made around the world against the gaming industry, The FA, FAI, the Italian Gaming board suspends all betting advertisement on TV, Print, signage, board, and jerseys. Its a total shut down.
It's now harder for European sport betting companies to operate and advertise than ever.
How did it get here? what did the companies do wrong?
1. There was no proper branding: I think sports betting companies can and should do a better job with ads and information they are putting out, they just don't want to do it because most these companies are consumed with short term economics of profit.
2. Everyone is talking about responsible gambling, but few are actually doing something about it: In the UK it is estimated that there are more than 430,000 people with gambling-related problems.
I know in Africa, No one is thinking about this, and I understand we don't have that issue right now but we are going to have it if we don't start doing something about our ads, promotions, and actions.
What gaming companies in Africa should start doing:
1. Re-Branding: Betting companies need to start rebranding themselves as an entertainment company and not as a get rich quick scheme. It's a long term game but we need to start now and also betting companies and investors need to also know that like other businesses, it takes time to make a profit and take it easy with the misleading ads.
2. Making responsible gaming become louder: It's not enough to write a single text on the bottom of our website about responsible gambling, we need to educate, do videos, organize seminars etc.
I believe we can avoid the situation betting companies found themselves in Europe right now.
I wish you all the best!
Thank you for your attention.
Thank you for valuable post, i like it its very helpful with as.
ReplyDelete