The American Gaming Association (AGA) has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the European Casino Association (ECA) and the U.K. Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) to collaborate on shared industry values and priorities.
The first initiative under the MOU will be a law enforcement roundtable focused on combating illegal gambling.
Scheduled for January 2025, this roundtable will bring together industry leaders, law enforcement officials, and regulators to discuss the impact of illegal gambling on legal operators, consumer safety and the global financial system. The session will also explore strategies for enhancing cross-jurisdictional communication and developing actionable solutions to address these challenges.
That will be just the first project undertaken by the various industry associations. The AGA said in a release that the MOU formalizes a commitment among the three associations to address key issues facing the global gaming industry including illegal gambling, responsible gaming, innovation, and security. It will create a platform for undertaking joint research projects and bringing each organization’s staff and members together to share expertise.
“This new partnership is a significant step forward in our collective efforts to advance the legal gaming industry and protect consumers around the globe,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “By sharing our unique resources, we will expand our fight against illegal gambling to new fronts, work together to strengthen responsible gaming, and innovate around business best practices.
“By fostering dialogue and cooperation across borders, the AGA, ECA and BGC are taking a proactive approach to safeguarding the integrity of the legal gaming industry and ensuring its continued growth and success.”
“The European Casino Association stands united with the AGA and BGC in its commitment to addressing the key issues facing all gaming industry stakeholders,” added Erwin van Lambaart, chairman of the European Casino Association. “The ECA fully backs this initiative and supports the ongoing efforts to rigorously combat illegality within our industry, continuously strengthen player protections and security and ensure the creation of an environment that fosters innovation and growth within the gaming community.”
“This partnership marks a new chapter in our shared vision to build a world-class, trusted and sustainable betting and gaming industry,” concluded Betting and Gaming Council CEO Grainne Hurst. “Working together with the AGA and ECA, I am confident our shared knowledge and expertise will be vital to bolstering safer gambling standards while tackling the threat of the growing and unsafe unregulated gambling black market in the U.K.”
AGA publishes anti-sweepstakes policy, makes RG commitment
The AGA has been vocal about the need to combat what it interprets as illegal gambling in recent weeks.
In August, the association publicly confirmed its stance against sweepstakes-based wagering models amid their growing popularity. The AGA published a new policy statement in which it stated that it believes sweepstake operators circumvent state gambling laws and regulatory frameworks and lead to a loss in potential tax revenue for the industry, as well as failing to protect consumers and integrity of play.
“The lack of regulatory oversight presents many risks for consumers as well as the integrity and economic benefits of the legal gaming market through investment and tax contributions,” read the policy statement. “These sweepstakes-based operators have weak (if any) responsible gaming protocols and few, if any, self-exclusion processes.”
Meanwhile, in August, the AGA unveiled its new Responsible Gaming Intervention Effectiveness Scale (RG-IES) that aims to make it easier for RG measures across the industry to be evaluated.
The AGA, in cooperation with Bally’s, BetMGM and FanDuel, announced the scale that has been developed by professors Dr. Jonathan Ross Gilbert and Dr. Marla Stafford. The scale provides academics, industry members and others interested in responsible gambling with a new, research-based tool they can use to evaluate responsible gaming messages.
