16 November 2020

GVC Wins EGR Safer Gambling Operator of the Year

GVC Holdings, the global sports betting and gaming group, is delighted to announce that it has been awarded Safer Gambling Operator of the Year at EGR’s Operator Awards 2020. The awards, which recognise B2C operators for setting the standard in categories ranging from customer service to safer gambling, were held virtually from 11 to 12 November 2020.

This year’s awards were the first time that a Safer Gambling Operator category has featured. The category consisted of 12 operators and was designated as one of the event’s ‘Headline Categories’, having been assessed at a judging day where finalists were asked to present their entries to EGR’s independent panel. In choosing GVC for the inaugural award, EGR’s judges pointed to the following milestones the Group has achieved over the past year:

• Introduction of the whistle-to-whistle advertising TV ban;
• Increased donations on research, education and treatment; and
• Implementation of effective player protection policies

The award follows the Group’s recent shortlisting for Socially Responsible Operator of the Year at EGR’s North America Briefing and Awards event in October, reflecting the educational and responsible gambling work being undertaken by the GVC Foundation US.

The news also coincides with the Group being renamed as Entain plc, reflecting its ambition to be the world-leader in sports betting and gaming entertainment. As part of this, the Group has launched a new Sustainability Charter, which is based around five cornerstones, including a commitment to continue to take the lead on responsible gambling.

Grainne Hurst, Group Director of Corporate Affairs, commented:

“Guaranteeing the highest possible levels of player safety and protection is at the heart of what GVC does. We are therefore delighted to receive further independent recognition of the great work our teams deliver in this area.

“However, we will not be resting on our laurels. As announced last week, we have launched our Advanced Responsibility & Care programme and have set out plans for responsible gambling to be incorporated into Group-wide bonuses from 2021.”

GVC’s extensive work in the area of responsible gambling form part of the Group’s Changing for the Bettor strategy, which is comprised of seven core pillars:

• Understanding the problem and best solutions – Including a 5 year, multi-million-dollar project with the Division on Addiction, at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital.
• Educating our key stakeholders – Including the national roll out of youth education programmes with the charity GamCare – the largest project of its kind in the UK, as well as a, fully evaluated, state- school awareness campaign with EPIC Risk Management. We also co-fund the GamCare/YGAM youth education programme with other large operators – spanning 4 years.
• Promoting responsible attitudes – Leading the industry in agreeing a ban on pre-watershed gambling adverts on television, around live sports (the whistle to whistle ban). We are also the only operator to unilaterally end shirt sponsorship and perimeter boarding in UK football.
• Empowering customers – Conducted a full review of our safer gambling tools and making these more visible, easier to use and a more important part of our customer experience, and implementing new tools which include curfews, cooling off periods and maximum limits on slots.
• Funding treatment for those in need – First to announce a commitment to donate 1% of our Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) by 2022 to research, education and treatment (RET). The rest of industry has since followed our lead and committed to do the same by 2023.
• Championing responsible product design – Developing more responsible product design principles.
• Driving cultural change within our business – Ensuring that a safer gambling approach underpins all aspects of our business. In the UK we partner with EPIC Risk Management to provide Responsible Gambling training to our colleagues.

ENDS

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About GVC Holdings PLC
GVC Holdings PLC (LSE:GVC) is a FTSE100 company and is one of the world’s largest sports-betting and gaming groups, operating both online and in the retail sector.  The Group owns a comprehensive portfolio of established brands; Sports Brands include bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes, Neds and Sportingbet; Gaming Brands include CasinoClub, Foxy Bingo, Gala, Gioco Digitale, partypoker and PartyCasino. The Group owns proprietary technology across all of its core product verticals and in addition to its B2C operations provides services to a number of third-party customers on a B2B basis. The Group has also entered into a joint-venture with MGM Resorts to capitalise on the sports-betting and gaming opportunity in the US.  The Group is tax resident in the UK with licenses in more than 20 countries, across five continents.

For more information see the Group’s website: www.gvc-plc.com