The 8th annual GIGSE has closed in Montreal with a panel of industry leaders discussing the impediments that might cause problems to the continued growth of online gambling, including the US legality situation, the lack of transparency and uniform business reportage, the monopolistic and hypocritical practices by governments and states.
Other obstacles to the expansion of the online gambling business include: dangers of a perception that the sector is volatile in a stock exchange sense, lack of regulation and industry cohesion, lack of depth and strength in available management talent, lack of consciousness for licensing jurisdictions in overseeing the conduct of companies under their authority, lack of uniform metrics for the financials of the industry, lack of positive PR to combat negative perceptions of gambling, insufficient and not well coordinated lobbying.
The panel accepted the huge potential for the expansion of online gambling and supported a message voiced by Michele Oster of Trident Group that said “trust is of paramount importance for the player, the public and the investor when it comes to the online gambling industry.”
“The best people to create that are the companies currently involved in the business through honest and professional conduct and respect for the customer, if necessary enforced by regulation,” said Oster.
Earlier in the week, a panel chaired by eCOGRA Chairman Michael Hirst and that included Andrew Beveridge, Ted Loh and Roy Cooke as player representatives, discussed the need for online gambling operators to join regulatory initiatives in order to afford online players additional protection.
Loh said that trust is critically important in the online gambling space, and that several national licensing jurisdictions were failing players by not responding to complaints and failing to effectively police the activities of their licensees.
“Too often players are treated badly by an operator, and when they turn to the licensing jurisdiction for relief they are ignored,” he said.
In a erlier session, Warwick Bartlett of Global Betting and Gaming Consultants looked at statistics conveying the magnitude of the industry\’s growth in recent times as well as at the potential of cross-marketing through convergence of company interests and mergers.
Bartlett said it is important for the industry that companies work harder on building trust and respect with shareholders, governments and regulators, and noted the lack of an effective body that could speak authoritatively for the industry and create a better perception of transparency and professionalism.
“Investors need more information than an annual report. The industry needs to talk with one voice, and commercial rivalries need to be put aside in the interests of providing better consolidated information that creates an improved perception of the business. We need to interact with our various audiences more than we do and in such a way as to combine our strengths,” he said.
“The online gambling genie is out of the bottle and has many positives: It is now an industry of financial consequence; it creates employment and enables the government to tax and spend; it is a widely accepted pastime and governments should not criminalize what is really ordinary behaviour. Most citizens want legalization and not prohibition,” he added.
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