U.S. gambling experts came together for the SBC Summit Lisbon panel Can Compliance Influence Regulation in the U.S. to discuss the state of regulations and the relationships between operators and regulators.
This panel’s focus came at a time of significant regulatory activity in the U.S. gambling market, including Nevada regulators’ grilling of Penn Entertainment.
When Jessica Welman, Editor at SBC Americas who moderated the panel, asked if operators are doing more to work with regulators and proactively come up with sustainable and safe gambling policies, George Rover, Executive Director, Responsible Gambling Affiliate Association, said, “operators are taking things very seriously. There’s progress going every day, there are examples in many states, especially Michigan and New Jerset, using AI to promote safe gambling issues. A lot of work to be done still, but there’s progress made.”
Welman asked about how the regulator receives information and addresses concerns, to which Rover replied, “if any person from a gambling organization, C level or lower, comes to address responsible gaming issues, it is noticed by the regulator. But it’s not only about people gathering data and reporting responsible gambling issues. Every operator needs to make their own plan about how to identify and address issues through technology, such as AI.”
Rover was Deputy Director of the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement from 2011 until his retirement in 2016. He oversaw the agency’s Service Industry Licensing, Casino Prosecutions, Internet Gaming and Technical Services Bureaus. He played a critical role in the launch of igaming in New Jersey in 2013. Rover’s legal expertise has qualified him to speak at many different events in the past, including on other regulatory panels at past SBC summits.
Representing the operator’s perspective on the relationship with regulators, Liron Warhaftig, Vice President, Risk & Fraud Prevention at BetMGM, said, “as much as an operator will take proactive steps, as long as there aren’t clear guidelines, there will always be a conflict between taking risk and creating friction vs. losing to competition. So there is a fine balance between what an operator should do to promote safe, sustainable gaming, and still remain competitive and profitable. But, for now, it’s still open to the operator’s interpretation. As much as operators need to be proactive, I think there needs to be more clarity and guidelines from the regulators.”
“It’s a constantly evolving subject, where are the boundaries?,” Brett Calapp, CEO of NAI, Bally’s, said. “We want to operate on the whole playing field, and we’ll use the field to create an amazing playing experience. So, we really have to think about how we continue to evolve and do a better job in offering responsible gambling. The U.S. is still young, so from a Bally’s perspective, we look at the UK and other markets we operate in.”
Calapp added, “we are obviously trying to create a profitable business. As a public company, we have the obligation to create profit for our shareholders. But we should pay our fair share of taxes and duties. When it is unfair and hard, players are going to migrate to offshore, cheaper options. But if we want to create all these jobs and bring tax money into the state, it must be fair.”
Calapp shared his ethos with CDC Gaming: “As a public company, we owe our shareholders to maximize profitability. But we also owe it to society to create a great, sustainable responsible gaming experience. And the two do not compete against each other. If we think about creating a great, safer experience for the player in the long term, it’s going to result in more activity for us, more profits, more taxes, and more shareholder value. Setting those foundations is the right thing to do at the end of the day.”
