The Campaign for Fairer Gambling is being relaunched to address issues in the US market, according to Founder Derek Webb.
The gambling reform campaign was initially set up to tackle fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in the UK, targeting a ‘poorly designed policy’ allowing the electronic gaming machines to be legalized with a maximum stake of £100 ($124.43) per spin.
Webb’s crusade in the UK proved successful as the maximum stake was eventually reduced to £2 ($1.24) per spin, resulting in the annual revenue on FOBTs decreasing by £750m ($933.26m), a decline of 40%.
However, with the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) having handed out over £76m ($94.57m) in penalties since the start of 2022, and the betting and gaming space continuing to grow, Webb has decided to relaunch his Campaign for Fairer Gambling, with a focus on the US market this time.
Reflecting in a post on the group’s website, Webb said: “Meanwhile, some operators repeatedly breach regulations, some profit from black markets, and some are now major players in the newly liberalized US remote gambling market.
“But in the start-up greed-rush, some US states have overlooked these bad practices, ignored the lessons from outside the US, and have not adequately prepared to mitigate the negatives of remote gambling expansion.”
Subsequently, Webb is reforming the campaign to “provide the evidence-based approach to improve US remote gambling policy, legislation, regulation, and enforcement standards and reduce the associated harms”.
In preparation, Webb stated that the Campaign for Fairer Gambling has retained ‘boutique bipartisan DC firm’ Imperium Global Advisors for federal advice and the Doura-Schawohl Consultancy for state-level guidance.
