This month’s edition of the Martin Lycka Safe Bet Show featured Adam Warrington, Vice President of Responsible Gaming at Underdog Sports.
During the episode, Warrington discussed his time at Michigan State, the lessons he learned leading responsible drinking campaigns at Anheuser-Busch, and finished by talking about his work at FanDuel and Underdog Sports.
Responsible drinking vs responsible gambling
After discussing what Warrington learned while studying at Michigan State, Lycka turned the conversation towards Warrington’s time at Anheuser-Busch which produces Budweiser.
Warrington explained how he led the Drink Wiser campaign that encouraged drinkers to plan a safe ride home and not drink drive, as well as the company’s emergency drinking water program which saw the brewery can fresh drinking water for use in emergencies.
Lycka then asked what he thought the differences were between problem drinking and problem gambling.
“The understanding isn’t there. We need to evolve the dialogue between operators, regulators and the general public on what responsible gambling looks like, how friends and family can intervene and of course, more importantly resources available to anyone who might want help to talk to someone who’s an expert about their gambling,” said Warrington.
He also talked about how in the alcohol industry brewers are only one step in the chain from production to consumption and therefore do not have data on how many drinks someone is having. On the other hand, gaming companies can collate far more data on consumers’ gambling habits which can be used to shape responsible gambling efforts.
FanDuel Ambassador Program
The pair then moved on to discuss Warrington’s more recent roles. He spent just under two years at FanDuel as VP of Responsible Gaming before moving on to Underdog in September 2023.
At FanDuel, he helped to develop the company’s Responsible Gaming Ambassador Program and Lycka asked Warrington to expand on what makes a successful ambassador for responsible gaming.
He explained that there are two types of ambassadors that work. The first is someone who has lived experience of the problem and the second is a “prominent leader” in their sport that can convey a message that will resonate with consumers.
Touching more on the first point, he highlighted FanDuel’s work with broadcaster Craig Carton who has had widely publicized issues with problem gambling.
“Craig has been very open about his issues with problem gambling, that he’s an addict and wants others to learn from his story. Problem Gambling, as you and I both very well know Martin, can impact anybody, it doesn’t matter whatever your status may be. Lived experience has an authenticity that is second to none,” added Warrington.
Underdog’s responsible gambling fund
Lycka then moved on to Warrington’s current role at Underdog and asked him about the responsible gaming strategy of the daily fantasy sports group.
Last year, the firm launched a new $1 million investment fund called GuardDog to support start-ups that are focusing on new solutions to address problem gambling.
“We need more technology to implement into our platforms to detect consumers who might be having issues to intervene with those consumers and if they need assistance for treatments to help them on a treatment path as well,” explained Warrington. “We’re really wanting to help fund startups to focus on R&D technologies to help implement them both into underdogs platform [and] anyone in this space because responsible gaming at the end of the day is always going to be collaborative.”
GRIT Act
Before bringing the episode to a close, Lycka questioned Warrington about Underdog’s support of the controversial GRIT Act, which proposes applying funds generated by the federal excise tax on sports betting to problem gambling funding.
Underdog became the first operator to publicly support the act, which has met criticism from the American Gaming Association and Congresswoman Dina Titus.
“There are currently no federal funds allocated for problem gambling,” said Warrington. “And I’m proud to say Underdog supports directing existing tax dollars as this industry grows in the United States, We need protected federal dollars to aid research, prevention and treatment.”
