To Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA) leader Dr. Jennifer Shatley, it was clear something had to be done.
“College-age people, this is an audience that is either already engaged in sports betting or online gaming or largely will be in the near future,” Shatley told SBC Americas in an interview. “It’s an important audience, one that’s been mainly overlooked up until this program, in my belief.”
That’s why ROGA, the multi-operator association that Shatley spearheads as executive director, recently launched what it calls a National College Education Campaign aimed specifically at supplying that demographic with the resources, tools and support that they need.
“It’s important to have realistic expectations, to understand how to engage in gambling in a responsible way as entertainment and not as a way to make money and to really dispel a lot of the myths around gaming,” Shatley said. “This audience just hasn’t had that type of information targeted to them as of yet. Most college campuses have policies around alcohol and how to engage in that responsibly, but they don’t have anything around gaming.”
Employing industry leaders’ expertise
The National College Education Campaign is one of the first big collaborative efforts that ROGA and its member sportsbooks — bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel, Hard Rock Digital, PENN Entertainment, and Bally’s — has launched with other organizations. ROGA has teamed up with EPIC Global Solutions, Kindbridge Behavioral Health and the Responsible Gambling Council, all of which have their own expertise and experience in educating people about responsible gambling and related measures.
The RGC, for instance, has been conducting responsible gaming campaigns on university and college campuses across Canada for many years, giving the Toronto-based organization vital insight into how college-age people can be best reached and engaged. Shatley also notes that EPIC “humanizes and destigmatizes” problem gambling by sharing real-life experiences of athletes and gambling addiction.
“All of them have diverse expertise around a variety of subject matter that we want to touch on in this campaign, and all have experience in creating programs that resonate with this audience,” Shatley adds. “So they all fit perfectly within the comprehensive, holistic idea that was part of the program. And so they were the best partners for the job.”
Shatley was keen to stress that while the initiative is called the National College Education Campaign, it is aimed at all people of that age range, not strictly students enrolled in courses. There will be a student-athlete component aimed at that particular demographic, which Shatley notes has different needs than the general population, but it’s the stakeholders’ belief that young people in general need more guidance and support than they are getting.
“It’s important to have a foundational understanding of responsible gaming,” adds Shatley. “To have realistic expectations, to understand how to engage in it in a responsible way as entertainment and not as a way to make money, and to really dispel a lot of the myths around gaming.”
Framing gambling within financial health
The decision to extend the program to all people of college age reflects the recognition that the risks of gambling are one thread in the fabric of the challenges that young people face as they mature into adulthood and head out into the world on their own. As such, the campaign will focus not only on typical industry initiatives like problem gambling prevention and reduction but also on broader topics like financial literacy and budgeting.
Many studies about problem gambling conclude that a key definition of “problem” in that term relates to overspending or misuse of funds. Put simply, some people gamble at a rate about that which they can afford.
For example, recent research from Optimove ahead of the new NFL season found that two-thirds of people who bet on the NFL admitted that in the 2023 season, they wagered more than they could afford to or more than they wanted to lose. That was up more than 20% from last year’s mark of 45%.
Shatley says ROGA and its partners believe that better education on how gambling relates to financial health could help to address this concern.
“Financial literacy is completely and inherently linked to responsible gaming… This is a population that has newfound financial freedom.”
“Financial literacy is completely and inherently linked to responsible gaming, because it’s that idea of self-regulation and understanding that gaming isn’t a way to make money, as well as how to budget money and time. That’s tied to gaming but also to general life skills and overall financial well-being.
“This is a population that has newfound financial freedom and they need to have a better understanding of these financial concepts, whether they engage in gaming or not. These are important concepts for life.”
ROGA always looking to who needs gambling help next
Given that the campaign is targeted toward the college-aged demographic, the primary delivery channels of the National College Education Campaign will be digital. A website will offer freely accessible content including videos, toolkits and other offerings designed to engage a digital-first demographic. It’s all about meeting the audience where they are at.
That will be supported by in-person events and activations on campuses presented by partners such as EPIC. In addition, extended content will provide more in-depth dives in certain topics. “The idea is to help us understand the topics that are most engaging for this group,” added Shatley. “What are they wanting more information about? That will help us evolve the program as we move forward.”
While this campaign is the culmination of a great deal of work from ROGA’s members, its leadership and its partners with the specific aim of helping the college-age demographic, the work doesn’t stop. ROGA has mandated itself to always be searching for the next audience who needs increased support around gambling.
“We’ll always be looking at who is the next audience that we feel is under-served that should be getting this kind of information,” concluded Shatley. “The way you talk about responsible gaming should vary based on who you’re talking to and how they play. Looking at how we tailor messages that resonate with specific audiences is vital because it can never be a one-size-fits-all message.”
