Betting companies, like so many others, are facing uncertainty created by the coronavirus crisis. Will their profits decrease or, because people are confined at home, will they increase? Some, such as the UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on gambling harm, have warned of the danger of the crisis increasing problem gambling. Meanwhile companies like William Hill and Paddy Power have been reported to be encouraging betting on alternative sports such as table tennis, the Belarusian football league or Japanese baseball. In the US an online gambling advocacy group has even called for legalisation of online gambling to be speeded up because of the crisis. In the Netherlands the gambling regulator is going to impose an increased level of fines for companies that have been using the crisis with adverts such as ‘corona-free gambling’. And in Ireland there are reports of increased offers of free bets. There are some other signs of more responsible behaviour such as 888’s warning about the danger of increased problem gambling.

The APPG has called for a daily £50 limit to be placed by companies on a person’s gambling losses during the crisis. That might be a good idea at any time. Perhaps a legacy of the current health emergency might be a greater recognition of gambling’s harm and a greater readiness of governments to respond to their citizens’ concerns about it.

info@gx4.com 16 March