Six leading gambling affiliate sites in the US have announced the formation of a new trade association – the Responsible Gambling Affiliate Association.
A group of industry-leading marketing companies, including Gambling.com, Catena Media, Better Collective, oddschecker Global Media, XLMedia, and Spotlight Sports Group, created the organisation in a bid to ‘champion responsible gambling marketing and advertising practices’.
Michael Daily, CEO of Catena Media, commented: “Affiliates are vital to the overall industry. Catena Media is proud to be a founding member of the RGAA, an association committed to promoting responsible, positive wagering experiences through legal, regulated operators.”
Aiming to ‘make it possible for gambling affiliates companies to influence sensible regulation and protect consumer best interest’, the RGAA and its initial members has already announced plans to add more companies to the organisation.
The RGAA’s first move is to appoint a President to lead the Association, helping shape affiliate practices in the future, and ensuring the needs of its members are heard. The RGAA has not yet released a timeline for this appointment.
Charles Gillespie, CEO of Gambling.com, noted: “All stakeholders in the American online gambling market need to understand the critical role affiliate companies play in helping regulated online gambling operators achieve their growth targets.
“Gambling.com Group is proud to be part of the new Responsible Gambling Affiliate Association to ensure that standards remain high among our peers and that the voice and message of the affiliate marketing community is heard loud and clear.”
Once a President has been appointed, the RGAA will work under five strategic pillars:
● Consumer Protection, Empowerment, and Choice: work to encourage players to use locally licensed regulated operators, increase customer service standards, and promote operator innovation to improve the consumer experience.
● Advertising Codes of Conduct: continuing to work within advertising codes introduced to protect consumers while ensuring these marketing practices meet the commercial requirements of the industry.
● Responsible Business Practices: conduct business in a way that advocates for responsible gambling for the industry as a whole and the consumer.
● Industry Education: create initiatives to increase awareness of the role of gambling affiliates in the industry. One of the ultimate aims of this pillar is to invite other businesses to be involved.
● Promotion of Competitive Gambling Markets: ensuring that online gambling markets are open and competitive to provide consumers with a range of options.
Mark Frank Pedersen, CEO of Better Collective North America, added: “We are committed to doing everything possible to help empower our industry to promote gambling as entertainment and enable our customers to enjoy our products and services responsibly.
“Having the industry come together with a unified approach to creating standards and guidelines puts the best interests of our consumers, customers, and their families at the forefront. Not only is this the right thing to do for our customers, it’s the best thing to ensure the success and longevity of the industry and our businesses.”
This forms just one of a number of regular updates covering an array of industry issues and jurisdictions by Steve Chen, Sam Bentham and the rest of the team at Major League Content.
