The protection of vulnerable individuals is at the heart of the Gambling Commission’s work, and last week, it presented a research, which makes some important insights into the gambling behaviour of young people, and more specifically, the role their friends and families play.
Additionally, the Gambling Commission announced that the timetable for Phase Two of the National Lottery Competition will be extended, thus allowing participants to enhance their proposals.
The UKGC Extends The Timeline for the Fourth National Lottery Licence Competition
Last week, the UKGC announced that the second phase of the National Lottery Competition will be extended. The deadline was prolonged after representations from applicants from the first phase, and the aim of the amendment is to ensure problem-free transition and the best competition possible.
According to the information released last week, the application period will be extended by four weeks, while the evaluation period will be prolonged by six weeks. The revision of the timeline was made with an eye to giving participants the chance to improve their proposals, and thus to guarantee the best competition. The Gambling Commission, on the other hand, will have more time to assess the proposals.
Thanks to the amendment of the timetable of the competition, the duration of the ongoing contract of Camelot Group will be extended by half a year. This is to say that the fourth licence is most likely to be kicked off in February 2024.
The British gambling regulatory body is set to announce the chosen participant in February, but whether they will observe this time limit will depend on the Coronavirus spread and its impact. Of course, the market feedback will also have an effect on the date when the chosen participant will be made known.
The competition for the fourth National Lottery licence started on the 28th of August 2020, and this move was necessitated by the approaching expiration of the third licence (2023). Prior to the amendments of the timeline, the preferred applicant was expected to become known in September 2021.
As we reported already, the Gambling Commission announced a number of key changes that will take into effect when the fourth licence is handed. These changes were introduced to guarantee the protection of players, maximise the profits for good causes, and the integrity of the National Lottery.
A New UKGC Research Studies The Gambling Behaviour of Young People
Last week, the gambling regulatory body of the UK came up with a report, which raises public awareness of the role family and friends play while shaping up the gambling behaviour of young children.
The research was carried by the global insight agency 2CV, and its purpose is to gain a better understanding of the experiences of vulnerable individuals, children, and young people using quantitive and qualitative methods.
In the report, which was published on Thursday, the UKGC has delved into different aspects of the gambling behaviour of children and young people aged 16-30. The 2CV research has found that young people are most likely to struggle with gambling-related problems when they become independent from their parents.
Based on the findings of the agency, young people’s friends and family have the most significant role while determining their proneness to engage in gambling activities. Contrary to what many people might expect, advertisements of gambling products have less of an influential role as most research participants describe them as a nudge or trigger to gamble rather than a reason why they took part in such activities for the first time.
The research also found that young people tend to show greater interest in gambling activities after they have witnessed or have been exposed to big wins or losses at a younger age. In such cases, the likeliest outcome of witnessing such gambling extremes is developing a far harmful or riskier gambling behaviour.
The 2CV research has also found that taking part in gambling activities lines up to a specific set of life milestone events, the likes of the increasing financial independence of young people and getting their first job and their involvement in gambling activities. Interestingly enough, the same also applies to family holidays.
According to the conclusions of the research, young children that were involved in some way in the gambling activities of other people are much more inclined to start gambling themselves.
As it turns out, the gambling behaviour of players does not stay the same all the time, and instead, it changes based on their personality and lifestyle, as well as their wins and losses.
As you can see, the main purpose of the research is to provide an insight into how children and young people get exposed to gambling, the activities they are mainly taken with, as well as the way their relationship with gambling changes.
The research, which explores the gambling behaviour of young people is part of a wider and continuing research programme, the aim of which is to examine the gambling behaviour of Brits and advance the knowledge about problem gambling. As a result, a set of measures should be introduced to guarantee the protection of children, young people, and vulnerable individuals.
The findings of the research will be used in addition to a number of measures that have already been introduced, including stricter age and ID verification, a ban on gambling with credit cards, as well as stricter rules about VIP schemes.