Irish Gambling Operators Exercise Self-Restraint, Call For Regulation
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Online gambling operators in Ireland can't take credit card deposits from customers and they can no longer advertise to them during sporting events. The Irish Bookmakers’ Association”s members are enacting the organization's recommended measures in order to protect players.
IBA members planning to adopt the new code include Boylesports, Paddy Power, Flutter Entertainment, Ladbrokes, Bet365 and The Kindred Group.
Entain, Flutter and Kindred operate US-facing online gambling brands in Ireland. They accept credit card deposits and advertise during sports matches. Each state has its own regulatory policy. The current oversight is provided by offshore regulators. Most states have relatively loose rules about advertising and payment methods. The online sports betting arms of these brands all have similar practices in the US.
Self-regulation and outside regulation are not mutually exclusive. Online gambling is new in the US and the government regulators are inexperienced. The US iGaming market is almost the Wild West right now. Ireland may be even more untamed. Operators in both countries can learn from what happens when industries fail to adequately self-regulate.
In Canada, it was legislation prohibiting email spam in 2014, then wide-ranging data privacy rules benefiting EU citizens in 2018, and California in 2020. The 2020 California Consumer Privacy Act has made it more difficult for marketers to use PII data to create personalized gambling experiences. Online gambling operators complain about how hard it is to meet customer expectations in the age of data Privacy.
US operators should follow the example of their Irish counterparts and enact self-regulation measures.
