August 6 – Gaming and betting giant GVC Holdings is donating club sponsorship assets from 42 to its UK clubs to GambleAware’s ‘Bet Regret’ campaign.
GVC Holdings has a number of major offline and online gambling brands including Ladbrokes, bwin and Sportingbet.
Club inventory that it will pass on includes assets from Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, Burnley, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United.
Patrick Kerr, Director of Safer Gambling at GVC Holdings, said: “Whilst we want football fans to be able to enjoy a bet, we recognise the importance of doing this in a safe, responsible way.
“Handing over this valuable inventory to GambleAware is a demonstration that we are committed to helping our customers bet in a safe and responsible way, and we look forward to continuing to promote the Bet Regret campaign in the future to help increase awareness about safer gambling.”
The move follows Paddy Power’s ‘unsponsorship’ campaign at Huddersfield in the English Championship and Motherwell in Scotland’s Premiership where the bookmaker is the clubs’ shirt sponsor but has chosen to leave the position ‘clean’.
This weekend the Scottish Professional Football League, will also remove Ladbrokes branding from interview backdrops, static and LED boards, replacing it with the Bet Regret campaign logo.
Marc Etches, chief executive officer for GambleAware, said: “We are delighted that GVC Holdings has made this move to support the Bet Regret campaign. With the number of opportunities to bet and exposure to messages associated with gambling being so prevalent in football, it’s incredibly important that football fans think twice about betting when drunk, bored or chasing losses.”
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