GambleAware Debuts Second Phase of BetRegret Campaign

GambleAware, UK’s leading charity organization for quality assurance in the awareness prevention of gambling harm, has begun its second phase of BetRegret, a dedicated platform that was introduced to foster safer gambling practices across the county.

The second stage of the Bet Regret campaign was launched on Saturday, the 12th of September alongside the return of the world-famous English Premier League soccer season in England to target core sports betting fanatics. The first Tv ad for this campaign was aired during the Premier League season-opening match between Fulham and Arsenal.

Calling on Players to Think Twice Before Jumping the Gun

This new campaign dubbed “tapping out for time out” is aimed at an estimated audience of 2.4 million male sports bettors aged from 18 to 35 years old, and it consists of two Tv advertisements together with a radio and digital media campaign.

Television advertisements for this safer gambling drive will evoke some nostalgia and leverage the popularity of wrestling to dramatize the idea of ‘tapping out for time out’ in a bid to encourage sports betting fans to take a few minutes of thought before placing an impulsive wager. In the ads, wrestlers come to intercept unsuspecting sports bettors who are about to put their money on an ill-considered wager before the wrestler pins the bettor down until he accepts to ‘tap out’ to avoid ‘Bet Regret’.

Essentially, the purpose of GambleAware’s new campaign is to inspire behavioral change by encouraging sports bettors to pause briefly and think again in case they are having doubts about placing a bet that may later lead to regret.

A Research-Driven Campaign

The latest efforts by GambleAware are backed by rock solid data to make sure that the initiative has the desired impact for the players and the industry at large. GambleAware joined forces with Ipsos, a reputable analytics company that evaluated the success of the first phase of the campaign. Based on Ipsos’ research, while the target demographic was inclined to heed to the messages of the first phase, a lot more should still be done for instance through offering straightforward advice on safer betting.

After the return of sports, Ipsos analyzed gambling behavior on soccer, and from the data collected, 27% of the study subjects admitted that they are currently betting more than before COVID-19. Additionally, 62% of the respondents also said that they wagered on soccer in the month that had passed.

Likewise, FSA, the Football Supporters Association also offered more context on the betting matter from one of its surveys whose findings were published this past weekend as well. The FSA disclosed that 83% of fans admitted that their chances of betting on a game or team were higher if they watched the match at home. Furthermore, 73% of people in the research study also acknowledged that placing bets was so much easier at home particularly because of the accessibility of online betting in the UK.

GambleAware Continues With its Noble Mission

The Bet Regret public health campaign was first launched in February 2019 to raise awareness of problem gambling and assist in the reduction of the harms of impulsive gambling. The first phase of the initiative was followed up by a second wave drive later in August the campaign’s slogan was updated to ‘think twice or you’ll bet regret it’.

Later on, in January 2020, GambleAware and the FSA continued with their safer gambling mission by creating an online portal by the name; “Safer Gambling Hub” furnished with resources that sensitize soccer fans about the potential risks of irresponsible betting. At that time, GVC, one of the biggest gambling companies locally in the UK and across the globe backed the BetRegret campaign by donating branding rights from the partnerships that it had inked with soccer clubs.

Moreover, following the comeback of UK soccer in July this year after the Coronavirus hiatus, the gambling charity went hard on its safer gambling mission by steering media campaigns that ran with the slogans ‘start to regain control’, and when you’re there, but not there’.

July’s initiative aimed to increase awareness on the risks of impulsive gambling and treatment of problem gambling through reaching out to the National Gambling Helpline and the National Gambling Treatment Services. The campaign also offered knowledge of how to detect the signs that someone you know may be suffering from gambling addiction.