Phoenix Star

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CEO Peter Kesitilwe recently told iGB he hopes the first Africa Safer Gambling Week will be the beginning of a new era of collaboration that boosts player protection efforts.

“We want Africa Safer Gambling Week to create a platform for ongoing cooperation,” he said.

“The campaign may run for a week, but responsible gambling must be practised throughout the year.”

About Phoenix Star

In addition, regulated sportsbooks appear to have a vested interested in mitigating the risk of violent threats associated with athlete harassment. Joe Maloney, president of the Sports Betting Alliance, told iGB on Tuesday that its members are investing in tools and partnerships that help identify bad actors and share information with leagues and other stakeholders.

Another proposed action from the leagues centres around the creation of a standardised, cross-operator reporting platform that will allow players, unions and leagues to “securely transmit verified evidence of threats” to state regulators.

Maloney leads an association that features sportsbook powerhouses such as DraftKings, FanDuel, Fanatics and Bet365.

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Online gambling participation over four weeks reached 39% (16% excluding lottery-only players), while in-person gambling participation was 29% (18% excluding lottery-only players). 

Top non-lottery activities during the period included scratchcards (13%), betting (10%) and online instant win games (8%). 

Betting skewed male, with 16% of men gambling on betting compared to 4% of women. Age-wise, overall gambling participation peaked among 45- to 64-year-olds (56%-59%), when excluding lotteries the highest participation was among 35- to 44-year-olds (35%).