Paddy Power co-founder and former boss Stewart Kenny believes the gambling industry is too slow to act on problem gambling, particularly among children, the Racing Post reports citing the former gambling executive’s comments in a BBC Radio 4 PM program focusing on underage gambling addiction.
Paddy Power’s parent company Flutter Entertainment (formerly Paddy Power Betfair) is one of the stars in a star-studded mega merger, the other being Canada’s The Stars Group, that will result in the formation of a $12.2 billion gambling behemoth with enormous international presence and a formidable portfolio of some of the world’s most popular gaming and sports betting brands, including Paddy Power, Betfair, PokerStars, and Sky Betting & Gaming.
Stewart Kenny Unleashes Fresh Wave of Gambling Industry Criticism
According to Mr. Kenny, the UK gambling industry is not doing enough to tackle problem gambling, an issue that has been seen grow significantly in recent years. In his comments, the former gambling executive paid special attention to the even more serious issue of children being overly exposed to gambling and suffering from problem gambling behavior and even addiction.
He told BBC Radio that “it’s normalising of gambling for children that’s dangerous” and that kids are exposed to a “constant barrage of advertising” that has nearly become part of a sports event itself, “making it normal for children to think that soccer and gambling are the same thing.”
According to data released by responsible gambling charity GambleAware, around 320,000 people in Britain can be classified as gambling addicts, and another two million are believed to have the potential to develop an addiction.
Moreover, the UK Gambling Commission estimates that around 55,000 British children under the age of 16 suffer from problem gambling. According to the regulator, 450,000 kids are gambling regularly, more than those found to have taken drugs, drunk alcohol, or smoked.
”We Missed the Problem”
Mr. Kenny was among the co-founders of Paddy Power in 1988. Back then, the company started as an operator of a chain of betting shops across Ireland and the UK, but grew its business over the years to add more products and expand its footprint across multiple other jurisdictions. Paddy Power combined with Betfair in 2016 in a multi-billion deal that created one of gambling’s powerhouses.
Mr. Kenny served as CEO of Paddy Power between 1988 and 2002. He then took the role of a non-executive director until August 2016, when he left the company. The former gambling boss has been extremely critical of the gambling industry in recent years, slamming it for the lack of proper responsible gambling policies. For instance, Mr. Kenny was among the most vocal proponents of the reduction of the maximum stake on the highly controversial fixed-odds betting terminals.
In his latest comments addressing the growing issue of gambling addiction, the former Paddy Power boss said that “children are a lot more likely to get addicted than an adult would be” and that he should have seen things much quicker and “should have been much quicker to act on these matters.” Mr. Kenny added that the industry “missed the problem, and it was a huge problem.”
The ex-Paddy Power boss’ comments came amid a backlash over the gambling industry’s advertising policies, which many believe are luring gamblers into dangerous wagering patterns that, in many cases, result in addiction or problem gambling behavior.
Late last year, the sector agreed to a voluntary whistle to whistle gambling advertising ban that would prevent the airing of gambling adverts during live sports broadcasts. Gambling critics argued that the measure was too little, too late and that more should be done to address the growing issues.
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