American Gaming Association is calling for ads to include a national gambling helpline

NS American Game Association (AGA) Issued a new recommendation this week, urging game companies to include a national gambling helpline as part of their national advertising campaign.

While organizations enjoy gambling as a form of entertainment for most customers, helplines (12+) provide essential services to those who have problems attending gambling. Said that.

new AGA policy statement Encourage streamlined requirements for national advertising campaigns. This allows the operator to improve the readability of the disclaimer and emphasize the resources of gambling addiction more clearly.

Vice President of Government Relations and Gambling Policy Advisor Jessica Fail Said: “Gambling addiction helplines are an essential resource for those in need. Unfortunately, a long list of state-specific helplines for national advertising provides easy access to these important resources. It’s a barrier for people seeking help when they need to be able to do it.

“This approach is the most effective way to protect players by making national helplines available for national advertising.”

Each state has its own specific requirements for including a gambling addiction disclaimer in public and broadcast advertising. This is an essential service for localized advertising, but it creates confusion and contradiction in national advertising.

The impact on problematic gamblers can be manifested in several ways, including loss of awareness. The need to display helpline numbers specific to multiple countries and states can result in hard-to-read fonts for more than 12 phone numbers, reducing accessibility to those who need them.

It also leads to customer confusion, AGA said. Multiple helpline numbers cause consumer uncertainty because many problem gamblers may not know which number is the correct number. For example, is it based on where they live or where they are gambling?

The association further advised that the requirement for problematic gamblers to use the call-in helpline overlooks the latest services used for crisis relief, such as text messaging and chat support.

“As the game spreads across the country, it is imperative that our industry continue to protect all our customers. We believe there should be no obstacles to helping those in need of it. , Modernizing the helpline system for national advertising is a good place to start, “Feil added.