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‘Of course we make money, but it has to be in a responsible way’: safer gambling practices reported by state-owned gambling operators

Philip Newall, Allegra Whybrow, Jamie Torrance Orcid Logo

Addiction Research & Theory, Pages: 1 - 12

Swansea University Author: Jamie Torrance Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/16066359.2025.2507776

Abstract

Background: Gambling can be regulated in different ways, with some jurisdictions having competitive markets of privately-owned operators, some jurisdictions having state-owned operators that have exclusive legal monopolies, and in other jurisdictions former state-owned monopolies now compete in mark...

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Published in: Addiction Research & Theory
ISSN: 1606-6359 1476-7392
Published: Informa UK Limited 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69610
first_indexed 2025-06-02T11:08:15Z
last_indexed 2025-10-17T09:22:19Z
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spelling 2025-10-16T15:35:58.6712024 v2 69610 2025-06-02 ‘Of course we make money, but it has to be in a responsible way’: safer gambling practices reported by state-owned gambling operators de868c4f56d8f5fbecbd686fdbb7b4b5 0000-0001-5001-4126 Jamie Torrance Jamie Torrance true false 2025-06-02 PSYS Background: Gambling can be regulated in different ways, with some jurisdictions having competitive markets of privately-owned operators, some jurisdictions having state-owned operators that have exclusive legal monopolies, and in other jurisdictions former state-owned monopolies now compete in markets against privately-owned operators. While privately-owned operators tend to emphasize gamblers’ individual responsibility while implementing suboptimal voluntary harm-prevention measures, less is known about the safer gambling practices of state-owned gambling operators, a topic which we aim to contribute to here. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants employed in safer gambling roles at state-owned gambling operators in 10 jurisdictions, with transcripts then subjected to thematic and discourse-based analyses. Results: Participants constructed distinctive identities for their organizations. State-owned operators were portrayed as being uniquely capable of balancing profit with consumer protection, of building consumer trust, and in pioneering in harm reduction. The safer gambling practices of privately owned operators were described as ‘performative’, whereas state-owned operators emphasized a more ‘authentic’ approach. This included making safer gambling tools accessible, proactively contacting customers experiencing harm, and implementing operator-driven limits based on risk profiles. When discussing competitive market dynamics, participants challenged dominant narratives about illegal gambling markets. Participants criticized excessive marketing practices by private operators and advocated for system-wide approaches to harm prevention rather than fragmented ones. Conclusions: The perspectives from state-owned gambling operators should be integrated into new harm-prevention approaches for today’s online and interconnected gambling world. Journal Article Addiction Research & Theory 0 1 12 Informa UK Limited 1606-6359 1476-7392 Gambling regulation; gambling markets;monopoly; marketcompetition; gamblingharm prevention; responsible gambling 23 5 2025 2025-05-23 10.1080/16066359.2025.2507776 COLLEGE NANME Psychology School COLLEGE CODE PSYS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article. 2025-10-16T15:35:58.6712024 2025-06-02T12:05:29.3389931 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Philip Newall 1 Allegra Whybrow 2 Jamie Torrance 0000-0001-5001-4126 3 69610__34371__27ffbac436944262b6180318f8de054e.pdf 69610.VoR.pdf 2025-06-02T12:09:06.7545046 Output 1220945 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title ‘Of course we make money, but it has to be in a responsible way’: safer gambling practices reported by state-owned gambling operators
spellingShingle ‘Of course we make money, but it has to be in a responsible way’: safer gambling practices reported by state-owned gambling operators
Jamie Torrance
title_short ‘Of course we make money, but it has to be in a responsible way’: safer gambling practices reported by state-owned gambling operators
title_full ‘Of course we make money, but it has to be in a responsible way’: safer gambling practices reported by state-owned gambling operators
title_fullStr ‘Of course we make money, but it has to be in a responsible way’: safer gambling practices reported by state-owned gambling operators
title_full_unstemmed ‘Of course we make money, but it has to be in a responsible way’: safer gambling practices reported by state-owned gambling operators
title_sort ‘Of course we make money, but it has to be in a responsible way’: safer gambling practices reported by state-owned gambling operators
author_id_str_mv de868c4f56d8f5fbecbd686fdbb7b4b5
author_id_fullname_str_mv de868c4f56d8f5fbecbd686fdbb7b4b5_***_Jamie Torrance
author Jamie Torrance
author2 Philip Newall
Allegra Whybrow
Jamie Torrance
format Journal article
container_title Addiction Research & Theory
container_volume 0
container_start_page 1
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 1606-6359
1476-7392
doi_str_mv 10.1080/16066359.2025.2507776
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
document_store_str 1
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description Background: Gambling can be regulated in different ways, with some jurisdictions having competitive markets of privately-owned operators, some jurisdictions having state-owned operators that have exclusive legal monopolies, and in other jurisdictions former state-owned monopolies now compete in markets against privately-owned operators. While privately-owned operators tend to emphasize gamblers’ individual responsibility while implementing suboptimal voluntary harm-prevention measures, less is known about the safer gambling practices of state-owned gambling operators, a topic which we aim to contribute to here. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants employed in safer gambling roles at state-owned gambling operators in 10 jurisdictions, with transcripts then subjected to thematic and discourse-based analyses. Results: Participants constructed distinctive identities for their organizations. State-owned operators were portrayed as being uniquely capable of balancing profit with consumer protection, of building consumer trust, and in pioneering in harm reduction. The safer gambling practices of privately owned operators were described as ‘performative’, whereas state-owned operators emphasized a more ‘authentic’ approach. This included making safer gambling tools accessible, proactively contacting customers experiencing harm, and implementing operator-driven limits based on risk profiles. When discussing competitive market dynamics, participants challenged dominant narratives about illegal gambling markets. Participants criticized excessive marketing practices by private operators and advocated for system-wide approaches to harm prevention rather than fragmented ones. Conclusions: The perspectives from state-owned gambling operators should be integrated into new harm-prevention approaches for today’s online and interconnected gambling world.
published_date 2025-05-23T05:25:08Z
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