Glamourising excessive gambling is bad for horse racing In my late teens growing up in the suburb of Rathfarnham in Dublin I was part of a circle of friends that numbered around a dozen at its core. The local pub acted as our clubhouse. We'd meet there several times a week. It wasn't really about the drink, it was all about friendship. One pint was often all any of us could afford and we'd make it last for hours. As time passed and we all started working, we'd mainly meet up on Saturday nights and it generally turned into a session which would frequently carry on into the early hours of Sunday morning at a house party or nightclub. Over time we drifted apart as many of us got married, had children and moved away from the area, but by then two of our original group had become addicted to the alcohol. One died young from his addiction and the other's life has been a complete disaster ever since due to the drink. I suppose this is a familiar story for many growing up in Ireland where alcohol is ever present, but I often wonder why did those two friends become alcoholics while the rest of us didn't? With the benefit of hindsight there were signs. They were always the two that never wanted the party to end. Enough was never enough. Addiction Parallels: Gambling and Alcohol Gambling is similar in many ways to drinking. In moderation it is a lot of fun and for most it is relatively harmless, but for some people it is highly addictive. I remember a croupier in a casino once telling me that when a group of lads would come into her club after leaving the pub on a night out, she could tell within twenty minutes the one who would be back time and time again. She said she could see it in their eyes. Whether or not that is true, we do know that some people are as susceptible to gambling addiction as others are to alcohol addiction. For the ones that do become addicted to gambling it can be every bit as destructive as alcoholism. The Changing Gambling Landscape When I was growing up gambling was something that you had to seek out. You had to physically go to a bookies shop or a racetrack to place a bet on a horse or get invited into a house game of poker. You needed to make a conscious decision to gamble and when you did gamble you invariably did it in a social setting. Nowadays gambling seeks you out. Gambling advertising is everywhere and the opportunity to gamble is available at the touch of a screen 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And you can literally gamble on everything and anything without moving off your couch. Article highlights: Gambling addiction can be as destructive as alcoholism, with certain individuals being particularly susceptible Modern technology has transformed gambling from a deliberate social activity to an omnipresent, solitary temptation Social media influencers are glamorizing excessive gambling while bypassing regulations that restrict licensed operators Horse racing risks its social license by not addressing how its image is being used to promote harmful gambling behavior It is no wonder that governments are bringing in new legislation to try and get to grips with this new reality. Age restrictions, enticement restrictions, advertising restrictions and spending caps are all now part of the licensing regime that betting operators must adhere to. New legislation was undoubtedly required and I also feel that the vast majority of these new regulations make sense, despite some issues around implementation. Social Media Influencers: The Unregulated Promoters There is however one element of the modern gambling landscape that falls between the cracks of all this new legislation. This is the activity of a cohort of social media influencers that are using gambling as a medium to profit off impressionable youngsters. They purposely glamorise gambling and portray it as a shortcut to success by posting videos of themselves placing huge bets on horses or other sports while simultaneously linking these excessive levels of gambling to a jet-setting lifestyle of five star luxury and shoulder rubbing with the rich and famous. This behaviour appeals directly to young males, the very section of society that is found to have the highest incidence of problem gambling. If a licensed betting operator suggested any of this in an advert they would be fined millions, but individuals, who in some cases are on the payroll of, or closely associated with, licensed operators, are getting away with doing exactly that. Horse Racing's Responsibility Licensed betting operators must adhere to very strict guidelines when it comes to advertising their products and the Irish Government is introducing a ban on gambling advertising between certain hours of the day in an effort to reduce the exposure of young people to gambling harm, yet unlicensed individuals can still do whatever they like on social media with impunity. The horse racing industry is facilitating this exploitation of our youth by turning a blind eye to the activities of these individuals at race meetings, such as we witnessed from Cheltenham. In some cases official bodies are actually paying to harness these influencers' reach to promote the sport. Horse racing is already in a fight to retain its social licence as sports involving animals come under increasing scrutiny and the last thing it needs is to be seen to be contributing to increased levels of gambling harm in society. The sport needs to introduce targeted protocols for influencers and others that are using the backdrop of horse racing for commercial purposes. It should be straightforward to restrict the type of content that is being produced at horse racing events without impacting on general racegoers. Let these influencers glamourise the sport all they want, but not in conjunction with excessive gambling.
