One of the advantages of legalizing gambling is enabling operators in this industry to help with social responsibility projects. Companies that own an online casino or online sportsbook regularly donate to numerous charities each year. Unfortunately, most of them do not get enough media coverage. We think donations by gaming operators should be known more: that’s why we’ve compiled a list of the biggest ones.
Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Donation
Queen Elisabeth II’s 70th anniversary is celebrated with different events throughout 2022. These celebrations are held not only in the United Kingdom but in all Commonwealth countries. Various events and celebrations will continue to be held throughout the year for the Platinum Jubilee in Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Saint Lucia.
Betting companies are also ready to do their part for the Platinum Jubilee. Recently, the Betting and Gaming Council announced that all profits from the Flagship Royal Ascot Race will be donated. Moreover, even if no profit is made, the operators who are members of the council will still make this donation. Council member operators include Flutter (Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Bet), bet365, Entain (Ladbrokes, Coral), William Hill, BetVictor, Kindred (Unibet), Betway, Rank Group (Grosvenor Sport), Virgin Bet, Tote, Fitzdares, and Bet with Ascot. The profit obtained from the wagers made by the bettors for the Royal Ascot race on the websites of these operators will be used to support different social responsibility projects.
These projects include ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, Sue Ryder, Ascot Racecourse Supports Community Fund, The Ivors Academy Trust, and Cotswold Riding for the Disabled. As Royal Ascot is the most popular racing event in the world, a sizable donation is expected. This amount will be shared fairly among the above projects. ABF The Soldiers’ Charity alone supports more than 60,000 people in 63 different countries.
Gaming for Ukraine Donation
When the invasion of Ukraine began, there were gambling operators among the Western companies that had withdrawn from Russia too. Although it is hardly mentioned in the media, the world’s largest gambling companies did not hesitate to end their operations in Russia. Among the operators that no longer offer services to Russia are respected names such as Parimatch, LeoVegas, BETER, Genius Sports, Statscore, and Allwyn.
However, these companies did not just withdraw from Russia: they also started a fundraiser to actively support Ukraine. In this campaign, which has been running since March 2022, the initial aim was to raise £250,000, and this was achieved in a short time. The campaign is run by an association called “Choose Love,” and it has already managed to raise £1,000,000 for Ukraine. The association wants to increase this to £2,500,000 and plans to do so with donations from gambling companies.
Operators that have donated to the campaign so far include Betsson Group, Microgaming, OLBG, Better Collective, Just for the Win, Enteractive, Funfair Games, Alea, FSB Technology, Sports Media Holdings, Fast Track, Cash Magnet, Green Jade Games, Continent8 Games, Clarion Gaming, Beyond Play, SBC, and VIXIO. Among these, the Betsson Group made the largest donation (£50,000). The donations collected will be used for purposes such as food, shelter, medical aid, mental health support,and legal support.
Grand National Donation
2020 was not a good year for sports and racing events: almost all activities were canceled due to COVID. This included the Grand National race that bettors look forward to every year – due to the coronavirus, the race was never held. However, betting companies decided to virtually organize this canceled race and donate all the proceeds to the NHS. This was a historic event: all bets were limited to a maximum of 10 GBP and the virtual race was broadcast live on TV. (Virtual racing software, which you will often see in online sportsbooks, was used for this job.) 4.8 million viewers watched the race on national television and bet different amounts.
2.6 million GBP was raised as a result of the event, all of which was donated to the National Health Service. NHS distributed the donation equally among its own charities. As a result, this money was shared between institutions such as Prostate Cancer UK, Marie Curie, The Careworkers Charity, and the Berkshire Community Foundation Coronavirus Fund.
And They Keep Donating Every Year
By law, every operator licensed by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) has to donate a certain portion of their income to social responsibility projects each year. In addition, they can get various benefits by making additional donations to the projects listed on the UKGC site. Although the examples we gave above are impressive, most donations are actually collected through this method. For example, 16,629,801 GBP was generated through March 2021 alone.
This revenue is split between more than a dozen organizations selected by the UKGC. These include projects such as GambleAware, GamCare, Young Gamers & Gamblers Education, International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG), Bournemouth University, and Addiction Recovery Agency Ltd (Ara). The UKGC has been doing this since 2020 and has already raised millions of pounds in donations.
