Entain, Flutter shares slide as some MPs demand “bold” gambling reforms
Investing.com
Published Nov 24, 2021 10:55
By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – UK gambling companies were trading lower on Wednesday morning after a report in the Telegraph suggested that gamblers could be limited to maximum £2 online bets with a £100 monthly spending limit to curb betting.
In a letter sent to the newspaper, 160 members of parliament and peers, including former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith, called for “bold” reforms as they warned more than 55,000 children aged between 11 and 16 were now gambling addicts.
The government is set to release its white paper on gambling in the New Year. Ahead of the release, the letter called on the PM to be bold in delivering the gambling reforms needed to prevent harm across the country.
“It is time for the Government to live up to the Conservatives' 2019 manifesto commitment to a review of gambling laws, levelling up, social justice and a better future for us all,” the letter said.
h2 Proposed reforms/h2Alongside the maximum bet amount and monthly spending limits, ministers are also looking at banning bookmakers’ “VIP” schemes. The current offerings from gambling companies to "VIP" customers include offering one-to-one services with bonuses and financial inducements.
They are also looking at further controls on gambling advertising, which could include a ban on sponsoring football shirts and on stadia advertising hoardings.
In the 2021/22 season, nine of the 20 clubs in the English Premier League have gambling companies as the main sponsor on the front of their shirts.
h3 Likely push back/h3It won't be easy for any proposed new measures to pass. A recent report in the Guardian newspaper showed that, since August 2020, 28 members of parliament - 19 Conservative and nine Labour - had taken almost £225,000 in wages and freebies from the gambling industry.
One of the beneficiaries, according to the Guardian, was MP Caroline Dinenage, a minister within the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which is overseeing the gambling review.
At 10:50GMT, shares in Entain (LON:ENT) were lower by 4.8%, Flutter Entertainment (LON:FLTRF) shares were lower by 3.3% and 888 Holdings (LON:888) shares were down 1.4%.
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