What the Betting and Gaming Council Is & What It Does

Written By Scott Lawson Published on 11.01.2021 Last Updated on 19.07.2024

The Betting and Gaming Council

The Betting and Gaming Council, set up in 2019 to replace previous organisations and bring together all of the largest and most influential gambling companies based in the UK, is the main organisation working to improve standards across the gambling markets in Britain. It has brought all major players into one union.

This conglomeration of the biggest brands and companies in the industry allows for industry-spanning initiatives, shared aims and improvements to be tabled and acted upon. As such, its founding is a huge step forward for land-based and online casinos and bookmakers.

Over 90% of gambling companies in the UK are members. The exception to this are those firms involved in lotteries, who are not eligible for membership. The name clearly reflects the membership of the council, as the majority of betting (sports betting) and gaming (casinos) are represented among the members.

As such, most of the best online casinos in the UK are members of the council. Or, more accurately, the companies that own the brands and sites are members. The same is true for top sports books and high street casinos and bookies.

What the BGC Does

There are a number of things that the BGC does in order to increase the profile and reputation of the gambling industry in the UK. In addition, the council works to create and support initiatives that improve player safety.

Tackling problem gambling and reducing gambling harm in Britain is a main focus of the Betting and Gaming Council. Whether it is working to raise awareness of responsible gambling and phrases such as When the Fun Stops Stop, initiatives like Gamble Aware or making sure that all of the members are signed up to GAMSTOP, there is always a lot going on.

Responsible Gambling

All gambling operators have a moral duty towards players and need to implement player safety measures. As well as including certain standards in the BGC’s Code of Conduct for all members, the council has decided that all brands must adhere to policies from the Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG).

This set of policies is mainly aimed at responsible gambling advertising. In line with this, there are a number of commitments set by the council. If any of the online casinos or other betting companies fail to participate, then they are liable to discipline or membership revocation. Thankfully, all of the real money online casinos that have membership within the council comply with the set guidelines.

Commitment to Fair Gambling

The BGC group of operators has among its main aims the mission to ensuring that players can play safely and that they have “control of their betting and gaming”. While this relies upon the responsible gambling measures, the establishments and casino sites must also be fair in order for this to be achieved.

The BGC also works to increase the trust in the gambling industry. This is done in a number of ways, including by making sure that its members are dedicated to fair gambling. The good news for players in the UK is that sites tend to run fair sites and games. On this list of the best payout online casino sites you can see the high average return to player rates (RTP) across many of the top operators.

RTPs are an excellent metric for measuring the fairness of games. In general, the fairness of games and sites is monitored by the Gambling Commission and is a requirement for all licence holders. A Gambling Commission licence is a requirement for membership of the BGC.

Safer Gambling Week

Safer Gambling Week is one of the many player protection and responsible gambling initiatives championed by the Betting and Gaming Council. The cross-industry events week promotes safe and responsible gambling.

In 2020, the week ran from the 19th to 25th November. All members of the BGC actively support Safer Gambling Week. The aim of the week is to increase awareness of gambling addiction, the harms of problem gambling and the various ways in which to enjoy gambling safely and responsibly.

Support of Player Protection Schemes

All members of the BGC must each participate in the countries self-exclusion schemes (GAMSTOP, MOSES and SENSE). They should also take part in the Responsible Gambling Week and Safer Gambling Week.

The council is working on implementing a detailed and research-shaped code of conduct for operators in order to create a positive culture surrounding gambling among 18-24 year olds in the UK.

Impact on the Gambling Industry

While the Betting and Gaming Council is not yet one of the more famous names in the industry – as it is itself not a gambling operator – the council has a huge role to play in the industry. It counts among its members almost all of the gambling companies in the country.

To make clear the size of the industry, it is worth noting that 46% of Brits gamble at least once a month. There are over 70,000 people employed in gambling industries in the UK alone. 50,000 of these work in sports betting, 13,000 in casinos and 10,000 people are employed in online casino and betting roles.

The British gambling industry has a gross value of ￡8.7billion, having a large impact on the British economy as a whole. It is a major employer and pays in over ￡3.2billion annually to the country in taxes and licence fees.

As such, the organisation that advocates for and seeks to improve standards among these companies stands to make a huge difference in the running and success of this industry, which is important to the British economy and work force as well as to those who enjoy gambling.

The History of the BGC

The Betting and Gaming Council was founded on 18th September 2019. It replaced three different industry associations: the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) and the National Casino Forum (NCF).

The aim of this conglomeration was to bring all operating companies together in one council. This allows for cross-industry initiatives, increased and improved communication and the coordination of efforts.

The Remote Gambling Association was itself formed through a merger of the Association of Remote Gambling Operators and Interactive Gaming, Gambling and Betting Association. This meant that the RGA became the largest trade association for gambling in the world. Another precursor to the BGC was the Senet Group. This was formed in 2014 by William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and Paddy Power. At the time, these were the largest betting companies in the UK. The Senet Group has been subsumed into the BGC.

Since its creation in 2019, the BGC is by far the largest industry association for gambling. While there are still roughly 10% of the gambling companies in the UK that are not yet members, the council is aiming for all eligible companies to become members in the future.

Commitments of All Members

As part of the BGC’s Code of Conduct, all members must comply with certain commitments. The idea behind this is to ensure that all BGC casinos and bookmakers should support responsible and fair gambling to an extent exceeding their legal obligations under current UK law.

Each member must agree to paying the industry voluntary 0.1% of Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) into the National Responsible Gambling Strategy.

Trusted casinos and betting companies must work to adhere to the GamCare Safer Gambling Standard as well as the GAMLG standards on anti-money-laundering.

As well as these current guidelines which each operator must work to abide by, there are a number of continuous improvements that the council asks each company to work on at all times. These include focus on identifying and fixing problems with fairness and player protection, and providing more accurate and pertinent data to relevant organisations and departments of the government.

All BGC members must commit to being entirely transparent about funding, donations and support from any source.

Lastly, all Betting and Gaming Council members must have valid licences from the Gambling Commission, must have gambling businesses that are Britain-facing and must agree to following all current and future BGC rules and policies.

Members of the Betting and Gaming Council

As has been said before, the vast majority of betting and casino firms in the UK are members of the Betting and Gaming Council. No lottery companies are eligible to join.

The members are made up of high-street bookmakers and casinos, as well as online casino operators and sports books. More accurately, the companies that run these brands are members.

However, for players, the large corporations that own the brands are often unknown. Below, we have selected some of the best-known BGC online casinos from among the membership, in order to give you an idea of the brands represented within the council.

These sites represent some of the household names in the industry. They are some of the most popular online casinos in Britain, and many are active across the world, such is the influence and size of the UK gambling industry.

At these sites, players can play real money games such as slots, random number generator (RNG) versions of roulette, blackjack and other table games. The operator websites also feature live dealer casinos, allowing players to play table games dealt by live croupiers via internet livestreams.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you still have some questions, we’d like to take the opportunity to answer some of the most common queries concerning the Betting and Gaming Council and responsible gambling now. We hope that these answers provide all necessary information.