Danske Spil Wants More Research into Gambling Addiction

Danske Spil is expanding its collaboration with the Research Clinic for Gambling at Aarhus University and is part of the Danish Gambling Committee. The goal is more research into gaming addiction.

(May 10, 2023) — Gambling is a relatively new field of research, both abroad and in Denmark. And there is still not a lot of knowledge about how, for example, gaming behaviour, accountability tools and preventive measures are linked.

Today, the Danish Gambling Committee is being established, which will help solve that challenge. This is done with financial support from Danske Spil and four other game providers. Together, the companies support the project with a total of DKK 12 million. DKK for research into gambling addiction over the next three years.

Danske Spil already works closely with the Research Clinic for Gambling, which is the initiator of the committee, and has most recently financed a research study on the effect of measures within responsible gambling. It is therefore natural that Danske Spil is a contributor to the Danish Gambling Committee.

“We are very happy to be part of the Danish Gambling Committee and support independent research and contribute to the establishment of a professionally strong Danish research environment with a focus on countering gambling addiction,” says Kate Jacquerot, legal director at Danske Spil with responsibility for responsible gaming.

The research projects that the new initiative will support are primarily about prevention, treatment and the collection of knowledge, including those aimed at children and young people.

At Danske Spil, new measures are constantly being developed to prevent, detect and respond to signs of gambling addiction and improve existing measures based on professional knowledge and data on gambling patterns. Danske Spil’s Gambling Scanner, which was also developed together with the Research Clinic, detects any unhealthy gambling patterns among customers so that you can react to it.

“It is absolutely essential that we gain new and better knowledge about how we can best prevent and take care of gambling addiction, so that we can develop the right responsibility measures, where the protection of young people in particular is an important focus area. We have previously benefited greatly from the work of the Research Clinic, among other things we have improved and developed new accountability initiatives based on conclusions from last year’s study, which Thomas Marcussen and his team are behind, and which was financed by Danske Spil. And we know that our many measures are working, because we have significantly reduced the group of customers we are most concerned about,” says Kate Jacquerot.

The initiator of the Danish Gambling Committee is the Research Clinic for Gambling at Aarhus University. Here, Thomas Marcussen is the day-to-day manager, and he will also be a permanent part of the committee’s board. He looks forward to getting to work.

“It is important and gratifying that Danske Spil, with whom we already have a good collaboration, will contribute to funding gambling addiction research at a high level in Denmark. It is the ambition that this is the seed for the establishment of a professionally solid research environment, which in the years to come can provide knowledge to help those addicted to gambling and to avoid more people getting to the point where gambling is no longer just entertainment,” says Thomas Marcussen .

The first meetings of the committee will take place this year, and it is expected that the first research projects will be able to start as early as 2023.

About the Danish Gambling Committee

The purpose of the Danish Gambling Committee is to create a strong and healthy research environment with a focus on gambling. The professional competences of the board must set out the framework for an impartial evaluation committee, which must assess and select received research applications in order to ensure arm’s length for the donors and protect the impartiality of the research projects.

The Danish Gambling Committee has been created with the support of five gambling providers licensed by the Gambling Authority; Danske Spil, Kindred Group, CEGO A/S, Mr Green and Betsson Group.

In total, the gaming companies contribute DKK 12 million. DKK annually over the next three years. The funds are to finance research projects in the field of gambling and are awarded by an impartial grant committee, which consists of researchers. The gambling companies follow the work in a follow-up group.

Support is provided for independent research, and the contributors have no influence on which projects receive grants.

Both the University of Copenhagen, the University of Southern Denmark, Aarhus University, Aarhus University Hospital and Aalborg University are represented on the board of the Danish Gambling Committee by experienced researchers and experts with knowledge of the field.

Find more information about Danske Spil’s efforts for healthy gambling habits and against gambling addiction here:Danske Spil’s report on social responsibility 2022.

SOURCE: Danske Spil A/S