The Rugby Football League today publishes its ‘Gambling Code of Conduct for Sport Sponsorship’, in line with a sport-wide initiative developed by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) in response to the Government’s 2023 Gambling White Paper.
In developing Rugby League’s own code, the RFL joins other major national sports bodies including the Premier League, English Football League, The FA and British Horseracing Authority, plus official bodies representing darts, snooker and boxing.
The code demonstrates Rugby League’s commitment to ensuring that all gambling activity associated with the sport is undertaken in a responsible way. It sets new standards on safer gambling sponsorship across four key principles of protection, social responsibility, reinvestment and integrity, significantly raising standards for the sport’s sponsorship deals.
Key principles:
Protection of children and young people – gambling sponsorship must be specifically designed to limit its reach and promotion to those under the age of 18 and those at risk of gambling related harm.
Social responsibility – gambling sponsorship must be promoted and delivered in a socially responsible way. This includes ensuring that education and awareness messages are provided as part of all marketing activities.
Reinvestment into sport – the commercial income raised from gambling sponsorship must be reinvested back into infrastructure and programmes that serve fans and communities. This includes investment in improving infrastructure and providing community and grassroots participation opportunities for local communities.
Maintaining sporting integrity – gambling sponsorship must not compromise the integrity of sporting competitions, nor harm the welfare of those participants who take part in them.
Robert Hicks, the RFL’s Director of Operations & Legal said: “These new measures are good for sport, the gambling industry and fans.
“Rugby League and our long-standing partner Betfred have worked closely for a number of years to ensure that any sponsorship funds are reinvested back into the sport at all levels. This was evidenced further when Betfred supported the purchase of a bespoke wheelchair rugby league pitch.
“We both remain committed to maintaining sporting integrity and safer gambling and this Code reflects that commitment to continue raising standards.”
The RFL and RL Commercial will work with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on monitoring the impact and level of compliance with the measures set out in the code.
The code is available online here.
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Source link : https://www.rugby-league.com/article/63024/rfl-publishes-gambling-code-of-conduct
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Publish date : 2024-08-08 13:01:35
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