HORSE BETTING MARKETING GUIDELINES

In recent days the WLA (World Lottery Association) Betting Integrity on Sports and Horse Racing Committee developed marketing guidelines on how to market products in a responsible but competitive way with suggestions on how to best promote products on the different social media channels available and descriptions of convenient content for different audiences.

Over the years, horse betting has not always been considered as responsible gambling, because the activities in the betting shops and racetracks were firmly concentrated around gambling. However, more recently, its reputation has improved thanks to digitalization.

Understanding customer profiles is a critical aspect in the horse betting industry. The average horse betting customer is generally a 45 to 54-year-old male, which is slightly older than a sports betting customer. There are many players of other ages and gender. Women account for a relatively small share of horse betting sales, but their percentage of the number of players is reasonably high.

Experts in charge of horse betting activities should work with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and responsible gaming professionals and use existing international models to measure and evaluate the risk potential of gambling products when planning new games or other significant upgrades for horse betting products and services. This work will help reduce the situation occurring that the upgrade of a betting offer could increase the likelihood of gambling problems (“addictive potential”). At the same time, this can be further supported by easily integrating accountability measures into horse betting activities.

Responsible gaming is also a virtuous asset for business since it helps to remove barriers to entry and drives new customers. The betting operator must ensure, throughout the entire gambling experience and in all its gambling channels, that responsible gaming practices are at the heart of its horse betting operations and that the well-being of its customers is guaranteed. 

Marketing communications must not mislead, deceive, or suggest any possibility of getting rich thanks to gambling activities. Giving the wrong idea about the probability of winning is misleading, as is giving the impression that players’ knowledge, skills, abilities, or other attributes affect their chances of winning. This is also the case in horse betting, although knowledge and skills can improve the likelihood of winning. Advertising must also not give the impression that horse betting is an appropriate way of dealing with financial problems or that gambling is a viable alternative to subsistence work. 

Beyond content, social media platforms can also be deployed to facilitate customer service, by reacting to player comments and answering them in a timely and precise manner. Staff charged with serving players through these channels must have solid horse betting knowledge and should be familiar with the lottery’s or betting operator’s horse betting offerings.

WLA members offer entertaining and engaging horse betting products that are safe and
socially responsible. Products must also be interesting enough in the eyes of customers.
However, it is sometimes difficult to compete and ensure customer retention when unlicensed betting companies operate illegally in the same jurisdictions as legal operators.

Unlike illegal operators, WLA members do not use irresponsible means of attracting customers. They do not aggressively promote their brands and horse betting products, nor do they recruit new customers through bonuses. On the contrary, they work with local regulators to reduce the activities of unlicensed betting operators and channel betting into legal offerings.

The document issued by WLA is an excellent reference for the gaming industry and for the Horse Racing sector.