The Pitch: Hunt for world-class Gambling Regulator a long shot
GAME ON: Ireland’s new Gambling Regulatory Authority will have powers over how betting companies advertise and market their brands and products, as well as how they communicate with gamblers. Picture: PA
The search for the most powerful force in sports and entertainment betting – the Irish Gambling Regulator - has stumbled at the first hurdle.
The successful candidate will act as regulator, enforcer, investigator, instigator, inspector, approver and promoter of the country’s €7 billion betting and gaming industry - and will also oversee Lotteries and Bingo -.
But the internationally advertised position for CEO of the Gambling Regulatory Authority does not require previous experience - and its salary is more in line with that of a “mid ranking civil servant”.
Stewart Kenny, co-founder Paddy Power, now a leading supporter of “correct regulation” and a proponent of safer betting, has warned that the search for the best international talent for the role has fallen short.
The Department of Justice this week globally advertised for the position with a salary scale beginning at €145k, emphasising that industry or regulatory experience was “not essential”.
Kenny said the pay package and lack of experience required spells trouble for the regulatory body.
“This is already in danger of turning into another quango,” the former PP CEO and Chairman told . “While €145k is a lot of money, it is probably under 5% of the salary of the top chief executives within the industry. This role really needs to attract the very best global expertise for this position – the very best internationally qualified person for the job", added Kenny, now of Stop Gambling Harm.
The role – which will have power to fine betting companies up to €20m, or even put them out of business – comes with a pay package that amounts to just 1/60th of the money paid to the most senior executive in the gambling sector.
Kenny is not suggesting that a Rolls Royce package should be offered for the Regulator, but due to the sheer breadth and responsibility “it must be extremely competitive”.
Previous experience in gambling or regulatory sector is something which Minister-of-State James Browne – the legislator charged with enforcing regulation - had expressed a preference for.
The CEO’s first job will be to establish the regulatory body and lead the appointment of up to 100 staff.
The CEO will be appointed before gambling regulation is brought to the houses of the Oireachtas later this year, where it will be passed into law by 2023. Under regulation a raft of measures including how betting companies advertise and market their brands and products, as well as how they communicate with clients, will change.
Applicants have until March 21 to apply.
HAVE you heard the one about the FAI? It’s now making piles of cash. In the most remarkable financial turnaround in sport, Irish football is entering boom times, as it faces into a period of commercial stability.
While the search continues for a €2.5m a year headline sponsor, the association has already banked approximately €3.5m from season ticket sales alone – with more positive forecasts for the weeks ahead.
With the FAI exceeding 2018’s record sales of 16,500, it can now expect up to 20,000 sales by the time Belgium arrive for a friendly on March 26.
The 17,000 sales figure announced for six home games this year - three of which are friendlies and three Nations League matches – is nothing short of extraordinary.
With seats selling at record levels, the end of March also offers more enhanced commercial value through the FAI’s official declaration to Uefa, as a co-host for Euro 2028.
The importance of that statement-of-intent – by March 23 – will bolster the Association’s sponsorship value and should be quickly followed by a raft of big business interests entering the football marketplace.
It is now extremely likely that Ireland’s co-host bid - with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - will be the only offer on the table for Uefa.
While the formal declaration won’t receive official ratification until much later from Nyon, a single bid is a winning bid, with the threat of a late Russian salvo having been torched by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The current commercial developments - more than 800 days since Three Ireland announced it was ending its ten-year partnership with the FAI and the Senior Men’s team – means a main sponsor must be close.
Ticket sales and tv audience are the most directly accountable measurements of the affection of sports brand and team, and the rise of popularity of Irish football will not be missed by corporates.
The man now charged with all of the FAI’s commercial interests is consultant Jonathan Neill, credited with elevating UK brand Cazoo as the ‘owner’ of the Derby at Epsom.
· Repeated calls to Volleyball Ireland, to determine the federation’s support (or not) of its governing body have gone unanswered. This week the international governing body of volleyball (FIVB) announced its determination to host the men’s world championship in Russia next August. While Formula 1, International Skiing, Uefa - and eventually Fifa - have all cut ties with Russia, the international volleyball organisation were insisting that the championships will go ahead in the warmongering state. Its explanation was to pull out the old “sport should always be separate from politics” line. Someone needs to point out to those in volleyball that politics and war are also very separate.
· Newly crowned Carabao Cup winners Liverpool reported the second-highest wage bill in the Premier League last year, with player payments of €386m for the 2019/2020 season. The latest financial statement by the club, for the 2020/21 season, shows a remarkable reduction by €13m – despite 12 players getting lucrative contract extensions – including Trent Alexander Arnold. The reason? Liverpool’s Champions League payments from their 2019 victory - which were accounted for the following season. The club has reported a turnover of €579m and a pre-tax loss of €5.7m, in a stable set of results despite challenges brought on by the pandemic.
· We spoke about sustainability here last week with the work Munster Rugby is doing with commercial partners. Now one of the rising marketing and creative agencies across the horseracing and bloodstock sector is activating an initiative to celebrate its first year in business. Bullfinch was founded in March 2020 by Tom Nugent and is already a market leader in the racing sector. To mark its first birthday Bullfinch has planted 365 native trees in the firm’s native Kilkenny. “To mark 365 days in business we’ve planted 365 native broadleaf trees in our local area with the permission of landowners,” explained Nugent.
· The most extraordinary commercial deal in sport this week comes from the world of… Chess. Magnus Carlsen, arguably the greatest grandmaster in history, has signed a partnership with Puma, which will see the German sports manufacturer sponsoring the Champions Chess Tour which has a prize pool of €1.5m. According to Puma, chess is very definitely a sport, and one of extreme mental strength.
