GambleAware Bets $5 Million on New UK Gambling Research Hub

GambleAware, the primary problem gambling charity group in the UK, is going to make a major investment in support of the country’s first academic research hub. The center is being developed to support gambling harm research, and GambleAware has committed to a grant that will help fund the project. The hub and the organization’s participation arrive in conjunction with GambleAware’s Bet Regret awareness campaign and the start of the new Premier League season.

GambleAware Gambles on Gambling Research

GambleAware announced yesterday that it is ready to commit $5.5 million (€4.7m) to support a major initiative to explore problem gambling in the UK. Great Britain’s first academic research hub is emerging to explore, in part, gambling harm research, and the problem gambling charity is going to fund the initiative through an eight-month grant. It says in its announcement that the goal of the new center is to “have a significant impact on the whole gambling research landscape, both within Great Britain and across the globe.” However, the organization points out that, for its long-term viability, the hub should “secure alternative funding to allow continued growth and development beyond the initial grant award.”

GambleAware points out that there hasn’t been a lot of research into problem gambling. The organization’s interim research director, Alison Clare, acknowledges in its announcement that the new hub will give a British university the opportunity to develop activity tied to a “relatively under-researched field.”  This could make one wonder how so many anti-gambling initiatives have been undertaken if there hasn’t been significant research conducted previously.

A Widespread Initiative With Multiple Partners

The hub will reportedly be based out of a single university, which hasn’t yet been revealed, but will call upon experts and professionals across Great Britain. GambleAware is looking for people with a “strong academic track record” in fields such as public health, health economics, psychology, clinical health and even epidemiology. Clare adds, “It’s a different type of grant award to the smaller projects and programmes in our current research portfolio, with GambleAware taking a much more arm’s length approach in guiding the area of research focus.”

GambleAware, which recently launched a new treatment funding project that offers a $1.3-million (€853,200) grant, has introduced the new hub on the heels of the return of another initiative. Its Bet Regret advertising campaign launched in conjunction with the start of the new Premier League and English Football League seasons. The campaign was first seen three years ago for the Premier League’s 2019-20 season and hopes to convince viewers that sports betting is bad for the health and the pocketbook.