AGA Launches Play Smart Consumer Hub to Promote Responsible Gaming
The American Gaming Association (AGA) announced the launch of its Play Smart Consumer Hub, a new online portal meant to promote responsible gaming and assist customers across the U.S. to gamble safely and responsibly. The initiative expands on the AGA's Play Smart from the Start messaging platform by providing more comprehensive educational and self-assessment tools for players and gaming operators.
Bill Miller, AGA President and CEO, said: “The AGA is committed to making responsible gaming a seamless part of the player experience. Part of the fun of gaming is that everyone plays differently, but no matter how or where you play, staying in control starts with habits that work for you. The Play Smart Consumer Hub provides players with straightforward, actionable tools to help them stay in control and keep gaming fun.”
Based on behavioral science principles, Play Smart is grounded on three pillars: 1) playing in the right mindset, 2) knowing the game, and 3) playing with purpose. These are achieved through a variety of interactive features, including a Pre-Play Checklist, which asks players to reflect on their mood and financial status before gambling. It's designed to be a preventive measure to restrict impulsivity and risk.
Perhaps the strongest part of the book is the "Know the Game" section, in which betting odds, house edge, and some of the most confounding sports betting concepts are explained. The goal is to clear up myths and allow for wiser betting. Responsible gaming is a crucial tenet for our top sports betting sites.
Players can also try the Responsible Gaming IQ Quiz, a brief self-test that detects negative behavior and suggests corrective action.
In addition to player-visible resources, the Hub contains a detailed Industry Toolkit. The section provides marketing assets, message templates, and best practices to promote responsible gaming.
The concurrent focus on industry and individual responsibility demonstrates a pragmatic strategy to disseminate safer gambling standards on a broader scale. Along with the AGA's continued focus on RG, this expansion is driven largely by growing demand in the U.S. and internationally for mandatory RG initiatives.
A history of promoting responsible gaming
The Play Smart Consumer Hub is the latest of the AGA's series of public awareness campaigns meant to draw attention and promote responsible gaming. The company still advocates the Have a Game Plan, Bet Responsibly campaign, which launched in late 2019. The campaign messages sports bettors with simple, actionable guidance on how to bet responsibly.
It promotes sensible gambling practices such as planning ahead, understanding the odds, gambling in social environments, and playing with licensed operators.
The first distinction is that Have a Game Plan is a partnership model. It brings together a broad-based group of stakeholders in the professional sports and gaming sectors.
It includes some of the best sports betting apps operators, such as FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and PointsBet, and sports leagues such as MLB, the NBA, the NHL, and NASCAR.
Also included on the list of media assets contributing to campaign reach are Sinclair Broadcast Group and gaming sector stakeholders IGT and Sightline Payments. The effort also has the support of the PGA Tour as well as individual professional teams from a variety of leagues.
By associating with these global brands and entities, the program attempts to distill a uniform message about responsible sports betting. This way, it not only achieves maximum exposure but also addresses the vexing issue of reaching bettors across all socioeconomic spaces and media
