Sorin Georgescu, president of the Association of Slots Organizers – ROMSLOT: “If gambling disappears, the world is neither richer, nor more beautiful, nor more moral. We can’t fight emotion, but we can show our side of the truth every day.” 1y201p

In the Romanian Parliament, the political parties, both in power and in opposition, are competing in legislative projects to change the operating framework for gambling. Some will , some will not, some are applicable, some are not, but the fact remains that it is a tumultuous time for the industry, with many questions and probably few answers. 2m2l6z

SORIN GEORGESCU ds3q

Sorin Georgescu, president of the Slot Organizers Association – ROMSLOT, believes that this is the moment when the industry should tell its part of the truth, even if “public emotion” is hard to fight.

He calls on industry representatives to communicate more often, more transparently and to continue to do business responsibly.

In the last 2-3 years, gambling has not been “quiet” at all. How did you find this period?

We could say that gambling has gone from crisis to crisis, from the pandemic crisis, to the crisis generated by all the legislative initiatives that have appeared lately, but also to the image crisis. And, in fact, I think it’s not just our industry that has felt it, I think the whole business has been shaken. First, the Covid pandemic, then inflation, rising taxes, an unpredictable global economic context. What’s been extra with us? A crisis of image, speculated somehow by politicians, in the context of the fact that we are approaching the election period. And hence, all sorts of legislative initiatives that have spread rapidly in the media, precisely in order to reach the electorate as quickly as possible with messages that resonate emotionally. Some want gambling halls to be isolated, others to be banned, others to be abolished altogether, but no one comes to ask us how we operate, how we are regulated, what works, what doesn’t work, what our role in the economy is, how we build our business, how we get our licenses, how much we give back to society from our winnings. These are questions no one wants to hear the answer to. No one is interested in understanding that we are a business like any other. Yes, our business seems less serious, as we exist for fun, relaxation, leisure, but the business itself is as serious as any other and therefore has the same expectation of a predictable legislative framework. All we ask for is consistent regulation and an operating climate in line with the level of charging. And to respond to this point: all this time has been a constant struggle for survival, a frustration that, although we are subject to the same operating laws as all businesses in Romania, and in many respects even stricter, namely supervision and control, we pay taxes, duties, contributions, yet the perception of us is negative. Our contributions to the Cultural Fund, to the Film Fund, to the of Romanian sport are accepted, even requested, but the industry itself is desired on the fringes of society. It’s strange to say the least to see that your financial effort is accepted, but the business is not.

You were talking about an image crisis, and there is currently a signature campaign to ban gambling advertising. At the same time, more and more public voices are speaking out against gambling. How did it get to this point?

I would say, rather, “how we got here”, because some of the distorted perceptions of the industry are also our fault. We knew very well why we exist in a society: fun and adrenaline, aimed at adults who choose to pay a fee for a way to spend time and get a new experience. Some of us have drifted away from these messages. By aggressively promoting winning, you end up creating unrealistic expectations in the player’s mind, artificially increasing risk appetite. It also mattered a lot that all the cases that are exceptions were quickly publicized, because drama is a story that keeps the public close. This industry has many faces, it always depends on which one you show most often. Addiction to anything is harmful, pathological behaviour towards anything needs more attention. Probably when we looked in the mirror, we forgot that we also have this face and we communicated by ignoring it. But I think we learned our lesson quickly. In a very short time, our messaging started to become more and more responsible, we started to look like a mature industry that understands its place and purpose. And I want us to stay on this path, not to have any more excesses, any more slippages.

There is a bill in Parliament that requires that casino floors no longer be located within 300 meters of schools, playgrounds, another that requires municipalities to decide their operation, another that wants to move arcades to the outskirts of towns and probably other initiatives will appear. What do all these proposals mean for gambling?

I would like at least those of us who know this field to stop generalizing, to understand that in one way land based will be affected, in another way online. That’s the big problem with this avalanche of legislative proposals: it does not take into the specificity of the industry and it does not take into the reality on the “land”.

Let’s take them one by one. What does 300 meters mean? Another way of putting it is the closure of licensed venues, betting shops, gaming halls and lotteries, more precisely 90% of venues could be closed, according to preliminary calculations. Who can continue a business legally when they lose 90% of their customers? But the losses will not only be ours, the losses will be felt throughout the Romanian economy, because if we end up in the above situation, then the state budget would receive 1 billion euros less annually, money that came from direct and indirect taxes. It would also mean more than 30,000 employees out of work. On top of this, there are losses for other companies with which the landbased gaming industry collaborates, from real estate to IT.

However, the biggest risks that could arise with the adoption of such measures are related to the black market. We keep saying it, economists keep saying it for those who have ears to hear. If 90% of the gambling halls are closed, this will mean encouraging clandestine activity, migration to an unsupervised area outside the control of any authority. If the main concern of politicians is the protection of minors, even though the law clearly forbids at the moment the access of minors to such activities and there are control institutions, how will you supervise the access of children to clandestine places?

Money laundering and the potential for organized crime is a risk that will no longer be just about one industry, it will be about the entire Romanian economy and, more importantly, the entire society.

Another discussion that was not really raised and not taken into is related to discriminatory and uncompetitive treatment between market operators: online versus offline. I think this is the message we should be promoting: regulate, but take into the specifics of the industry, take into the way we do business. And I think that message should be sent out by the whole industry, because when you come up with blanket measures, you affect both online and offline in different ways, but you won’t achieve your goal, one way or the other, you’re just disrupting a whole industry.

SORIN GEORGESCU

A big fuss, both among politicians and in the social media, has been made about gambling advertising, even reaching the conclusion that it should be banned altogether. If you are no longer allowed to from today, what will be the loss?

This is where I think each company has to say what its losses are, if any, because everyone invests differently in advertising. In one way online is affected, in another offline. I don’t have a numerical answer. But back to the discussion at the beginning: we should understand that advertising should be about fun, not about winning. When you’re too much and all over the place, it becomes a kind of over-selling. And in the business world we know that over-selling is not good for business in the long run. A total ban seems to me that should not even be considered in 2023, but responsible advertising, yes, it is desirable. And we should be the first to want a coherent, clear regulatory framework with limits, so that we know when we have gone too far, when we have exceeded a limit. On the other hand, I tell you that a total ban means losses, first for the media, then for sport. Gambling has ed Romanian sport for years. And it’s perfectly healthy to want people to know that when we sponsor a team, that team benefits from our financial . Of course, here too we can talk about a responsibility, but it is up to the legislator to draw some limits, which, however, should not discriminate against us in relation to other businesses.

What is the message that you, as President of ROMSLOT, want to convey to companies operating in the field?

It’s not an easy time, but we haven’t made it any easier. Nor should we hide, perhaps now more than ever we should be more open, more transparent, more able. We should also tell our truth more often, but not make the mistake of others: to see ourselves as we are. No prettier, no better, no more honest. I am aware that it is hard to fight emotion, it is hard to fight perceptions with numbers, but it is our duty to say who we are, what we do, how we do it. We know that if gambling disappears, the world is neither richer, nor more beautiful, nor more moral, but we, in this world in which we operate, can choose to be more responsible.

ROMSLOT