German trade body criticises problem gambling data reports
Sports betting trade body, Deutscher Sportwettenverband (DSWV) has accused members of German media of distorting statistics.
The DSWV has made these accusations in lieu of reports that have highlighted a 2021 problem gambling survey that indicated a rise in gambling addicts from 400,000 individuals to 1.4 million subsequent to the new market regulations of the same year.
DSWV’s argument
Conducted by the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) in the 10 years prior to the data’s 2021 release, the survey showed a stable or even decreasing number of problem gamblers.
The same year also saw the Institute for Interdisciplinary Addiction and Drug Research (ISD) begin collecting data, however, the data was collected using what was described as a “methodological reboot”.
This included the simultaneous use of both online and telephone surveys to build the results in the ISD report, whereas previously only phone questions were included.
This according to the DSWV constitutes too large of a change to make the data simply impossible to compare year upon year. In actual fact, this may have more than doubled the sample size for data collection without any significant changes in gambling behaviour to speak of at all.
Previous disputes
This is not the first time the DSWV has clashed with an organisation over the misuse of statistics in order to propagate an anti-gambling sentiment.
In June of this year, the German addiction association Deutsche Hauptstelle für Suchtfragen (DHS) came under heavy fire for citing inaccurate figures in its 2023 Yearbook of Addiction.
The DSWV explained how the DHS’s sources consisted of affiliate marketing sites when the typical standard is necessarily academic or government research.
The way forward
The DSWV’s president Mathias Dahms has expressed that although the organisation welcomes a data-based, objective approach to the topic, these facts must be verified and furthermore conclusive. He stated:
“The evaluation of the State Treaty planned for the end of 2026 must take into account the experience of all stakeholders, only in this way can the knowledge gained lead to constructive cooperation between all stakeholders for the benefit of customers.”
He continued to stress how the most dangerous factor to consumer protection in gambling is the illicit and unregulated grey markets throughout the sector, stating:
“바카라er and youth protection works most effectively through successful channelling into the legal market with licensed providers.”
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