Zona de Azar Belgium – Record Participation as European Safer Gambling Week Expands to 26 Countries
Belgium.- December 11th 2024 www.zonadeazar.com The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) announces record-breaking results from its fourth annual European Safer Gambling Week, held 18-24 November. The initiative – which included a social media campaign and events programme – demonstrated the broader European sector’s strengthening commitment to safer gambling through new levels of participation and expanded geographic reach.
The campaign saw record engagement with 195 partners actively participating – a 20% increase from 2023. Eight national gambling authorities participated, more than double the previous year, by either joining the social media campaign or speaking at the various events.
The campaign’s reach also expanded significantly to 26 countries[1] – a 30% increase from 2023 – with partners in Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine joining for the first time, reflecting the growing pan-European dimension of the campaign. This was helped by social media graphics being made available in the local languages of 27 countries.
The social media campaign reached 3.1 million users[2] across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X platforms, generating 1,169 social media posts – a 67% increase from the previous year.
A cornerstone of this year’s campaign was its comprehensive events programme, featuring 20 specialised events – an 11% increase from 2023. The events attracted record participation with 4,500 registrations and 3,000 attendees. Key discussions explored trends in AI, problem gambling prevalence reporting, and innovations in safer gambling tools and messaging. The events featured 105 speakers, including senior representatives from gambling authorities in Belgium, Denmark, France, and the UK.
The initiative builds on EGBA members’ year-round commitment to safer gambling, which in 2023 resulted in 67 million safety messages sent to their European customers.[3] This dedicated week amplifies these ongoing efforts while encouraging greater collaboration between operators, regulators, and harm prevention organisations.
“The success of this year’s edition reflects the sector’s deepening commitment to player protection,” said Maarten Haijer, Secretary General, EGBA. “The significant increase in participation, especially from health organisations and regulatory authorities, demonstrates the common purpose and growing unity in our approach to safer gambling. Through this collaboration, we’ve reached a record number of Europeans with crucial safety messages during the campaign. Together, we’re making gambling safer and we already look forward to building on this success in next year’s edition.”
[1] The 26 countries were: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine.
[2] Reach is the number of social media users that saw social media content containing the campaign hashtag #ESGW24, measured using an online social listening tool. Users may have seen campaign content across multiple social media platforms and profiles.
[3] Sustainability Report 2024, EGBA (2024)
Edited by: @MaiaDigital www.zonadeazar.com
