Five things we learned from Andrew Rhodes’ address at ICE 2025 

Gambling Commission (GC) CEO Andrew Rhodes took the stage at the Fira Barcelona Gran Via yesterday, 21 January, to deliver his keynote speech for ICE 2025, as he laid out the regulator’s plan of action for the year ahead.

During his talk, Rhodes set out the regulator’s goals for the industry, as he spoke to multiple touchpoints concerning the UK sector today.

In a wide-ranging presentation, he issued more warnings to operators and suppliers over potential black market activity, doubling down on threats made by the GC earlier in the week.  

The CEO also shared his feelings about the white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review, and how its implementation might be affecting stakeholders within the industry. He also took the opportunity to touch on crypto and the new Gambling Survey for Great Britain.

Here, EGR breaks down five key points to take from Rhodes’ speech for those who weren’t in attendance.

White paper impatience

After kicking off with a range of stats on the UK market, Rhodes referenced the white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review, which the UK government published in April 2023.  

Since publication, the industry is waiting to see the full impact of the white paper as its recommended changes have yet to be fully implemented. 

Some headline shifts, including slot stake limits, financial risk checks and gameplay requirements, have made initial steps, but concrete change has yet to be enacted.

While acknowledging some extenuating circumstances behind this, Rhodes hinted at growing frustrations for stakeholders within the industry. 

With the white paper being published under the previous Conservative government, Labour has promised to act on the proposals laid out, although change has been glacial.

Rhodes said: “In April it will be two years since the UK government at that time published its Gambling Act review white paper, and at the Gambling Commission we have been working hard to implement the recommendations that it laid out. 

“While the UK went through a general election last year that resulted in a change of government, we have not seen a particular political change to the fundamentals, or to the government direction on the regulation of gambling. 

“Our government minister, Baroness Twycross, stated her support for continuing the implementation of those recommendations and gave everyone her view on the path ahead in late 2024. 

“The interactions I have with operators on a weekly basis tells me that the vast majority of this industry wants to do the right thing and wants the clarity the implementation of the 2023 white paper would bring.” 

Teething problems

Back in July, the Gambling Commission released the results from its first ever Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB).  

The GSGB was initially greeted with controversy amid claims the GC was using inaccurate data in its first ever set of findings. 

The study served as the replacement for the NHS’ annual Health Survey, which used to be the regulator’s main method for collecting data about the industry.  

Rhodes acknowledged that the Health Survey was flawed in its methodology despite it serving a purpose during the time it was implemented.  

He said: “The evidence base is sometimes bitterly fought over and while I do not think it has been a surprise as such, moving to a new methodological approach for estimating gambling participation and rates of problem gambling has been challenging, despite the many years of preparation, consultation, engagement and external evaluation.  

“The previous methodology used – the Health Survey – was very good in its time, but the methodology relied on face-to-face interviews and that has become increasingly difficult to do, with the 2023 England survey unable to take place at all. Other parts of Great Britain have also already changed their methodology.  

“Surveys took place with multi-year gaps between them, with long gaps between fieldwork and eventual publication, in a world where we are seeing something new all the time that is just not sustainable in this day and age – especially when that survey might not happen at all.” 

Rhodes also called for stakeholders within the industry to take a nuanced approach when interpreting data, and to take caution when making direct comparisons with previous data sets.

“I think it is important for regulators to have access to the best evidence base they can, as frequently as they can.  

“Everyone in the debate should be clear about the strengths and weaknesses of any data or evidence, but being clear about the limitations does not mean the same thing as a lack of confidence or saying something cannot be relied on.  

“Nor should anyone be trying to distil an entire complex industry with a wide range of activities and mixed consumer behaviour into a single number – we certainly are not.  

“Estimates of problem gambling are important – of course they are – but we also need the widest evidence base possible and everyone should recognise the nuances in consumer experiences.” 

Cryptocurrency a grey area

During his address, Rhodes was asked whether payment blocking was an option that the regulator was looking at in order to halt the flow of business towards the black market.  

Rhodes confirmed that the GC has been working with payment providers in this practice, as well as collaborating with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).  

He continued: “Early on in this work we formed partnerships with Mastercard and Visa. For any operators who use these facilities, as soon as suspicious activity is identified, they will be frozen.  

“We’ve had similar conversations with the FCA and we’ve been speaking to all the payment providers.” 

Rhodes added that monitoring the movement of crypto is much more difficult for the regulator.  

“What is harder for us is once things move into cryptocurrencies because there aren’t the same levers for us; the FCA are not regulating cryptocurrencies.

“If any of those operators were to be engaged in the black market, that’s obviously something we would talk to the FCA about.” 

A fair and open 2025 

Rhodes emphasised that the GC’s main goal for the new year is to make the industry a fairer place for consumers.  

He suggested that players are the ones getting caught in the crossfire when operators are trying their utmost to be compliant with the UK’s regulations.  

According to Rhodes, addressing these issues should be one of the regulator’s main priorities this year. 

He continued: “The focus in 2025 for the Gambling Commission is obviously on the things I have already mentioned, and that was not an exhaustive list, but will also be on our statutory objective that gambling should be fair and open.  

“This is an increasingly complex area as operators contend with large-scale identity misuse by organised gangs, more routine bonus abuse and multi-accounting as well as a range of other issues, including AI KYC spoofing and so on.  

“In this mix are customers who are not engaged in any of those activities but might have been caught by the efforts to prevent them. We have also seen some operators advising customers they are conducting checks or requesting information for ‘regulatory reasons’ or because the Gambling Commission require them to, when this is simply not the case whatsoever.

“We are considering what action we may need to take with these operators.” 

Rhodes added that the GC and operators both need to be as transparent as possible with players going forward. 

“Overall, we expect to be saying far more about the area of gambling being fair and open, as well as continuing to press on the issue of transparency for consumers and understanding the level of restrictions in place in the market. 

“Any operator can refuse business for commercial reasons and nobody is suggesting that will change, but we do need to have a better understanding of the scale and impact of this in a very liberalised and channelised market.” 

Zero tolerance policy

Earlier this week, the Gambling Commission sent a warning out to licensed operators to cut ties with any suppliers with links to the black market.  

During his speech, Rhodes also made reference to the situation with Evolution, after the supplier announced that the regulator would review the company’s licence over suspected black market activity.  

Rhodes went on to reiterate that there could be severe consequences for any guilty parties, encouraging operators to carry out required due diligence when it comes to supplier deals.  

He added: “In Great Britain, there has always been an illegal presence, but awareness and the nature of it has changed. Our aim is to prevent the illegal market from operating at scale in Great Britain. 

“I have also made clear to licensed operators that while it is not their job to take action against illegal operators, I have firmly encouraged everyone to ensure they have undertaken due diligence regarding their own activities and those of any suppliers they rely on.  

“If the Commission detects illegal activity in any operator – B2C or B2B – we may well immediately suspend their licence and, in any event, they face the very real prospect of having their licence revoked, which means anything they are supplying to anyone else in Great Britain will cease immediately.” 

The post Five things we learned from Andrew Rhodes’ address at ICE 2025  first appeared on EGR Intel.

 EGR breaks down the key takeaways from the Gambling Commission CEO’s speech, where he reiterated warnings issued to both suppliers and operators, as well as looking ahead to what the regulator’s focus should be for 2025 
The post Five things we learned from Andrew Rhodes’ address at ICE 2025  first appeared on EGR Intel.