Organizing coffee expos for local businesses. Co-hosting the Macau International Comedy Festival. Taking part in international parades. Encouraging schools to create artwork for the Special Olympics table tennis day, which it also co-hosted. Funding Lunar New Year firework and drone displays. Collaborating with local social welfare organizations to promote sustainable catering. Promoting financial education for children…
It is never a quiet day for the Galaxy Entertainment Group PR team, and just one look at the company’s Facebook page will show how much effort is put into each initiative. Each event is attended by some members of Galaxy management, along with a photographer to capture every moment in crisp detail so everyone can see the good that has come from the event.
These achievements have earned Galaxy Entertainment Group a place in the Global Gaming Awards Shortlist (soon to be fully revealed) for our CSR category – and there are some equally impressive names joining it. The Macau Government's push for casino diversification has no doubt worked in tandem with Galaxy's CSR activity, with one factor here mutually benefitting the other.
But is this amount of effort feasible for international operators and, if so, why is this success story not being recreated around the world?
Can casinos be good for society?
Galaxy has worked hard to be associated with the good acts it contributes towards society. Each event is promoted heavily on the company’s social media pages, and many of them are actually hosted at Galaxy properties, such as the Arena.
It is difficult to argue that Galaxy is not doing a great job at supporting its local communities and, in some cases, even going above and beyond what is expected.
At its recent GEG Macau Special Olympics Inclusive Table Tennis Fun Day, Galaxy invited over 1,000 participants to visit the event, play matches and visit themed booths.
In the run-up to the event, local schools were invited to host a ‘DIY Table Tennis Ball Night Light Inclusive Workshop’, where nearly 80 teachers, students and individuals with special needs created special ping pong balls that were exhibited during the event.
“Looking ahead, GEG will continue to leverage its resources to actively organize and support a diverse range of sporting activities, working with partners across different sectors to promote an inclusive culture in the community,” the operator explained.
And this is just one event of many that Galaxy hosts, organizes, or gets involved with.
Why don’t we hear about more casinos investing in communities?
Before we continue to discuss how casinos could better serve their communities, we would be remiss not to mention Tribal casinos in the US.
Since their inception, Native American Tribes have fought several difficult legal battles with the US Government to protect their rights to offer gaming on their lands through reservation casinos.
Native Americans are some of the most economically disadvantaged communities in the US, and casinos provide vital employment opportunities for families.
The profits from the casinos are also usually reinvested back into the community, funding social housing, education, medical centers and even scholarship opportunities abroad.
As long as there is a stigma between gambling and the media, there may always be a constraint on how much operators can (or are willing to) participate in their respective societies
Do enough gambling companies give to charity?
It would also be unbalanced not to acknowledge the good that does come from gambling. Each year, the Britannia Stakes charity race at Royal Ascot brings in hundreds of thousands of pounds, which is distributed to good causes across the UK.
This year, Flutter Entertainment (Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Bet), Entain (Ladbrokes, Coral), Evoke (888 William Hill), Kindred (Unibet), Betway, Rank Group (Grosvenor Sport), Virgin Bet, LiveScore Bet, Star Sports and QuinnBet raised more than £450,000 ($596,310.75) through the initiative. Since 2019, they have raised over £6m for a range of health, sport and veteran charities. Kindred's parent company, FDJ United, is constantly giving back in France, too.
Flutter has invested into grass roots clubs across UK and Ireland for the past 18 years, with this year seeing £500,000 split between 250 community organizations.
The CHIPS trust has also raised £2m and provided over 500 wheelchairs for children in need, mostly through industry donations and fundraising events.
All of this is even without mentioning individual charity initiatives pushed and supported by those in the industry.
There is also some level of engagement between operators and CSR. For example, it is commonplace for casinos in Europe to partner with charities or non-profit organizations and host fundraising days throughout the year to hit targets. Grosvenor has been a long-time partner of Carers Trust and William Hill has helped out Foodbank Lifeline Malta – both of which are great causes.
Can casinos do more for society?
However, no other operator seems to be extending itself as far or as often as Galaxy Entertainment Group is. Every week, the operator has organized something new, or is hosting a grand-scale event at one of its properties, or has sent executives out to march in a community parade.
And, more to the point, anything casinos are doing – we don't hear near enough about it.
Perhaps the gambling industry has become so isolated and criticized that it would feel peculiar for casinos or sportsbooks to engage with CSR events in the same way that Galaxy does in Macau. But that is part of the problem, too, with PR teams not doing enough in the outside world.
There seems to be a prevailing attitude that the gambling industry is separated from the rest of the world. A vicious cycle may have developed, particularly in Europe, where casinos only contribute to gambling-harm charities and then people complain that they don’t donate enough, or that the funding is biased.
And that seems to be the key point here: there is a place for gambling companies to reach out and engage with the wider world around them. Absolut has supported Pride and the wider LGBTQ+ community for over 40 years, Standard Life is the headline sponsor of Race for Life and Rolex has sponsored TED to keep the talks free since 2008.
In the last few years, there has been a notable increase in charity drives from companies, especially around Christmas time. But as long as there is a stigma between gambling and the media, there may always be a constraint on how much operators can (or are willing to) participate in their respective societies.
There is no reason that cannot change. Operators can do more. And many of those that do need to do a lot more to get the message out.
Around 40% of adult grassroots sports clubs are cancelling services in the UK due to a lack of funding
