The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) is bolstering how members collaborate to take on common issues, such as the black market, through the appointment of its first-ever Chief Executive Officer.
Kevin Mullally will assume the role of CEO, but the organisation will keep its member-led governance structure with the board of trustees setting its strategic direction.
Mullally will utilise his gaming regulation, public policy and governance experience to support the IAGR’s goals of effective regulation and strong cooperation, tackling the challenges that are commonplace across different regions and countries.
Ben Haden, President of IAGR, commented: “Kevin brings an extraordinary depth of regulatory experience and a global perspective that aligns perfectly with IAGR’s mission. The Board was unanimous in its excitement about bringing on a leader with Kevin’s background to guide IAGR in this newly created Chief Executive Officer role.
“His experience in regulatory governance, gaming industry technology, institutional leadership and international collaboration will be invaluable as IAGR continues to strengthen its global role and support regulators facing complex cross-jurisdictional challenges.”
Before joining the IAGR, Mullally served as the CEO of the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority in the United Arab Emirates from June 2023 until January earlier this year, helping to establish the country’s gambling regulation.
He has also worked in various roles for Gaming Laboratories International and the Missouri Gaming Commission.
Mullally’s previous experience includes leading complex regulatory systems, developing responsible gaming frameworks, battling illegal market activity and engaging with industry stakeholders while maintaining strong regulatory independence.
“IAGR’s strength lies in its members and their willingness to work together across jurisdictions,” stated Mullally.
“My focus is on supporting regulators by expanding collaboration, sharing practical solutions and ensuring IAGR remains at the forefront of addressing the most critical regulatory issues worldwide.”
Illegal social media advertising
One of the issues Mullally will have to take on in his new role will be the rise of illegal operators advertising on social media platforms across different regions.
This was recently raised by Kansspelautoriteit Chair Michel Groothuizen when addressing the Dutch government’s proposal for a complete ban on online gambling advertising.
He said: “Currently, the competition for gamblers’ favour is primarily taking place on social media: TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and others are rife with gambling ads. However, the lion’s share comes from illegal parties.
“To put that into perspective: over the past few months, Facebook and Instagram have seen over 60,000 ads targeted at the Dutch public every month. Fewer than 2,000 of these come from legitimate online providers.”
Groothuizen argued that a complete ban on online advertising would result in only illegal operators having an online advertising presence.
“Our people will do everything in their power to combat illegal advertising as well, but under the current circumstances, we cannot be 100% successful. We may be able to enforce greater responsibility on tech companies through the Digital Services Act, but that will be a long-term process.
“The illegal parties will pay little attention to this, and as long as large tech companies continue to allow these advertisements or do not actively remove them on their own initiative, the only consequence of this ban announced in the coalition agreement will be that players will be lured away from the legal market even more than now.
“After all, they will then only encounter illegal providers online. That does not seem to me to be the intended goal of the new cabinet.”
Tim Miller, Executive Director of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), believes that social media platforms can do more to help combat the black market.
Miller stated last month that the UKGC had been in contact with Meta, but they had made “very limited progress” and that they should be doing more to fight against the illegal market.
“Their suggestion was that we should deploy AI tools ourselves to monitor and find these ads and then report them,” he said.
“I would be very surprised if Meta, as one of the world’s largest tech companies, is incapable of proactively using their own keyword facility to prevent the advertising of illegal gambling. It could leave you with the impression they are quite happy to turn a blind eye and continue taking money from criminals and scammers until someone shouts about it.”
