Kindred’s flagship Unibet brand has unveiled a new campaign to raise awareness about heart health issues within the cycling community. Called Follow Your Heart, the new campaign represents a partnership between the operator and the Dutch cycling team Tour de Tietema (TDT).

As a part of the initiative, Unibet joined forces with the team to develop an online learning tool in response to the growing concern over heart health issues within the cycling community.

Furthermore, a free and interactive augmented reality experience will feature digital versions of TDT’s owners, Bas Tietema, Devin van der Wiel and Josse Wes who will guide users through an eight-step process to perform resuscitation.

The campaign’s goal is not only to increase awareness of the health problems faced by cyclists but to also increase survival rates by teaching sports fans in the Netherlands and Belgium how to save lives.

The initiative will be promoted by TDT members who will wear a custom exclusive jersey featuring campaign imagery. The TDT-Unibet team already wore the jersey featuring the campaign name on the chest, hearts on the sleeve and eight lifesaving skills on the back during the Tour of Antalya.

Kindred Wants to Teach Fans How to Save Lives

Lennart Kessels, Kinded Group’s general manager for the Netherlands, commented on the initiative, saying that sports are in Unibet’s DNA, which is why Follow Your Heart is a natural fit for the company. Kessels hopes that the campaign will inspire Dutch cycling fans to learn valuable lifesaving skills.

This awareness campaign fits well with our focus on increasing social engagement, and we hope that, together with Tour de Tietema, we can inspire as many Dutch people as possible to complete the AR experience.

Lennart Kessels, GM Netherlands, Kindred Group

Kindred Group’s general manager for Belgium, Dennis Marien, also shared his thoughts, pointing out that this is not the first time Kindred has raised awareness for the eight life-saving skills. Previously, the operator promoted this invaluable skillset together with Club Bruges.

By tailoring this now to cycling, we hope to educate even more Belgians about the importance of these life-saving techniques. As playing responsibly is one of our key focuses, the link to acting responsibly in sports is evident.

Dennis Marien, GM Belgium, Kindred Group

Finally, Bas Tietema, one of the owners of Tour de Tietema, shared his thoughts, providing insight into his motivations behind the campaign. He described himself as a person who always follows his heart but also one who couldn’t help but notice that a less well-functioning heart can make people very insecure. Considering the proliferation of stories about health problems within the cycling world, the need for health awareness became evident to Tietema.

We, within the team, didn’t know how to perform lifesaving actions. With our cycling team, we reach a lot of people, so we wanted to use that reach to draw attention to this current issue.

Bas Tietema, co-owner, Tour de Tietema

In other news, Kindred recently published an update on its Journey towards Zero initiative.

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Proponents of the California sports betting initiative have submitted crucial amendments to their proposal to the state attorney general. The revised initiative not only addresses concerns raised by tribes and regulators but also introduces key changes that promise to enhance revenue sharing and inclusivity among California’s diverse tribal communities.

California Sports Betting Initiative’s Key Transformations

One of the pivotal alterations includes an increase in the revenue share for limited- and non-gaming tribes, a move that aims to rectify the disparities among different tribal groups. The amended initiative eliminates provisions that larger tribes found problematic, fostering a more unified stance among stakeholders.

The original proposal faced criticism from three California Indian tribes in 2021, who highlighted concerns related to offshore online gaming operators. In response, the proponents removed the contentious provisions, demonstrating a commitment to addressing the specific needs and worries of the tribal leaders.

Key modifications in the finalized initiative involve a boost in the percentage of operator revenue allocated to Revenue Sharing Trust Fund (RSTF) tribes to 25%. This replaces the previous 10% allocation to homelessness and mental health funding. 

Additionally, the initiative now limits the in-person sign-up requirement for online sports betting accounts to the first two years, allowing mobile sign-ups within a 10-mile radius of tribal casinos.

The initiative also introduces a five-year sunset for promotional credits, starting at 15% in the first year and gradually decreasing to zero. Furthermore, the start date for California online sports betting has been pushed to no earlier than July 1, 2025.

CNIGA Firmly Rejects California Sports Betting Proposals

Last month, the California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) formally opposed two sports betting proposals, introduced by Kasey Thompson and Reeve Collins in October, aiming to regulate online and in-person sports wagering in the state. Following a vote by 52 CNIGA members, the association expressed irrevocable opposition, criticizing the handling of the initiatives and emphasizing the Tribes’ expertise in deciding what is best for their communities, urging the proponents to drop the proposals as promised in case of tribal opposition.

The next steps for the California sports betting initiative involve the state producing a fiscal estimate by December 18 and the attorney general releasing a circulating title and summary by January 2. Proponents, confident in tribal support, are prepared to fund the initiative entirely, from signature collection through the potentially costly ballot campaign, reinforcing their commitment to a zero-cost initiative for the tribes.

The California sports betting initiative, if successful, would amend the state constitution to permit sports betting on professional, collegiate, and select amateur sports. Tribal compacts with the state would include sports betting, and the initiative will legalize craps and roulette at tribal casinos.

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Australian operator Crown Resorts has introduced a new program to prevent gambling harm. The program is called Crown PlaySafe and will be rolled out across the operator’s properties in the country.

Crown said that this program is in line with its Future Crown transformation program and follows the earlier troubles for the company. It aims to broaden the company’s focus from identifying and supporting problem players to preventing problem gaming in the first place.

Crown PlaySafe’s approach has seen the company double down on its efforts to improve player well-being and care. The program also saw the creation of a dedicated gambling research and policy team, led by Dr Jamie Wiebe since early 2022.

Wiebe’s team will work o a new knowledge exchange hub for business and industry where safer gambling tools and practices will be discussed and evaluated. Crown’s new leadership has invested more than AUD 13 million in gambling harm prevention and support, as well as in expanding the Crown PlaySafe team.

Crown PlaySafe Is Based on Four Core Principles

Taking a look at how PlaySafe will function, Crown announced that the program is designed on maximizing player safety. To that end, the company will focus on key priority areas.

The first area is the building of a safer gambling future with a focus on prevention and safer play. This means that Crown’s new focus would be preventing harm before it has become a problem.

In addition, Crown will work on building a safer gambling culture, with care for the community. To that end, the company will team up with a variety of regulators, education providers, businesses, community-based organizations, industry specialists and the government to create a “more culturally-relevant approach” to the prevention of problem gambling.

Furthermore, Crown will be building a safer gambling environment, with expanded support for vulnerable and at-risk players. As a result, Crown will pair tech with data to identify early signs of problem gambling and take action before it is too late.

Finally, Crown will work on building a safer gambling system, to improve its understanding of player behavior. This means that the company will invest in research and data monitoring, and will test new tools, concepts and ideas in collaboration with industry experts and critics.

In addition to these four core pillars, the PlaySafe approach seeks to mitigate the stigma associated with problem gambling.

Crown Resorts Is Already Introducing New Solutions

Crown Resorts’ chief executive officer, Ciarán Carruthers, expressed his company’s desire to become a visionary in gambling harm prevention. To that end, Crown is scaling up its efforts to crack down on problem gambling.

With a focus on collaboration and engagement with government, industry and community-based partners, I am confident that together we can reduce gambling harm and create a safer gambling future for all Australians.

Ciarán Carruthers, CEO, Crown Resorts

Dr Jamie Wiebe also commented on the matter, expressing the need for further understanding of gambling problems and harm. She noted that the company is currently working on many notable safer gambling solutions.

Gambling safety features like mandatory carded-play, time and spend limits, and online self-exclusion are some of the many tools being implemented to support guests to play safely.

Dr Jamie Wiebe, group EGM RG, Crown Resorts

Wiebe concluded that the program is developed in partnership with many industry experts and is based on reliable research into the matter.

Last month, Crown back-paid several workers after a query uncovered underpayments.

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