Safer Gambling Week 2025 – Onwards, Certainly Upwards
Safer Gambling Week (SGW) is a cross-industry campaign that happens once a year, in November. It aims to raise awareness of safer gambling behaviours, while offering tools, and access to support services. SGW2025 ran from 17-23 November and delivered record engagement across Europe, the UK and Ireland.
What is Safer Gambling Week?
First launched in 2017, following on from the success of Responsible Gambling Week (2013–2016), Safer Gambling Week has become a true cross-industry initiative. It works across operators, government, and charity too, all with the aim of promoting safer gambling awareness and early intervention.
Across Europe, it’s coordinated by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA). In the UK and Ireland, it is led by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), alongside partners including Bacta and the Bingo Association.
Though aligned in both name and timing, the European and UK campaigns operate independently. This allows them to better serve the public with region-specific messaging, partners, and delivery channels.
Safer Gambling Week 2025 focus
Each year, SGW UK has a focus, (in fact, usually 3 of them). In 2025 those 3 core focuses were:
- Talk about safer gambling: Encouraging players to self reflect and share.
- Take action: Encouraging the use of safer gambling tools.
- Get support: Signposting ways to get help.
The 2025 messaging particularly emphasised the idea of prevention being better than cure. By recognising early warning signs and normalising the use of protective tools, most players will be able to avoid ‘crisis level’ intervention.
Safer Gambling Week 2025 findings
SGW 2025 delivered record digital reach, as it has done almost year on year. This strongly indicates that this year delivered wider awareness than any previous campaign. In previous years, spikes in online engagement have consistently translated into measurable increases in the use of safer gambling tools. In 2024, the uptick in players setting deposit limits and time-outs correlated strongly with online engagement.
As such, industry leaders reiterated expectations that 2025’s engagement levels would lead to post-campaign behavioural change. We know that setting deposit limits has a positive impact on safer gambling behaviour, so this is a win worth celebrating.
Safer Gambling Week 2025 findings Europe
European Safer Gambling Week (ESGW) 2025 recorded 221 participating partners, a 14% increase on 2024 with activity spanning 24 countries. This helped to create the largest ESGW we’ve ever seen.
The social media campaign alone reached over 4.1 million individual viewers. Over 2,500 attendees and 120 speakers came together for ESGW talks. European Safer Gambling Week-themed pitch-side LED banners were rolled out for 8 televised football matches in Germany, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria.
Safer Gambling Week 2025 findings UK
In the UK and Ireland, the campaign made a record 80 million social media impressions. For a quick comparison, that’s up 40% from 2024.
This messaging ran across X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, allowing the campaign to partner up with lots of influential posters. Football club Chelsea was just one, sharing safer gambling messaging with its 25 million followers on X.
BGC stated it expects 2025 to achieve similar post-campaign results to 2024, including:
- 22% year-on-year increase in accounts using safer gambling tools.
- Deposit limit usage rise of 14%
These are impressive figures.
Safer Gambling Week overview
Unsurprisingly, SGW gets overwhelmingly positive reviews for the work that it does. Though only a week long this campaign has consistently achieved not just awareness, but tangible results. Here’s an overview of what players, operators, and the industry as a whole thinks of SGW.
The good that Safer Gambling Week does
- In one short week, SGW manages to make a measurable difference to how players approach gambling more safely. It does this by:
- Providing channels to access safer gambling tools, leading to data-backed increases in their use.
- Normalising conversations around gambling habits – before harm escalates.
- Achieving true cross-sector collaboration, including operators, sports organisations, regulators and politicians.
- Creating a gateway to the support of national and local services.
Criticisms
While on the whole, it’s very positive for SGW, everything has its critics. For SGW, this is largely anti-gambling and religious groups:
- Gambling With Lives Strategy Director Will Prochaska called SGW UK an ‘embarrassing and dangerous industry charade’ in an article calling for gambling reform.
- Christian Action Research and Education columnist Tim Cairns called it a ‘cynical stunt’ in his article slamming ‘Big Gambling’.
Personally, I think the only possible criticism of Safer Gambling Week is that whichever way you look at it, it’s only one week out of 52. On the one hand a year-round sustained effort, or even a twice yearly campaign might generate greater results.
However, getting the reach that SGW achieves might only be possible because it’s one high impact week. Players are more likely to take notice, operators are more likely to partake, and charities, politicians, and organisations are more likely to have the time to devote to a week-long campaign.
Gambling will always have its critics – regardless of how well regulated the industry is.
Improving Safer Gambling Week
If making Safer Gambling Week longer than a week isn’t the way forward, is there another way this initiative could be improved?
For Safer Gambling Week to keep evolving, the focus should be on depth rather than duration. That could mean:
- Stronger links between SGW and year-round safer gambling initiatives.
- More accessible reporting on outcomes to help players and anti-gambling groups see the progress that’s being made more clearly.
- Collaboration with banks and payment providers could hit an area of the industry that’s not been neatly targeted yet.
- Expanding localisation. This is already working brilliantly in European countries.
Summary
Safer Gambling Week 2025 delivered its strongest performance yet. It achieved record engagement, expanded partnerships, and data shows that awareness continues to translate into action.
While questions remain about scale and longevity, the results show that SGW plays a meaningful role in encouraging safer gambling. As the campaign continues to grow, its challenges evolve too. Now, the work should be focused on turning one highly effective week into lasting, measurable progress.