Bally’s Corporation Donates $600K to International Center for Responsible Gaming

Posted on: August 15, 2022, 12:33h. 

Last updated on: August 15, 2022, 04:32h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Bally’s Corporation has made the largest donation to the International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG) so far in 2022.

Bally's Corporation responsible gambling ICRG
The Bally’s Corporation has bestowed the International Center for Responsible Gaming $600,000. The grant will be used to research gambling disorders and develop new comprehensive programs to prevent and assist such addictions. (Image: Casino.org)

Founded in 1996, the ICRG is focused on conducting scientific research on gambling disorders and developing responsible gaming protocols to limit the societal harms of the industry. Bally’s announced today that it recently contributed $600,000 to the Massachusetts-headquartered nonprofit.

We take seriously our responsibility to educate the public, including young adult gamblers and our employees, about responsible gaming,” said Robeson Reeves, president of Bally’s Interactive.

“Bally’s is committed to this work, and we look forward to working with the ICRG on cutting-edge scientific research on gambling among young adults and the usage and effectiveness of responsible gambling tools,” Reeves added.

The $600,000, the ICRG says, will be used to fund scientific research tailored towards learning more about how young adults gamble and what sort of tools might assist those developing disorders or addictions.

The IRCG’s mission is to help individuals and families affected by gambling disorders by supporting peer-reviewed, scientific research into gambling addiction. The organization encourages the application of new research findings to improve prevention, diagnostic, intervention, and treatment strategies and advocates for advancing public education about gambling disorders and responsible gaming.

Bally’s Boom

The ICRG says it will accept bids from academia seeking grants to fund such relevant gambling disorder research with Bally’s gift.

The ICRG will invite scientists from around the world to apply for these grants in a rigorous competition that ensures funding only the highest quality research. The ICRG will also sponsor programming that will extend the research findings of these projects beyond academia and provide guidelines to the gaming industry for effective responsible gambling strategies,” an ICRG release issued to Casino.org explained.

The Bally’s Corporation was formed in 2020 after Twin River Worldwide Holdings in Rhode Island acquired the iconic Bally’s casino brand from Caesars Entertainment. Twin River subsequently renamed its corporation Bally’s.

Bally’s has been on a major acquisition spree since. Along with purchasing the Eldorado Shreveport in Louisiana, MontBleu casino in Nevada, Jumer’s Casino in Illinois, and Tropicana Evansville in Indiana, the company has casino development plans in State College, Pa., near Penn State University.

But the biggest development in Bally’s works is its downtown Chicago integrated resort. In May, Bally’s was picked by Chicago officials to build the Wind City’s first downtown casino.

The Bally’s pitch includes a $1.74 billion casino resort blueprint targeting the city’s Near North Side. It would be located on the former grounds of the Chicago Tribune printing plant.

ICRG Donations

Bally’s isn’t the only major US casino operator to recently open up its wallet for the International Center for Responsible Gaming.

In February, Las Vegas Sands donated $300,000 to the ICRG to develop guides and tutorials for parents to talk about gambling with their children. The following month, MGM Resorts gave $250,000 to the ICRG “in support of the organization’s research and education on gambling disorders and responsible gambling.”

And in May, Caesars Entertainment, through its Caesars Foundation, issued a $200,000 grant to the ICRG for general funding. In its announcement, Caesars says it has supported the responsible gaming organization “from day one.”