The Colorado Lottery has been awarded Level 4 Responsible Gaming Certification from the World Lottery Association (WLA). The Lottery is only one of only a handful of lotteries in the U.S. to receive the organization’s highest level of achievement. Since joining the WLA in 2018, the Lottery has progressed through all four certification levels by expanding its commitments to responsible gaming, both financially and through specific programs, to keep its players safe.
Lotteries that achieve WLA Level 4 certification must demonstrate that responsible gaming principles are part of day-to-day operations and how they are continuously strengthening efforts to promote responsible play. The Lottery has implemented several new initiatives and made numerous improvements towards this, including enhanced training for employees and retailers, and the adoption of an Advertising Code of Conduct. Additionally, the Lottery has significantly increased its player research and developed new metrics to assess the effectiveness of its responsible gaming programs.
“We are incredibly proud to be recognized for our commitment to responsible gaming and consider this certification to be just the beginning. This responsible gaming certification is a testament to our commitment to help players play responsibly,” said Tom Seaver, director of the Colorado Lottery. “Responsibility is at the forefront of everything we do each, and we will continue to build on our efforts to ensure that we are operating consistent with responsible gaming best practices in our industry.”
The Lottery has increased its responsible gaming efforts and funding by 75% in the past two years. Making these additional funds available helps the Lottery enhance responsible gaming marketing and awareness initiatives that are already in place, which include public outreach efforts such as a “Know Your Limits” year-round messaging campaign on social and digital media, support of the Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado (PGCC), Problem Gambling Awareness Month (PGAM), and the “Gift Responsibly” campaign over the holidays.
“The Lottery has played a critical role in funding the support of parks, trails, recreation, and open space in Colorado over the last 40 years,” said Mark Ferandino, Executive Director of the Department of Revenue. “As the state has grown exponentially in recent years, Lottery dollars have helped expand and provide stewardship funding for our important outdoor spaces.”
The WLA is recognized as the global authority on the lottery business, representing more than 150 state-authorized lotteries and gaming organizations that span across 80 countries and six continents. To help its members address the lottery sector’s most critical element of Corporate Social Responsibility, the WLA developed a set of Responsible Gaming Principles aimed at better protecting lottery players around the world. These principles serve as the foundation for the WLA’s responsible gaming certification program, which was designed to complement and improve the safeguards that individual lottery operators have in place, while also allowing for cultural and regional differences. There are 10 responsible gaming program elements used to evaluate and award certification: Research, Employee Program, Retailer Program, Game Design, Remote Gaming Channels, Advertising and Marketing Communications, Player Education, Treatment Referral, Reporting and Measurement, and Stakeholder Engagement.
“The Lottery has worked so hard to grow its responsible gaming program in such a short amount of time; we are thrilled that they have been recognized at the highest level for their important efforts,” said Larry Wall, executive director, Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado.”