The Association of Remote Gambling Operators (ARGO) and the Interactive Gaming, Gambling and Betting Association (iGGBA)—two trade organizations for the interactive gambling industry-- have agreed to a merger that will create the Remote Gaming Association (RGA). Officials from the two groups say the merger will benefit everyone involved in many ways, especially by providing one single voice to represent the industry's interests and by serving as a single point of contact for lawmakers and regulators.
As Clive Hawkswood, secretary of ARGO, explains, "As time progressed, we found the two associations have very similar views on all the big issues. We've worked increasingly closer together on things like lobbying in Europe and in the UK on the Gambling Act, and I think it was just felt that going ahead, rather than making government and regulators have more or less same meeting twice, it seemed much more sensible to rationalize it and bring the two together."
Providing its members with a single voice on all issues of importance to regulators, legislators, and other key decision makers around the world is perhaps the primary advantage of the two groups coming together. RGA members will also benefit from having more collective weight behind group efforts, from more efficient organization, and from a greater range and depth to address issues of mutual concern.
While iGGBA provided membership to a wide array companies with interest in the I-gaming space and ARGO limited itself to European interactive gaming operators, full membership in the new RGA will be open only to gaming operators and software suppliers. Law firms, payment processors, and other I-gaming related entities that were accepted as members to iGGBA will, however, be able to become affiliates of the RGA. Affiliates will receive networking and information services and a chance to participate in a forum that is specially designed to cater to their needs.
The membership fee for operators will be £5,000 for each platform (casino gaming, online betting, telephone betting, etc.). The membership fee for software providers will also be £5,000, but affiliates will only pay only £1,500— the same cost as an associate membership to iGGBA.
Clive Hawkswood, who is currently Secretary of the ARGO, will assume the role of Chief Executive for RGA. Before joining ARGO, Hawkswood served as a senior official for the UK's Department of Culture, Media and Sport advising on remote gambling policies through the developmental stages of the country's Gambling Bill. iGGBA's director, Wes Himes, will become an adviser to the RGA and will work mainly on the RGA affiliate program and on European issues.
The RGA will begin operating on August 1st and will be temporarily governed by an executive committee composed of 15 members drawn from the current governing bodies of iGGBA and ARGO. Among the executive committee's first duties will be electing a chairman and vice-chairman. In early 2006 RGA will hold a full election to appoint a new executive committee of ten members whose terms will last until 2009.