Impact on sports and operators secures double Global Regulatory Awards nomination for EPIC
The notable impact of EPIC Global Solutions’ work with both the gambling and sports sectors has secured a double nomination for the company at the 2025 Global Regulatory Awards, at which EPIC hopes to make it four years in a row as category winners.
After three consecutive successful years, the nominations for this year’s ceremony, presented by Vixio, have been received in two new categories: Outstanding Contribution to Safer Gambling and Outstanding Contribution to Sports Betting Integrity.
Both are a source of pride for EPIC, with the categories representing the two sectors in which we are currently most active with our range of education, training and consultancy options.
Central to the nomination for the Outstanding Contribution to Safer Gambling award was our ongoing quality assurance (QA) work with leading gambling operators.
As detailed in a recent blog, EPIC’s QA service involves evaluating the quality of customer interaction calls for both UK and international calls, ensuring that best practice techniques for identifying and supporting problem gambling issues are being followed by call handlers.
The service is provided through the lens of lived experience, with the evaluation undertaken by those who have first-hand experience of the caller’s perspective and how their path to recovery from problem gambling could have been smoother with the right interventions earlier in their journey.
The Outstanding Contribution to Sports Betting Integrity nomination aligns with a key focus area for the business at present, with our team keen to highlight the need to prevent integrity breaches as part of the overall issue of negating problem gambling in sport.
We have been on the record in explaining the potential performance-based consequences of sports integrity breaches and investigations in recent weeks, including this blog from Marc Williams which received wider media attention, while our CEO Paul Buck will be speaking on the subject at the upcoming Brazilian Sports Tech Summit, taking place in Sao Paulo on 4th September in front of a key audience of government leaders, sports federations, operators, and industry pioneers, who are well placed to address the issue.
We have directly delivered education on this subject matter extensively via our NCAA student-athlete and staff education programme over the past four years, with our delivery paying particular attention to the live issue of betting integrity breaches – especially the presentations delivered by former college basketball star Stevin ‘Hedake’ Smith, whose story focuses on his own point shaving scandal and how current athletes can learn from his errors.
Those sessions, at colleges spread across the whole of the US, were part of the citation for EPIC receiving the nomination in that category.
EPIC CEO Paul Buck receiving his accolade at the 2024 Global Regulatory Awards
If successful in winning either award, it will continue a run of success stretching back to 2022, when the company was named as the ceremony’s Responsible Gambling Service or Solution Provider of the Year. That was followed a year later by principal consultant Dan Spencer receiving the Compliance Rising Star Special Award for his growing contribution to the industry, while CEO Paul Buck was a winner at the 2024 event, as his decade-long dedication to preventing problem gambling secured him the Outstanding Individual Contribution to Safer Gambling award.
Launched in 2017, the Global Regulatory Awards recognise and celebrate individuals and teams that work tirelessly to set new standards in the compliance and responsible gambling industry.
“To be recognised for making an outstanding contribution to the two key sectors we serve is very rewarding, as it proves the continued quality of our provision,” explained Paul Buck.
“We’re so fortunate to have some fantastic subject matter experts working for us in these areas and their dedication to making gambling safer for others deserves recognition.
“We thank Vixio for their continued validation of the work we do to lead both the conversations and actions around safer gambling, and look forward to being part of their wonderful Global Regulatory Awards event once again.”
The winners of this year’s awards will be unveiled when Vixio host their showpiece ceremony at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London on 19th November.
