– This is not “Davy is corrupt” – VG

The 70-year-old is clear that he will not “tempt dry alcoholics with cheap liquor” when he now has a new job and becomes the new profile for gaming company Coolbet.

– I’m not committing anything. I am who I am, I defend what I represent and I have no affection. This is me. This is not “Davy is going to learn”, “Davy is corrupt” or “Davy can be bought”. It has nothing to do with it. Davy will work with what Davy has as a passion and hobby, and which he believes is not problematic, Davy Wathne tells VG.

Atle Hamar, director of the Norwegian Lottery and Foundations Authority, believes that Wathne should consider the following:

– When Davy Wathne becomes an ambassador for a gaming company, it is important to be aware that it is easy to cross borders into illegal marketing. You have the freedom of speech to participate in the debate, but if you are too connected to actively market offers that are not legal to offer in Norway, then it is illegal marketing, says Hamar.

Davy Wathne has missed a hectic work life since leaving his job at TV 2 in December 2017, after there were several warnings against the profile’s behavior.

You can work and feel completely free from clocks and timesheets when you take on the role of blogger and podcast participant for a foreign gaming company.

– Gambling has been part of my working life and is a natural part of sports journalism. You watch matches and bets on those matches, he says and remembers the “betting match” and business trips to England as a Bergens Tidende journalist.

– Do you have moral concerns about working for a controversial industry?

– I would never do anything that goes against my principles. I have played on Expekt, Centrebet, Unibet, Nordicbet and Norsk Tipping, mainly Norsk Tipping. Games are a hobby for me, something I do to make games more fun.

– I understand that many people have problems and that gambling addiction is a social problem and a tragedy for those affected, but it applies to many other things that are legal.

– Gaming companies have been accused of aggressive marketing against problem players. what do you think about it?

– That’s exactly what worries me a lot, that we don’t tempt dry alcoholics with cheap liquor. The way I read the Coolbet guidelines is the complete opposite, it is responsibility and decency. It should be for those like me, who play for fun and use their free media.

– I lose money in games, but it is my money, on which I have won and paid taxes. So society must have systems that catch those who cannot handle it, in the same way as in other areas of society.

– Do you think you can contribute to more problem players?

– Then I never would have. On the contrary, I feel responsible and orderly. And my attitude towards sports and games is easy to explain and explain. Luring someone to misery is far from what I represent.

He disagrees with the view that Norsk Tipping is “the only holy, proper, credible, and decent gaming company, while everyone else is bullies.”

– I think a licensing model is an orderly deal for foreign gambling companies, with laws and rules approved by the Storting, he says, and he thinks it would have been best for problem players as well.

– You have internet and you cannot block contact with the outside world. These companies, which according to Norsk Tipping are illegal, but which are clearly not, operate legally in other countries according to rules other than the Norwegian ones. You have to clean it up, there’s a bit of your head in the sand and pretend you can avoid it. Rather, you have to put it in neat forms and enforce the driving rules and regulations that make them comply with the rules that Norsk Tipping follows.

Tonje Sagstuen at Norsk Tipping disagrees that the licensing scheme is the way to go when it comes to overcoming player problems.

– For-profit gaming companies operating illegally in Norway commercialize casino games (the most dangerous games) to a large extent, and use a number of aggressive tools in their marketing.

Norsk Tipping does not want to assess the legality of what other companies are doing, but is referring to the Norwegian Lottery Authority, which is “very clear that foreign gambling companies operating in Norway are violating Norwegian law.”

– It is very strange that a company that spends more on marketing in three weeks during the Corona period than we spend in a whole year, should talk about aggressive measures. 100% of our TV commercials are about probabilities, so I don’t quite understand what the director of Norsk Tipping is talking about, responds Mikael. Mellqvist on Coolbet and references this report.

Atle Hamar from the Norwegian Lottery and Foundations Authority also thinks the old TV 2 profile is wrong.

– It is quite true that other countries have other rules that make these companies legal, but these companies are not legal in Norway because we have other rules here. And this is not regulated by EU law. Each country has its own national legislation. That argument is not valid for Davy Wathne.

Trond Blindheim of Kristiania University College (formerly Markedshøyskolen) believes that athletes who have competed for gaming companies have earned a dubious reputation, and that many will now wonder why Davy Wathne left TV 2 before appearing in the gaming industry.

– You have to be careful who they see you with. The gambling industry is as suspicious as the drugs and weapons industry. It’s something that creates negative associations in many, he says.