ICE Sustainable Gambling Zone receives a €20 donation.
The Sustainable Gaming Zone, launched at ICE 2018 as the Consumer Protection Zone, has become one of the event's most popular attractions and a central component of the ICE Barcelona experience.
Reflecting on the impact of the initiative, Pedro Romero observed: “ICE is probably the most influential event in the gambling industry, so the fact that player protection and responsible gambling have a visible space in the trade show pavilion is really important, as it challenges the industry to improve.”
"The Sustainable Gaming Zone underlines that sustainability, harm minimization, and player protection should be part of the main debate, and not something that happens on the sidelines."
“ICE has been working hard to highlight the importance of a safer and more sustainable approach to gambling. This visibility helps charities, researchers, operators, regulators, and other stakeholders come together and engage in dialogue, which can lead to real progress.”
BetBlocker International was one of four responsible gambling charities to receive a €20.000 donation at ICE Barcelona '26. The donations, resulting from generous contributions from 11 leading brands including Acordjoc, Betsson Group, BGaming, Cirsa, Flutter, Grupo Orenes, Merkur, Merkur Dosniha, Novomatic, Novomatic Spain and Zitro, brought the total amount donated by industry supporters to €462.500.
Speaking about the importance of the donation, Romero added: “I see this as recognition of the work that BetBlocker International has been doing and as an incentive for us to continue developing this work.”
"This support helps validate the idea that harm minimization measures should not be treated as something separate from the industry, but as something central to its long-term responsibility."
"Specifically, the donation is helping to fund important research."
“We are particularly interested in understanding how functionalities can better support people who want additional layers of protection. The goal is to ensure that new developments are not only technically useful, but also based on evidence, lived experience, and expert input.”
"The concrete benefit is that this funding will help us develop better tools for people at risk of gambling-related harm, and to do so in a more thoughtful and research-based way."
“By 2025, BetBlocker International supported over 300.000 active users worldwide. This is something we are very proud of, but it wouldn't be possible without the support of so many people and organizations who truly want to help minimize gambling-related harm.”
By focusing on the broader impact of the Sustainable Play Zone and the ICE Research Institute, he believes that while they demonstrate what he described as “a willingness to support knowledge, research and harm minimization solutions,” there is still much work to be done.
“These initiatives are a step in the right direction,” he confirmed. “However, we need more sectors of the industry to engage with them consistently. We need more organizations not only to publicly support these initiatives, but also to use the knowledge and tools that come from them to promote meaningful changes in how they protect players and reduce gambling-related harm.”
