Driving Innovation • Expanding Access • Advancing Science | | ICRG at ICE 2026: From Evidence to Innovation | | |
ICRG will have a strong presence at ICE 2026 in Barcelona, contributing to the thought leadership and innovation agendas that are shaping the future of responsible gambling.
ICE Innovators Challenge, in partnership with Microsoft
Tuesday, January 20, 2026 | 10:15–11:45 AM (CET)
ICRG will take the Enterprise Stage as a Top 5 finalist in the ICE Innovators Challenge, selected from more than 50 submissions. Delivered in partnership with Microsoft, the Innovators Challenge showcases solutions across AI, data, player protection, automation, and operational performance. Finalists pitch live before senior industry judges who assess scalability, real-world impact, and commercial potential.
Travis Sztainert (Director of Research & Education, ICRG), Michael Soll (President, ICRG), and Michael Wohl will present a new concept designed to close one of the field’s most persistent gaps, the distance between what research shows and what actually gets built into products and policy.
Teaser: What if decades of responsible gambling research were no longer scattered across journals and reports, but could answer real design questions in seconds? The ICRG team will explore how structured intelligence could reshape the design, evaluation, and improvement of safer gambling tools.
Prevention Through Empathy Engineering
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 | 10:05–10:50 AM (CET)
ICRG’s Travis Sztainert will also join Michael Wohl for a featured session exploring how behavioral science and design can transform responsible gambling interventions.
Prevention Through Empathy Engineering: Humanising Digital Interventions sits at the intersection of behavioral insights, UX design, and data-driven messaging. The session will examine how linguistic tone, visual hierarchy, and timing influence whether responsible gambling messages help players stay in control. Through live examples and message-mapping exercises, the discussion will focus on turning automated prompts and frontline interactions into emotionally intelligent communications that support, rather than alienate, players.
Travis will specifically address how evidence-based messaging and behavioral insights can improve engagement, credibility, and the long-term effectiveness of responsible gambling tools.
| | Advancing the Science of Responsible Gambling: 2025 Research Highlights | | |
In 2025, the International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG) supported an ambitious and diverse portfolio of research to strengthen prevention, treatment, and responsible gambling practices worldwide. Across Centers of Excellence, Large Grants, Seed Grants, and Dissertation Awards, ICRG funded work spanning behavioral science, public health, neuroscience, policy evaluation, and emerging technologies.
2025 Funding at a Glance
- 15 new research projects funded
- Over $2.2 million invested in independent, peer-reviewed research
- Projects led by investigators across North America, Europe, and Australia
- Research addressing the full continuum, from early prevention and workforce training to treatment innovation and policy evaluation
Key Research Themes Supported in 2025
- Responsible gambling design and messaging, including social norms, co-designed messages with people who gamble, and future-oriented interventions
- Workforce capacity and training, with a focus on gaming employees, mental health competency, and culturally grounded approaches in Tribal gaming environments
- Mental health and comorbidity, examining how gambling disorder intersects with depression, anxiety, addiction, and recovery outcomes across the life course
- Technology and innovation, including artificial intelligence, ethical data donation, and digital exposure to gambling and lottery marketing
- Policy-relevant research, addressing issues such as sports betting expansion, bankruptcy risk, marketing regulation, and environmental gambling cues
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With Gratitude to our Research Supporters
Several 2025 projects were made possible through targeted contributions from industry partners, including FanDuel, MGM Resorts International, Bally’s Corporation, Hard Rock International and Seminole Gaming, DraftKings, and others. Their support advanced research on responsible gambling tools, employee training, AI-enabled interventions, and public health-oriented messaging.
We are equally grateful to all ICRG donors, whose collective contributions fund independent science that informs policy, strengthens treatment systems, and supports safer gambling environments globally. Every contribution, whether directed or general, plays a role in advancing evidence-based solutions.
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