PHAI Creates International Gambling Policy Role, Appoints Dr. Matt Gaskell

The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), a nonprofit legal research center based at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, has appointed Dr. Matt Gaskell as its first international consultant on gambling policy. PHAI said the addition “marks a significant step forward” in bringing global public health regulation and accountability to the gambling industry.

Gaskell is a well-known figure in the gambling harm field. He is the founder and clinical lead of the NHS Northern Gambling Service, a network of gambling addiction clinics spanning Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, and Preston, and he serves as a member of the World Health Organization’s Expert Group on Gambling. He was awarded an MBE in 2025 for his services to people experiencing gambling harm, recognition of more than two decades spent building out treatment and support systems for gambling addiction in the UK.

Why PHAI Is Bringing In International Expertise

PHAI has emerged as one of the more aggressive legal players challenging the sports betting industry in the United States. The organization’s Center for Public Health Litigation is currently pursuing a class action against DraftKings in Massachusetts over allegedly deceptive marketing of sign-up bonuses, a case that survived a motion for summary judgment earlier this year and is now moving toward class certification. In March, PHAI filed a separate lawsuit against DraftKings, FanDuel, Genius Sports, and the NFL itself, alleging the companies designed addictive live in-game microbetting products and that the league profited from the data feeding those bets.

Bringing on someone with Gaskell’s clinical background gives PHAI a direct line to frontline treatment data and international regulatory comparisons, something U.S. advocacy groups have often lacked when arguing that sportsbook product design contributes to gambling harm. Gaskell’s work treating patients at gambling clinics across the north of England, where legal sports betting and casino markets have existed far longer than in most U.S. states, positions him to speak to long-term harm patterns that newer American markets haven’t yet fully experienced.

What Gaskell Brings to the Role

“I am honoured to join PHAI and bring my expertise to protecting the public from the unacceptable harms associated with the modern commercial gambling industry and its sports partners,” Gaskell said in the announcement. “I look forward to bringing my expertise and strategic planning to PHAI, working alongside Dr. Richard Daynard, Professor Mark Gottlieb, and Dr. Harry Levant to further PHAI’s work in the months and years to come.”

Gaskell has been a vocal critic of how sportsbooks market to consumers, previously telling the BBC that the industry has designed a “perfect storm” for addiction and that mass advertising has helped fuel a wave of gambling-related harm in the UK. His appointment gives PHAI a recognizable clinical voice as the group’s litigation against major U.S. operators continues to work through the courts, and it signals that scrutiny of sportsbook product design, from bonus offers to microbetting features, isn’t going away anytime soon. Bettors who want to stay informed on responsible live betting practices and how in-game wagering products are evolving can find more context in EatWatchBet’s betting tools section as this regulatory conversation continues to develop.