Author: Maisie Morrison

TLDR FDJ United will keep its Unibet brand in the UK despite a 24.1% drop in Kindred UK gross gaming revenue in Q1 UK remote gaming duty nearly doubled from 21% to 40% of GGR in April, adding further financial pressure Total group GGR rose 1% to €2.175 billion, but online betting and gaming revenue fell 8% New gaming chief Pascal Chaffard says departments were too siloed and plans to fix collaboration issues FDJ expects the UK turnaround to take “some quarters” rather than years FDJ United has confirmed it will not pull its Unibet brand from the United Kingdom,…

TLDR New Zealand’s Online Casino Gambling Bill passed its third and final reading in parliament this week and now heads to Royal Assent, expected in May Up to 15 online casino operator licences will be issued through a competitive process, with applications opening in July and closing 1 December 2026 Licensed operators will face strict rules including penalties of up to NZ$5 million for serious breaches The law applies to offshore operators too — those who don’t apply for a licence by the deadline must stop serving New Zealand customers A portion of gross gaming revenue may fund local sports…

TLDR Short sellers Muddy Waters and Callisto Research released reports alleging Sportradar earns up to 40% of its revenue from unlicensed gambling operators. Muddy Waters claimed Sportradar offered to connect undercover investigators with the Yabo Group, a Chinese operator allegedly linked to human trafficking. Callisto said over a third of Sportradar’s operator clients are unlicensed or operating in jurisdictions where gambling is illegal. Sportradar’s stock dropped roughly 22.6% on Wednesday, closing at $13.04 after opening at $16.70. Sportradar denied the claims, calling the reports a “fundamental misunderstanding” of its business and accusing the authors of seeking to profit from stock…

TLDR Australia’s ACMA published research showing gambling operators are rapidly adopting AI across marketing, odds-setting, fraud detection and player safety Sportsbet’s AI chatbot now handles over one-third of customer enquiries with 94% accuracy Betfair Australia reported a 22% improvement in odds accuracy thanks to AI tools The regulator warned commercial priorities may favour boosting engagement over minimising gambling harm AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Grok have been found directing users to unlicensed offshore gambling sites The Australian Communications and Media Authority this week released research showing gambling operators across the country are rapidly integrating artificial intelligence into their businesses. The…

TLDR Oklahoma lawmakers introduced an amended sports betting bill (HB 1047) with tribal backing ahead of an expected Senate vote this week The bill allows tribes to offer retail and mobile sports betting and partner with commercial operators like FanDuel or DraftKings The state would receive an 8% fee on adjusted sports betting revenue, with funds going to education, workforce programs, and problem gambling services A supermajority of tribes in the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, public universities, and the Oklahoma City Thunder support the bill Governor Kevin Stitt remains a hurdle, insisting on a free-market model rather than a tribal-controlled…

TLDR BetHog closed a $10 million Series A round co-led by Will Ventures and RockawayX, bringing total funding to $16 million. The company launched Sentient Studios, a B2B platform that lets casino operators deploy AI-powered live dealers. CEO Nigel Eccles said BetHog’s AI dealer is 10 times more popular than traditional live dealers in early testing. The platform runs on a revenue-share model with no setup fees or minimum commitments for operators. BetHog plans to expand its AI dealers into baccarat and roulette later this year after launching its first AI blackjack dealer “Sunny” in October 2025. BetHog, the crypto-native…

TLDR The UK Gambling Commission released updated data through February 2026 showing no steady growth in illegal gambling activity over 21 months VPN usage jumped roughly 40% after the Online Safety Act rolled out in July 2025, hiding more illegal gambling traffic The Commission’s previous 30% adjustment for VPN-hidden traffic may no longer be enough to capture the full picture Web traffic estimates carry error margins and miss activity through apps or direct connections, making volume measurement unreliable The regulator is seeking input from international regulators and licensed operators to improve its data and enforcement methods The UK Gambling Commission…

TLDR New York AG Letitia James sued Coinbase and Gemini, calling their prediction markets illegal gambling operations The lawsuits seek to shut down the platforms in New York and recover profits, damages, and penalties The suit invokes the federal Wire Act of 1961 for the first time against a prediction market platform Kalshi was not included in the lawsuits due to its pending federal court case against New York regulators Coinbase has moved to transfer the case to federal court, arguing federal law overrides state gambling rules New York Attorney General Letitia James filed lawsuits against Coinbase and Gemini on…

TLDR Macau mass-market gaming revenue grew 14.4% year-on-year in Q1 2026, the best mass growth since Q3 2024 EBITDA margins are expected to drop by 30 basis points despite 9% year-on-year EBITDA growth Player reinvestment and agent commissions remain high with no near-term improvement expected Sands China led operators in top-line revenue growth, followed by Wynn Macau Seaport expects a sharp slowdown in Macau gaming growth for the rest of 2026 Macau’s casino industry posted strong first-quarter results in 2026, but analysts at Seaport Research Partners warn that the pace of growth is unlikely to hold through the rest of…

TLDR Grupo Orenes bought a 51% stake in Zamba.co and is expanding its presence in Colombia’s regulated betting market Digital payments and growing online betting adoption are driving market growth across Colombia New tax on deposits for online platforms is creating challenges for operators and long-term planning Illegal betting operators remain a top concern as higher costs could push customers to unlicensed platforms The FIFA World Cup 2026 is expected to boost betting activity and attract new customers Colombia’s regulated betting market is drawing fresh investment even as new tax rules create headaches for operators. Grupo Orenes, a global betting…