Author: Maisie Morrison

TLDR Jumpman Gaming won its appeal at the UK Upper Tribunal against a £13.2m Remote Gaming Duty bill from HMRC. The dispute was about money won from promotional free spins and later gambled again. The Upper Tribunal reversed two findings made by the First-tier Tribunal in September 2025. The court ruled that wagers from free spins won through an initial free spin should not face the duty. HMRC still has the right to appeal the decision. Jumpman Gaming has won a legal fight with the UK tax authority over a £13.2m tax bill. The Upper Tribunal ruled in the company’s…

TLDR Polymarket will challenge a Dutch ban and a €420,000 penalty in court in The Hague. The Dutch Gambling Authority (Ksa) ordered Polymarket to stop operating in February, saying it lacked a gambling licence. Polymarket says it is a financial product and should be overseen by the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets. The Ksa rejected Polymarket’s earlier appeal in June, ruling that blockchain and crypto payments do not change the activity’s legal nature. Polymarket is meeting regulators across Europe, including ESMA and the UK’s FCA, to seek approval as a financial services firm. Polymarket is taking the Dutch Gambling Authority…

TLDR UK gambling minister Vicky Foxcroft says a consultation on removing the “aim to permit” licensing rule will start “very shortly.” The review could replace gambling impact assessments that only became law at the end of April. Foxcroft has not given a firm timetable for the consultation. BACTA President Joseph Cullis said the industry welcomed the assessments as a middle ground. A separate consultation on a gambling sponsorship ban closed on 9 September, and its results have not been shared. The UK government plans to consult on removing the “aim to permit” licensing objective for gambling premises. Gambling minister Vicky…

TLDR A Stifel analyst says buyers still want regional casino assets despite rising borrowing costs. Ten-year Treasury yields recently hit 24-year highs, and the Fed may raise rates again this year. Fertitta Entertainment is on track to close its $17.6 billion purchase of Caesars Entertainment next year. Century Casinos is selling two Alberta venues, and Churchill Downs has nine regional casinos for sale. Large online gambling deals look unlikely for now, though small product deals may still happen. Interest in buying regional casinos remains strong even as borrowing costs climb, according to a Stifel analyst. The view comes after talks…

TLDR LeBron James will earn $15 million a year endorsing Polymarket, according to Front Office Sports. The deal pays nearly four times his expected $4 million salary from the Philadelphia 76ers this season. A source said James is an endorser, not an investor, in the prediction market. James will promote football rather than basketball, according to The Athletic. New York’s attorney general has sued Polymarket, calling it an illegal gambling operation. LeBron James has signed an endorsement deal with Polymarket worth $15 million a year, according to a report from Front Office Sports. Polymarket is a crypto-based prediction market where…

TLDR Turkey’s football federation provisionally suspended 448 current and former club officials over betting. Trabzonspor president Ertuğrul Doğan and Beşiktaş vice-president Hakan Daltaban are on the list. Officials from Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe were also named, touching all four of Turkey’s biggest clubs. Mohamed Salah and Trabzonspor’s players have no link to the case. Turkey’s referee chief was arrested two days earlier in a separate case. Turkey’s football federation has provisionally suspended 448 current and former club officials as part of a betting investigation. All of them have been referred to the federation’s disciplinary committee. The list includes Trabzonspor president Ertuğrul…

TLDR Polymarket users have traded more than $77,000 on whether major banks will fail before the end of 2026. Banks listed include HSBC, Lloyds, JPMorgan Chase, BNP Paribas, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. UK MP Bobby Dean warns the markets could amplify rumors and help trigger bank runs. Failure odds for HSBC and Lloyds remain in the low single digits on Polymarket. The FCA is discussing prediction markets with overseas regulators, and the Bank of England is monitoring. Prediction market Polymarket is letting users bet on whether some of the world’s largest banks will collapse before the end of…

TLDR Regulators collected $34 million from casino operators in September over anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) failures. One casino let a man gamble on 80 separate days without checking where his money came from. Another casino was fined for letting a high-risk gambler keep playing, even after it received a tip about him. Panelists at the Global Gaming Expo said regulators now want proof that compliance programs actually work. A DraftKings AML officer said poor communication between compliance and other teams was a common problem. Casino operators paid $34 million in fines in September over anti-money laundering and know-your-customer…

TLDR Maybank cut DigiPlus’ core net income forecasts by 43% for 2026 and 48% for 2027. Revenue forecasts for 2026 to 2028 were lowered by between 18% and 32%. Monthly active users reached 5.75 million, beating Maybank’s forecast of 4.75 million. Average monthly spending per user was about PHP805, below the earlier estimate of PHP1,250. Maybank expects a gradual recovery in 2027, with casino investments as a possible upside. Maybank Securities has lowered its earnings forecasts for DigiPlus Interactive Corp., a Philippines-listed online gaming company. The brokerage said the company faces a difficult second half of 2026 as household spending…

TLDR Fitch Ratings says slow earnings recovery and heavy capital spending are keeping debt high at several Asia-Pacific gaming operators. Genting Bhd and Genting Malaysia were cut to BBB- in September, and their debt outlook depends largely on the New York casino project. SJM Holdings was downgraded to B+ in May, but Fitch expects its leverage to fall from about 9.0 times to 6.0 times by 2028. Universal Entertainment, owner of Okada Manila, was cut to CCC+ in July over weak demand and a falling share of VIP gaming. Fitch says exclusive and monopoly gaming licenses remain a key credit…