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An eventful week for global gambling: Regulators, finance chiefs, and product labs all put in overtime this week, reshaping compliance risks, revenue forecasts, and player experiences across five continents.
This week in the online gambling industry:
- Australia’s ACMA orders ReadyBet audit after 273 self‑exclusion promos; AU$11.1 million fines loom.
- California AG Bonta brands DFS illegal and threatens FanDuel, DraftKings with enforcement.
- Hong Kong betting bill would tax legal basketball wagers at 50% to curb black‑market play.
- Philippine IRs generate ₱93.4 billion H1 GGR; Q2 dips 10.6% yet record year still forecast.
- UKGC finds 4.31% of accounts restricted, with profitable users twice as likely to face limits.
- Ladbrokes debuts Playbook Football, and 17‑minute sessions triple typical in‑play dwell time.
😄 Didn’t catch the news last week? Catch up with our previous iGaming News Weekly Recap.
😎 Want to hear from the online gambling community? Visit our Opinion Corner, where we cover trending stories from LinkedIn, X, Reddit, and TikTok.
Here’s the full rundown:
Regulatory & Legal Updates
ACMA Hits ReadyBet with Compliance Order for Breaching Self-Exclusion Rules, iGB
Australian regulator ACMA issued a remedial direction to Melbourne-based wagering operator ReadyBet after investigators found the firm had sent 273 promotional SMS and push notifications to individuals listed on BetStop, the national self-exclusion register, between August and December 2023.
In a parallel lapse, ReadyBet failed to include mandatory BetStop information in 2,342 other push notifications, exposing weaknesses in both internal data-handling and third-party marketing workflows.
While ACMA opted for a corrective order rather than an immediate civil penalty, the agency warned that non-compliance could escalate to court action carrying fines of up to AU$11.1 million per breach under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. ReadyBet must now commission an independent systems audit, overhaul staff training and deliver regular compliance reports.
California AG Promises Crackdown on Fantasy Sports Platforms, KCRA
California Attorney General Rob Bonta publicly declared that daily fantasy sports contests, both pick-’em and draft-style, constitute illegal sports betting under Penal Code §337a and vowed “absolutely” to take enforcement action against platforms that continue to serve California players.
Despite the advisory nature of the opinion, Bonta’s statements elevate the compliance risk for industry leaders FanDuel, DraftKings, PrizePicks, and Underdog, who collectively draw roughly 10% of annual DFS handle from California’s 5–7 million fantasy players.
While Governor Gavin Newsom publicly disagreed with Bonta’s stance and tribal gaming groups demanded “strong enforcement,” platforms have thus far refused to exit the state, setting the stage for cease-and-desist orders, local DA prosecutions, or consumer lawsuits in the coming quarter.
Hong Kong Moves to Legalize Basketball Betting to Tackle Black Market, Gambling Insider
Hong Kong is set to introduce legal basketball betting through the proposed Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025, aimed primarily at curbing widespread illegal gambling rather than raising tax revenue. The legislation will empower the city’s sole licensed betting operator to offer basketball wagering taxed at 50% of net betting revenue, the same duty rate currently applied to football bets.
The bill, published in June 2025 with the first Legislative Council reading held on July 2, also includes provisions to enhance responsible gambling, especially for young people. The government plans to establish a new youth-focused counselling centre alongside existing facilities and strengthen public education on the risks of illegal betting and the legal consequences of wagering with unlicensed operators.
While some public submissions suggested that legal basketball betting could help ease Hong Kong’s significant budget deficit, projected by government officials to reach HK$87 billion in FY 2024-25, the administration maintains its long-standing position of not encouraging gambling.
Financial Performance & Business Moves
Philippine IR Casinos Earn ₱93 Billion in First Half of 2025, Manila Standard
Philippine IR casinos generated ₱93.36 billion (US$1.65 billion) in gross gaming revenue during H1 2025, accounting for 43.4% of the industry’s ₱215 billion total, according to PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco.
The sector remitted ₱16 billion in license fees, reinforcing government social-service funds while supporting tourism recovery; PAGCOR highlighted IR multipliers across hospitality, retail and employment.
However, Q2 revenue slipped 10.6% quarter-on-quarter to ₱44.1 billion amid a contraction in VIP play linked to the POGO offshore clamp-down and rising e-Games share. PAGCOR nonetheless forecasts FY 2025 national GGR of ₱450 – ₱480 billion, targeting a record second-place finish in Asia behind Macau and ahead of Singapore.
European Lottery Giants Back Random State in Seven-Figure Deal, NEXT.io
Gothenburg-based iLottery and iBingo studio Random State closed an undisclosed seven-figure funding round co-led by FDJ United Ventures and Germany’s ZEAL Ventures, the investment arms of Europe’s largest state-licensed lottery operators.
The cash infusion will accelerate the development of instant-win and multiplayer bingo mechanics while opening distribution pipelines into France and Germany through investor portfolios.
Beyond capital, the trio will co-create exclusive titles and shared jackpot formats; Random State gains compliance mentorship for North-American licensing, whereas FDJ and ZEAL secure first-look access to the studio’s roadmap, a hedge against younger cohorts gravitating to casino-style eInstants.
UK, Spain, Brazil Dominate Club World Cup Betting on bet365, Gambling Insider
Post-event analytics from bet365 show that bettors in the UK, Spain, and Brazil generated 67.9% of all wagering slips during the inaugural 32-team FIFA Club World Cup staged in the United States. Five of the operator’s ten highest-staked fixtures featured Brazilian clubs, led by Flamengo-Bayern Munich in the Round of 16.
Overall turnover for the final was 21.6% lower than the 2025 UEFA Champions League Final, a shortfall the trading desk chalked up to time-zone differences and event novelty; nevertheless, margins improved thanks to upset results such as Boca Juniors’ 1-100 priced draw with Auckland City.
Technology & Innovation in Gambling
Virtual Football Manager Game Debuts on Ladbrokes Platform, iGB
Entain’s Ladbrokes became the first sportsbook to launch Playbook Football, a real-money virtual football-management game from Manchester studio Playbook Fusion. The UKGC-licensed title lets bettors assemble squads, wager on match outcomes, climb ten seasonal divisions, and monetise in-game boosters, blending FIFA Ultimate Team concepts with wagering.
Delivered via Playbook’s proprietary RGS and distributed exclusively by Games Global, the product went live on 21 July after eCogra certification. Early KPIs show average session duration of 17.4 minutes, triple Ladbrokes’ standard in-play football dwell time, signalling strong Gen Z engagement.
Groove Partners with Azerlotereya to Power Digital Lottery Expansion, Gambling Insider
Platform aggregator Groove Technologies inked a landmark deal with Azerlotereya OJSC, Azerbaijan’s state lottery and sportsbook concessionaire, to underpin the operator’s digital overhaul with a library exceeding 15,000 titles from 150 providers, real-time BI dashboards, and local payment rails.
Groove’s 99.99% uptime stack will plug into Azerlotereya’s etopaz sportsbook and forthcoming eInstant portal; responsible-gaming modules include personalised loss-limit prompts and Azeri-language educational widgets, satisfying stricter 2024 AML amendments.
Responsible Gambling & Player Protection
GambleAware Secures £11M Transitional Support Ahead of Statutory Levy Shift, Gambling News
The UK’s statutory gambling levy has secured £11 million in transitional funding for GambleAware during the 2025-26 financial year, as confirmed by Welsh Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing Sarah Murphy MS.
This temporary allocation, drawn from the treatment portion of the £100 million annual levy, represents a collaborative decision between NHS England and the devolved Scottish and Welsh governments to prevent disruption to existing harm-reduction services during the system’s transition from voluntary contributions to mandatory operator payments.
The allocation is specifically designed to maintain stability for frontline services, including Welsh organisations Adferiad and Ara, that currently receive funding through GambleAware’s commissioning network while avoiding gaps in the National Gambling Support Network during the regulatory transition.
Gambling Commission Reveals 4.31% of Player Accounts Restricted in Some Way, iGB
The UK Gambling Commission’s comprehensive data request covering 14,923,840 active customer accounts revealed that 643,779 accounts, representing 4.31%, faced commercial restrictions during 2024, with maximum stake factor reductions being the most prevalent limitation affecting 62.17% of restricted accounts.
The findings, published by CEO Andrew Rhodes in July 2025, showed that stake factor restrictions were applied to 2.68% of all active accounts, while account closures affected 2.23% of the customer base, with many operators applying multiple restriction types sequentially before permanent closure.
Perhaps most significantly, the data revealed a stark profitability differential: 46.78% of restricted customers were in profit compared to just 25.42% of all active customers, while 72.54% of active users had made losses versus 51.29% of restricted accounts.
- Japan moves to erase offshore gambling, Roman K. on LinkedIn
- South Africans are losing billions to online casinos, MyBroadband on X
- Online gambling isn’t just a moral debate, Ronald Allan P. on LinkedIn
- Have we gotten a little too crazy with online gambling? Jon Gabriel on X
Stories from iGaming Forums
- Crypto Betting vs FIAT Betting, Bitcoin Forum
- All casinos have integrated A.I into each slot, Reddit
- Consequenced of promoting illegal casinos, Bitcoin Forum
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