Author: Andrew Fletcher

The Betting and Gaming Council has released a statement welcoming Vicky Foxcroft MP’s appointment as the new minister responsible for gambling in the UK. However, no official announcement has been made by the government or the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Foxcroft has not confirmed any appointments on her social media pages. SBC News contacted DCMS for clarity on the appointment, with the situation remaining unconfirmed at the time of publication. Foxcroft replaces Baroness Fiona Twycross, who had drawn criticism from gambling campaigners but was regarded by industry insiders as someone they could work with constructively. Baroness Twycross…

Midnite has had a coordinated advertising campaign banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority after the regulator received 125 complaints from the public. The banned campaign covered five advertisements in total, including two TV ads, two video ads, and one radio ad, all of which ran during April and May 2026. The ads depicted characters experiencing a series of minor everyday technological failures, including a malfunctioning supermarket scanner, a broken vending machine, and a faulty hotel key card. In the visual advertisements, mounting frustration was represented by veins visibly pulsating on the heads of the characters shown on screen. Each…

BetMakers Technology Group has moved to deepen its relationship with French racing body PMU, signing a new deal that further cements ties between the two organisations. The agreement builds on an existing partnership that previously saw BetMakers distribute French horse racing content to bookmaker clients across Australia. Through that arrangement, BetMakers enabled its clients to offer fixed odds betting on PMU racing content, including prestigious events such as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The timing of the deal is notable, with BetMakers currently navigating the complexities of a Tabcorp takeover bid that has drawn significant industry attention. Completing a…

Everton Under-21s forward Martin Sherif has been formally charged by The Football Association with breaching its betting rules, the governing body confirmed on Wednesday. Sherif, who is 20 years old, is accused of placing 61 bets on football matches across a period spanning November 20, 2024 to February 12, 2026. The FA issued a statement confirming the charge, which falls under FA Rule E1.2, covering prohibited betting activity by football participants. The FA’s statement read: “It’s alleged that the player breached FA Rule E1.2 in respect of 61 bets placed on football matches between 20 November 2024 and 12 February…

Lazio’s high-profile sponsorship agreement with prediction market platform Polymarket has come to an end following a ruling that declared the site illegal in Italy. The Serie A club had entered into a partnership with Polymarket back in April 2026, making the platform its main commercial partner for multiple seasons. The deal was structured to cover the remainder of the 2025/26 campaign, followed by the 2026/27 and 2027/28 seasons, with an option to extend into 2028/29. The total value of the agreement was reported at US$22 million, equivalent to approximately €19 million, representing a major financial injection for the Roman club.…

Entain, the FTSE 100 parent company of Ladbrokes Coral and bwin, has entered the free-to-play games market with the launch of a new football app called Seven in the UK. The product arrives ahead of the EFL season kicking off on 14 August and the Premier League’s return on 21 August, giving the platform an immediate audience of millions of football fans. Entain has pointed to shifting betting behaviour during the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a key driver behind Seven’s development and overall strategic direction. A particularly notable trend was a strong customer preference for individual player markets, with…

The SBC Summit’s Player Experience Academy is set to take place on Tuesday, 29 September from 13:30 to 17:00 at Sala Tejo, MEO Arena. The Academy forms part of the event’s broader Education+ programme and is designed specifically for professionals working in player engagement, product development and growth. Organisers say the session will explore how operators can strengthen engagement, retention and long-term player value while maintaining their responsibility to protect players. Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO of SBC, highlighted the cross-industry inspiration behind the Academy’s core themes and objectives. “Some of the most effective engagement mechanics in iGaming came from…

Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham has moved to revoke the Aim to Permit rule, dealing a significant blow to high street betting shops across the country. The Aim to Permit standard, embedded within the 2005 Gambling Act, has long required local councils to lean toward approving gambling venue licensing applications rather than opposing them. Burnham’s government will scrap the rule across all of Great Britain, covering England, Scotland, and Wales, in a sweeping overhaul of high street regulation. The Prime Minister stated that “the rise of vape shops, betting shops and rogue operators have replaced the shops, services, and community…

Catena Media’s recovery trajectory in the first half of 2026 has been complicated by persistent SEO headwinds, according to the company’s latest financial update. The affiliate giant had been building momentum through 2026, reporting a strong Q1 performance with revenue climbing 26% year-on-year to €12.3 million. That impressive quarterly figure was accompanied by an adjusted EBITDA margin exceeding 20%, signalling that the company’s restructuring efforts were beginning to bear fruit. CEO Manuel Stan had set an optimistic tone at the close of the Q1 earnings call, telling investors he was “looking forward to hosting you for our Q2 report on…

Norway’s state-owned gambling and lottery company, Norsk Tipping, has reached a settlement with a group of just under 17,000 disgruntled customers. The dispute stemmed from errors in the Eurojackpot and Super Draw engines that left thousands of players wrongly excluded from prize draws. An April 2025 error saw 16,968 customers accidentally omitted from the draw, rendering the 52 declared winners invalid and sparking significant backlash. Lottstift, the Norwegian gambling regulator, harshly criticised the error and the affected customers subsequently pursued legal action against the operator. The consumers were represented by SANDS, a prominent Norwegian law firm, with an initial court…