Author: Charles Shephardson

Pierre Tournier has been appointed interim secretary general of the European Gaming and Betting Association, replacing outgoing leader Maarten Haijer. Haijer is stepping down after 13 years as secretary general, a tenure that has significantly shaped Europe’s online gambling landscape. He first joined the EGBA in 2008 as director of regulatory affairs before being elevated to the top role in 2013. The EGBA credited Haijer’s leadership with helping drive the transformation of the European online gambling market across more than a decade. Tournier, who currently serves as a senior director at the association, will formally assume the interim role from…

Black Cow Technology is exploring a major restructuring after failing to secure fresh investment, with the multiplayer slots specialist now weighing several potential paths forward. The company is considering entering liquidation proceedings, going into administration, or selling to a third party, according to reports from NEXT.io. Despite the difficult circumstances, Black Cow management is reportedly hoping its core assets can be preserved within a newly created business entity. The crisis was triggered when private equity backer JJK opted against providing additional capital to the business earlier in 2026, leaving Black Cow severely short of runway. JJK had signed a deal…

Phil Walker, former UK and Ireland boss of William Hill, is set to take over as interim CEO of Allwyn UK on 7 September, replacing Andria Vidler. His appointment has not passed without controversy, with Labour MP Dawn Butler and Conservative Iain Duncan Smith writing to the Gambling Commission expressing “deep concern” about his suitability for the role. The concern centres less on Walker’s career in gambling and more on specific episodes within that career that have drawn significant regulatory and political attention. During his tenure at William Hill, the Gambling Commission imposed a personal sanction on Walker in 2024…

Dutch trade association VNLOK says Facebook and Instagram users in the Netherlands continue to face illegal gambling advertisements at an alarming and unacceptable scale. In a notice published on 27 August 2026, VNLOK reported that between 94% and 97% of gambling advertisements reaching Dutch users came from unlicensed operators during May and June. The findings were based on periodic reviews of Meta’s advertising library, examining pages that appeared through casino-related search terms across the platform. VNLOK announced a lawsuit against Meta in June and has now also filed a formal complaint with the European Commission over the ongoing issue. The…

GGBET has wrapped up its title sponsorship of the Ukrainian 3×3 Basketball Championship, with the tournament’s final stage held in Kyiv this week. The Kyiv-based gaming firm serves as title sponsor of the competition, forming part of a broader ongoing partnership with the Ukrainian Basketball Federation. The championship ran across three months and spanned five Ukrainian regions, giving GGBET considerable national exposure throughout the competition’s duration. A total of 12 teams participated in the tournament, competing across the various regional stages before the final showdown in the capital. One of the more notable aspects of the tournament was the charitable…

The SBC Hall of Fame class of 2026 has been revealed, with five influential industry figures set to be honoured at a ceremony in Lisbon next month. The induction ceremony will take place on Monday, 28 September 2026, at 15:30 at Palácio Estoril Hotel, as part of the exclusive SBC Leaders Summit. The Leaders Summit is an invite-only event for senior industry executives and takes place the day before SBC Summit 2026 officially opens its doors. Now in its tenth year, the SBC Hall of Fame was originally launched in 2016 under the name the Sports Betting Hall of Fame,…

Brazil’s regulated betting market has generated remarkable tax revenues in 2026, collecting BRL 5.89 billion in just the first five months of the year. That figure, equivalent to approximately US$1.18 billion, represents a staggering 86% year-on-year increase compared to the same period in 2025, which yielded BRL 3.17 billion. The speed of collection has been equally striking, with the market already reaching around 60% of its entire 2025 full-year total by the end of May. Brazil’s total betting tax receipts for all of 2025 came in at BRL 9.95 billion, a figure that now looks likely to be surpassed well…

Brazilian congresswoman Caroline De Toni has introduced Bill No. 5,153/2026, proposing a nationwide ban on online fixed-odds betting across the country. The bill would cancel all existing federal betting licenses within 180 days of the legislation passing through Brazil’s Congress. Operators would be granted an additional 90 days beyond that window to pay out prizes and return outstanding player balances. Fines for violations could reach R$2 billion per infraction, with criminal penalties of between two and five years in prison. De Toni’s proposal argues that since Brazil’s regulated betting market launched, online wagering has generated serious economic, social, and health…

ICONIC21 has officially launched its dedicated Client Area, a centralised platform designed to give operator partners streamlined access to its expanding content portfolio. The platform was built in partnership with Orange Synapse and reflects the rapid growth ICONIC21 has achieved across live casino, slots, RNG, and additional verticals. Previously, accessing game data, compliance documents, and media assets required individual requests and lengthy back-and-forth communication between operators and the provider. The Client Area consolidates all of that into a single login, giving operators everything they need within a few clicks rather than multiple separate exchanges. Advanced filtering systems allow operator teams…

The SOFTSWISS-organised Tech Race Summit 2026 has launched its final media accreditation round for journalists, with the event scheduled for 10 September in Warsaw. Applications for media accreditation remain open until 1 September, offering journalists free access to the full conference programme and networking areas. Accredited media representatives will also have the opportunity to request interviews with speakers at the event, subject to availability. Tech Race Summit brings together engineers, CTOs, product leaders, and business professionals from iGaming and the broader technology industry. More than 40 speakers are confirmed to participate from companies including AWS, Google, Oracle, Cloudflare, Gcore, SOFTSWISS,…