Author: Charles Shephardson

Manchester United and Betway have formally confirmed their long-anticipated partnership, with the Super Group-owned brand becoming the club’s principal partner and exclusive global betting partner. The deal was widely rumoured back in May, with reports at the time suggesting Betway would pay around £20 million for the arrangement, though confirmation took over two months to materialise. Betway has described the agreement as its “biggest deal to date”, adding one of football’s most recognisable clubs to a portfolio spanning football, Formula 1, rugby union, cricket, basketball and tennis. The partnership begins at the start of the new Premier League season, with…

Brightstar Lottery has reported a 7% revenue decline for Q2 2026 but insists the company is firmly on track to deliver stronger results in the second half of the year. Group revenue for the three months ended June 30 came in at $584m, with the drop attributed largely to the ongoing transition of its former UK lottery business. Management noted that Q2 represented the final full quarter affected by that particular headwind, with only a limited impact now anticipated in Q3. The wider financial picture told a more encouraging story, with adjusted EBITDA climbing 4% year-on-year to reach $286m during…

Infingame, a major B2B aggregator in the iGaming sector, has published new operational insights revealing that non-slot content is emerging as one of the fastest-growing drivers of player engagement across modern casino platforms. The company reports that crash games, live casino, sweepstakes, instant games, and social-style mechanics are all claiming a steadily increasing share of player activity across operator environments. While slots remain the single largest revenue contributor in online casino, operators are moving away from slot-dominated strategies as player behaviour becomes more fragmented across demographics, devices, and markets. Aggregated data from across the Infingame platform indicates that brands maintaining…

The National Lottery raised £377.2m for good causes in the first quarter of 2026-27, marking a significant year-on-year decline. The figure, published by the Gambling Commission, covers the 13-week period running from April through June 2026. That total sits £107.7m, or 22.2%, below the equivalent quarter in 2025-26, representing a substantial retreat from prior performance. Compared with the previous quarter, the good causes contribution also fell by £69.5m, equivalent to a 15.6% drop. The core contribution from lottery operations reached £358.4m, with an additional £18.9m arriving from unclaimed prizes, interest and other payments. The previous year’s first quarter alone produced…

Sportradar posted second-quarter 2026 revenue of €378 million, representing a 19% year-over-year increase driven by strong performance across its core business divisions. The company’s Betting Technology and Solutions segment led the charge with 21% growth, while Sports Content, Technology and Services contributed a solid 9% rise during the period. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 19% to €76 million, with the company’s margin expanding to 20.2%, reflecting continued operational discipline across the business. Despite the revenue growth, Sportradar recorded a net loss of €4 million for the quarter, a sharp reversal from the €49 million profit reported in the same period a year…

Betfred founder Fred Done has publicly blamed “over-taxing and over-regulating” for forcing the closure of 132 of the bookmaker’s retail shops across the UK. Done made the emotional remarks on Betfred TV following the announcement of a formal consultation process on the planned closures, describing each shut shop as “killing your own babies.” HM Treasury has pushed back strongly, telling The Times that linking the closures to government policy is plain wrong, pointing out that retail gambling was largely spared in the Autumn Budget. The Treasury’s position holds some weight, as former Chancellor Rachel Reeves did not significantly target land-based…

RETAbet has secured a licence from Portuguese gambling regulator SRIJ, marking a significant milestone as the operator prepares to launch its sportsbook and online casino through retabet.pt. The Spain-based operator is now active in three markets, having previously established itself in Spain and Peru before setting its sights on Portugal. RETAbet Group CEO Xabier Rodríguez-Maribona described the move as a logical progression, telling NEXT.io that Portugal represented a nearby jurisdiction offering significant opportunities. The company has operated retail betting shops in Spain since 2008 and moved online in 2012 under a licence issued by Spanish gambling regulator the DGOJ. Its…

Mancala Gaming CCO Emiliano Sanchez believes the iGaming industry has entered a new phase where attracting players is no longer the primary challenge facing operators and providers. The audience is no longer growing as fast as the number of providers and operators, making player acquisition increasingly difficult and expensive across the board. Sanchez argues the focus must now shift toward generating more revenue from each individual player rather than simply chasing higher traffic volumes. Speaking to NEXT.io, Sanchez outlined how gamification, personalisation, and smarter bonus mechanics are the tools best placed to drive deeper engagement and increased revenue. He pointed…

Betsson has finalised its €64.5 million purchase of Rhino Entertainment Group’s Canadian consumer business and selected technology assets. The deal, which was first announced in March 2026, brings Rhino’s Canadian licences, staff, operating systems, and customer-facing assets under Betsson’s direct control. The transaction also includes proprietary front-end and middleware technology that was previously used within Rhino’s business-to-business operations. Betsson paid €51.25 million at closing, with the remaining €13.25 million due six months later, funded entirely from existing cash resources. Rhino’s acquired operations generated an estimated pro forma EBITDA of €13.7 million during 2025, valuing the business at roughly 4.7 times…

Flutter Entertainment has officially completed the delisting of its ordinary shares from the London Stock Exchange, making the New York Stock Exchange its sole primary trading venue. The group confirmed the delisting was effective as of 8am UK local time on 3 August 2026, marking the end of its presence on the London market. Flutter had first signalled its intention to leave the LSE in June, with 31 July confirmed as its final day of trading on the exchange. The decision followed a review of its LSE listing, which was flagged during the company’s Q1 results earlier in the year…