Author: Charles Shephardson

Gibraltar is overhauling its B2B licensing regime, replacing a long-standing one-size-fits-all approach with a tiered framework designed to reflect the scale of individual suppliers. The reforms, introduced under Gibraltar’s new Gambling Act, will allow suppliers to apply for licences based on the size of their operations rather than defaulting to a single standard. Previously, businesses were effectively required to obtain a full B2B licence regardless of how large or small their operations were, creating disproportionate barriers for smaller suppliers. The changes also bring an end to Gibraltar’s “sheltering” system, which allowed suppliers to operate under licensed B2C operators before securing…

Pennsylvania lawmakers have received a sweeping 126-page proposal calling for significant tightening of the state’s sports betting regulations. The report, titled Sports Betting and Related Interactive Gambling in Pennsylvania, was produced by the Joint State Government Commission under House Resolution 60 of 2025. Its central approach is more measured than an outright crackdown, favouring data-driven analysis before implementing broader restrictions. Licensed operators would be required to submit anonymised player data for independent research examining deposits, wager sizes, frequency, speed, session length and parlay usage. Those findings would then guide more precisely targeted restrictions at a later stage, rather than applying…

A bipartisan House bill would require online sportsbooks to perform facial recognition age verification before customers are permitted to place any wagers. Rep. Josh Gottheimer introduced the Facial Recognition to Protect Children Act on July 15, with eight lawmakers from both parties signing on as original co-sponsors. The proposal mandates a facial check either at login or immediately before a bet is placed, using physical structure and pattern analysis to estimate whether a user meets legal age requirements. According to Gottheimer’s office, the technology would not retain any user identity or personal biometric information after the check is completed. The…

Entain has welcomed the UK government’s consultation on banning unlicensed gambling sponsorships and is pushing sports bodies to act before legislation forces their hand. The operator is calling for an immediate ban on all sponsorship deals with unlicensed gambling operators, urging the Premier League and other governing bodies to move ahead of the 2026/27 season. Entain said the ban should cover all advertising and promotional rights, including perimeter boards, shirt sponsorships, and digital assets, without waiting for formal legislation to take effect. The push comes as new figures from research consultancy H2GC show the illegal gambling market’s turnover grew from…

The 2026 World Cup is underway, and the global appetite for sports betting has reached unprecedented levels across multiple continents and markets. The expanded tournament format, North America hosting, and the recent opening of key regulated markets in North and Latin America have created a landscape of enormous opportunity for the iGaming industry. For Playradar, the tournament represents more than record-breaking volume; it is a platform to showcase a new iGaming vertical called sports casino entertainment. This emerging content category combines the best of online sports with casino, making use of archived footage and data to deliver new betting and…

Brazil’s largest casino-led betting operator has made a decisive move into sports, launching a full sportsbook powered by FIRST.bet technology across three major brands. 7Games, Betão and R7 are all operated by OIG Gaming Brazil Ltda. and are widely regarded as among Brazil’s biggest casino-focused betting brands. OIG selected FIRST.bet to power its sportsbook expansion across all three brands simultaneously, demonstrating the technology’s capacity to serve multi-brand operators at national scale. The 7Games sportsbook was built on SportOS, the FIRST.bet operating system, with the FIRST.bet engine running underneath and powering all trading, pricing and live markets. Players using the 7Games…

The UK Gambling Commission has told NEXT.io that it does “not recognise” claims it is about to knowingly publish inaccurate results in the Gambling Survey for Great Britain. The third edition of the GSGB is scheduled for release on 16 July 2026, following previous publications that have attracted criticism over their methodological approach. Allegations of sampling bias have followed the survey since its first edition was published in July 2024, creating persistent tension between the regulator and its critics. In 2024, Professor Patrick Sturgis of LSE published an independent review finding that GSGB participants may have included a disproportionately high…

Twenty years after federal agents pulled him off a plane in Dallas, David Carruthers is watching the prediction markets industry and seeing uncomfortable echoes of his own story. Carruthers was the chief executive of BetonSports, one of the world’s largest online gambling companies, when he was arrested on 16 July 2006 while changing planes en route to Costa Rica. Within 48 hours of that arrest, £900m had been wiped off London’s gaming stocks, BetonSports had sacked him, and he was facing charges tied to a $4.5bn operation premised on taking Americans’ sports bets online and by telephone. The core accusation…

ThrillTech, described as the global leader in side-bet jackpot technology, has been awarded a Gaming-Related Supplier licence by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. The licence grants ThrillTech the authority to deploy its opt-in side bet jackpot technology across regulated online casino, sports betting, and lottery operators throughout the province. Benjamin Bradtke, co-founder of ThrillTech, called the development a landmark moment for the company’s broader global ambitions in regulated markets. Bradtke stated: “Securing our AGCO licence is a major step in our mission to transform how jackpots are delivered at scale across regulated markets.” He added: “This latest certification…

SOFTSWISS has announced a strategic partnership with WorldGaming, formerly known as Clarion Gaming, for the fifth edition of its iGaming Trends Report. The collaboration brings together SOFTSWISS research capabilities and WorldGaming’s well-established industry brands, including ICE, iGB, and GGB. The alliance is designed to position the 2027 iGaming Trends Report as the definitive benchmark for understanding developments across the global iGaming landscape. SOFTSWISS launched the iGaming Trends Report five years ago, recognising early that data-driven insights are fundamental to navigating ongoing market evolution. The publication has since grown into the most widely read annual research report in the iGaming industry,…