Author: Charles Shephardson

Digitain has announced a new partnership with UK challenger brand Silkbet, expanding its footprint in one of the world’s most regulated betting markets. The Armenia-headquartered technology provider will deliver a full turnkey solution covering Silkbet’s entire UK online operations through the deal. Silkbet secured its relevant licenses in May this year and is now positioning itself to compete in what has become an increasingly difficult UK market landscape. The comprehensive platform Digitain provides includes sportsbook, horse racing, virtual sports, casino aggregation, CRM and payment capabilities all within a single integrated system. The solution is also backed by Digitain’s core infrastructure…

Romania’s gambling regulator ONJN has removed its president, Vlad-Cristian Soare, in a sudden dismissal that has left the industry asking serious questions about the decision. Soare had served as President of ONJN, the Gambling Office of Romania, for just over a year before being removed from the post without warning. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan ordered the dismissal and has since appointed Valentin-Ioan Tomescu as Soare’s replacement at the head of the regulatory body. Soare took to LinkedIn to share his reaction, confirming publicly that he was given no reasons for his removal from the role. In the post, Soare said:…

The Betting and Gaming Council has warned that unlicensed bookmakers could take as much as £1bn in Premier League bets each season. The trade body made the warning in a letter published on 24 August, raising urgent concerns about the growing appeal of criminal gambling operators. BGC CEO Grainne Hurst stated that illegal operators already take millions of pounds from punters during each round of Premier League matches. Hurst said: “Millions of football fans will enjoy a bet safely with regulated operators this season, backing their team week in, week out.” She added: “But the criminal black market is looking…

Booming Games (Malta) Limited has been ordered to pay C$70,000 by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario for breaching rules on auto-play functionality. The regulator found that Booming Games failed to properly configure, test, and monitor certain games both before and after they launched in the Ontario market. As a result of those failures, the games in question went live with prohibited auto-play features enabled, remaining non-compliant for several months. Auto-play functionality allows players to automatically spin online slot titles without manually initiating each individual round of play. Ontario law prohibits this feature entirely, meaning no licensed operator in…

The return of the Premier League triggers one of the most competitive customer acquisition periods across the entire sportsbook calendar each season. Operators pour investment into paid media, affiliates, sponsorships, CRM campaigns and promotions to capture the surge in betting interest generated by opening fixtures. However, rising acquisition costs and an increasingly demanding regulatory environment are making blanket spending a difficult strategy to sustain over time. For Bet442, the core challenge heading into the new season is attracting the right players rather than simply the highest volume of sign-ups possible. Liam Normanton, Head of Sports at Bet442, argued that acquisition…

Stake has made an unusual move in boxing by backing rising professional fighter Poca Oliveira, marking a fresh direction for the brand’s combat sports ambassador strategy. Oliveira will represent Stake at her second professional boxing bout this Friday, August 21, following a winning professional debut earlier in June this year. The young fighter carries a solid amateur record into her professional career, and her convincing debut victory appears to have been enough to earn Stake’s backing and confidence. Most of Stake’s combat sports ambassadors are established names with legendary status, making Oliveira’s early-career sponsorship a notably different kind of bet…

Albania has completed the core regulatory groundwork needed to relaunch online sports betting after a seven-year prohibition on the activity. President Edi Rama has made no secret that generating tax revenue is the overriding motivation behind the country’s decision to re-regulate the sector. Online sports betting was re-legalised in February 2024, though a substantial package of secondary legislation was still required before the market could become operational. That secondary legislation needed to address technical standards, licensing procedures, player identification, payment controls, and enforcement mechanisms across the board. The key regulatory milestone arrived in March 2026, when the Council of Ministers…

The Premier League 2026/27 season officially began on 21 August, when Arsenal hosted promoted side Coventry City, marking the most significant date in the UK fantasy sports calendar. Blask’s Fantasy Sports 2026 report tracked fantasy sports search demand across 100 countries and found that 76 of them experience their annual peak demand in August every single year. The quietest month for fantasy demand is June, which holds under 2% of the year’s total, while August runs close to ten times higher by comparison. The UK stands as the single largest fantasy market by volume, and the Blask report identifies one…

For years, iGaming affiliate marketing competed almost exclusively on numbers, with revenue share percentages, CPA rates, payment terms and hold periods defining every pitch. That landscape has shifted dramatically in 2026, as payout benchmarks have become largely standardised across most major GEOs worldwide. Tatiana Chaplia, CMO of 1win B2B, argues that brand strength and community are now the defining factors that separate leading affiliate programmes from the rest. Community building has become one of the key priorities for 1win Partners this year, strengthening trust and giving the team clearer insight into what affiliates actually need. For affiliates themselves, a genuine…

George Daskalakis, co-founder and CEO of Kaizen Gaming, is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire a minority stake in Championship club Bristol City. Daskalakis is understood to be making the investment alongside Sandford Loudon, a financier whose Oakvale Capital advisory firm has worked across the sports and gaming sectors. Kaizen Gaming owns Betano, which operates across 20 markets and counts 13 million customers globally, making it one of the biggest names in international sports betting. Betano served as Aston Villa’s front-of-shirt sponsor last season and has struck partnerships with Bayern Munich, Benfica, River Plate and Sparta Prague. The brand was…