iGaming News

Entain has published its interim results for the first half of 2025, with the FTSE-listed operator pointing to momentum in its UK and Irish retail business and continued progress at its BetMGM joint venture in the United States. The results arrive at a sensitive moment for the group, which is navigating a shifting UK regulatory landscape and a period of strategic repositioning following several years of turbulence.

Rank Group has delivered a standout set of full-year results against a difficult backdrop for UK-listed operators, growing underlying like-for-like net gaming revenue 6% to £834.1 million and lifting underlying profit by 21%. The figures suggest the Grosvenor and Mecca owner has absorbed the initial impact of the tax hikes that have rattled rivals.

Tabcorp has struck a AU$283 million deal to buy cloud-native platform BetMakers, with executives telling analysts it was the cheapest, fastest, and lowest-risk path to modernising a technology estate built on ageing on-premises infrastructure. Annual cost synergies of up to AU$30 million are projected within two years.

The Nevada Council on Problem Gambling is set to terminate its affiliate membership with the National Council on Problem Gambling this month, citing a fundamental disagreement over the NCPG's two-year partnership with Kalshi. Michigan's gaming regulator has already walked, and other state councils are said to be weighing the same step.

Illinois casino revenue climbed to $192.7 million in July, its strongest year-over-year performance in recent months, with two Hollywood Casino properties delivering triple- and double-digit gains after completing moves from riverboat to land-based formats. Neighbouring Iowa tells a contrasting story, with aggregate revenue falling 6% as most of its 19 casinos shed ground.

iGaming Real Talk has announced the sixth edition of Real Roadshow 2026, with 11 full-length podcasts and more than 35 short-form videos recorded on the iGB LIVE London expo floor.

The federal derivatives regulator has ordered a prediction market to stay open in the state trying to shut it down, and it did so before any court has ruled on the motion.

A Connecticut federal judge has rejected both halves of Kalshi's legal theory in a single order, finding its sports contracts are not swaps and that federal commodities law would not displace state gambling powers even if they were. The pause Kalshi has held since December is gone.

Tabcorp has signed a binding scheme of arrangement for the wagering technology group it walked away from in February, and it is paying a 41% premium to get it. The price of the delay is written into the terms.

Ireland's Gambling Regulatory Authority has opened a public consultation on three foundational sets of regulations covering which games operators may offer, what records they must keep, and what account information they must proactively share with players. Submissions close on 20 August 2026, with final rules to follow.

LeoVegas Group has brought its proprietary Tiger sportsbook to the United Kingdom, deploying it simultaneously across three brands in one of the world's most competitive regulated betting markets. The move completes the platform's rollout through Denmark, Brazil and Sweden and marks the group's most consequential statement yet of intent to own its own technology stack.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty has filed a constitutional challenge to Wisconsin's newly enacted tribal-only online sports betting law, arguing the legislature exceeded its authority and that the tribal-exclusive model violates equal-protection principles. The outcome could reshape how the hub-and-spoke framework is tested across the country.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has taken the state's $36 billion lawsuit against Kalshi to social media, accusing the prediction market operator of "turning cancer patients into prop bets" over its FDA drug-approval contracts. Kalshi's co-founder fired back within hours, and Harvard Medical School researchers have separately asked the CFTC to ban the markets entirely.

Wynn Resorts posted a stronger-than-expected second quarter, with group revenue climbing 7% year-on-year to $1.86 billion and net income more than doubling, but a six-month delay and $600 million budget overrun at its UAE resort cast a shadow over the results. The headline numbers confirm that Macau's mass market, not VIP, is now driving the company's Asian growth.

The Netherlands Gaming Authority has renewed Holland Casino Online's licence for a further five years from October 2026, confirming the state-backed operator's continued place in the regulated Dutch market even as a 37.8% GGR tax rate squeezes its margins and the broader industry warns of channelisation risk.

A federal judge in Utah has ruled against Kalshi's latest attempt to prevent a state from enforcing its gambling laws against the prediction-market operator, extending a string of legal setbacks that have repeatedly undermined the company's federal-preemption strategy at the state level.

Flutter's outgoing CEO Peter Jackson has confirmed FanDuel is content to act as a futures commission merchant directing users to third-party exchanges, positioning the operator ahead of a proposed CFTC rule that would restrict the market-making activities of exchange-affiliated firms. The strategy is forecast to generate $50 million this year, even as overall US performance falls short of plan.

Novig, the prediction market operator trading as Ludlow Exchange, has filed suit in the Southern District of New York against the state's gaming commission and attorney general, the latest legal flashpoint in a rapidly escalating state-by-state battle over whether prediction markets constitute illegal gambling. The complaint lands as the sector faces simultaneous legal pressure across multiple jurisdictions.

Flutter Entertainment has announced that Peter Jackson will leave as group chief executive on 1 October, handing over to international president Dan Taylor at a moment when US sportsbook revenue has fallen 15% year-on-year and the company's market capitalisation has dropped from $50 billion to below $20 billion in under a year.

Light & Wonder has made de-leveraging its balance sheet the company's overriding priority after its second-quarter earnings call, with CFO Oliver Chow setting a target of three times cash flow by mid-2027. The shift signals a strategic recalibration for the gaming supplier after years of acquisition-driven growth, and puts share buybacks firmly on the back burner for the remainder of 2026.

A senior Fanatics executive has publicly argued for stronger consumer protections in the prediction markets sector at the same moment the company is scaling its own event-contract offering, placing the operator in a position that is as commercially revealing as it is regulatory.

A tribal coalition is pressing ahead with a California sports betting ballot initiative aimed at the 2028 election cycle, targeting the world's fifth-largest economy and one of the last major US markets to remain closed to regulated wagering. The campaign would give licensed tribal casinos and four major tracks exclusive control over online and retail sports betting.

Three live bills in the 119th Congress are pulling federal policy on prediction markets in opposite directions: one would create a dedicated regulatory framework, while two others would reclassify event contracts as gambling outright. The outcome will determine whether platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket operate as financial exchanges or face state-level enforcement.

Super Group's Betway brand has secured its biggest football partnership to date, landing a multi-year deal as Manchester United's Principal Partner and Exclusive Global Betting Partner from the 2026/27 season. The agreement gives Betway training-kit visibility across both the men's and women's squads and prominent matchday presence at Old Trafford, with Super Group citing the club's African fanbase as a particular strategic draw.