
William Hill to Shut 200 Shops as UK Tax Hikes Bite
Evoke warned this would happen if the government pressed ahead with its tax plans. It pressed ahead. Now 200 William Hill shops are closing and thousands of jobs are at risk.
Search

Evoke warned this would happen if the government pressed ahead with its tax plans. It pressed ahead. Now 200 William Hill shops are closing and thousands of jobs are at risk.

One of Europe and Latin America's most recognisable gambling operators is on the block. With advisors hired and a summer deadline in sight, the race to acquire Codere is already taking shape.

Germany's gambling regulator claims 77% of players are in the licensed market. The industry says the real figure is closer to 50%, and the consequences of getting it wrong could reshape the country's entire regulatory future.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has filed 20 criminal misdemeanour charges against prediction market platform Kalshi, alleging it operated an unlicensed gambling business and accepted bets on state elections in violation of Arizona law, marking the first criminal prosecution of a prediction market company by any US state.

Meta has removed more than 159 million fraudulent ads and shut down 10.9 million scam-linked accounts in 2025, while a joint international operation with the Royal Thai Police, FBI, and US Department of Justice disabled 150,000 accounts tied to Southeast Asian scam centres and led to 21 arrests, as criminal networks increasingly use fake gambling platforms to lure victims.

Indiana Governor Mike Braun has signed House Bill 1052 into law, making Indiana the first state in 2026 and the seventh overall to prohibit dual-currency sweepstakes casino platforms, with civil penalties of up to $100,000 per violation taking effect from 1 July 2026.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued binding staff guidance and opened a formal advance rulemaking process on prediction markets, signalling a decisive shift under Chairman Mike Selig as event contracts surge from five per year in 2006 to roughly 1,600 certified contracts in 2025.

Austrian prosecutors have filed criminal bribery charges against Novomatic founder Johann Graf and former Ainsworth CEO Harald Neumann, adding fresh regulatory scrutiny to a company already locked out of its AU$1-per-share takeover of Australian gaming supplier Ainsworth Game Technology after minority shareholders blocked the deal in February 2026.

Dutch operators have urged lawmakers to revisit the Netherlands’ rising gambling tax, claiming the policy has reduced receipts by an estimated €43.5m in 2025 and is accelerating movement to unlicensed sites ahead of a parliamentary committee debate on 11 March.

Israeli police are investigating a large Polymarket wager that correctly predicted a United States strike on Iran on 28 February, amid concerns about possible insider knowledge and renewed scrutiny of how prediction platforms handle high risk geopolitical markets.

The Netherlands Gambling Authority has reported a rise in cases of athletes betting on their own competitions during 2025, while overall match fixing alerts from licensed sportsbooks remained broadly stable and prompted renewed focus on integrity controls and reporting expectations.

Switzerland has added 271 new domains to its offshore gambling blacklist, taking the total to 2,944 as regulators intensify enforcement under the Federal Act on Money Games and extend blocking to affiliate sites that direct Swiss users to unlicensed operators.

Mexico is considering a new restriction on gambling advertising that would block betting and casino promotion during family viewing hours and before 10:30pm, as lawmakers cite concerns about youth exposure and misleading messaging ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

DraftKings has reorganised parts of its workforce as it ramps up automation and scales its prediction market ambitions, with management and analysts pointing to cost alignment, AI driven decisioning, and infrastructure changes ahead of a major 2026 sports calendar.

FDJ United has shifted its online betting and gaming strategy from acquisitions to technology transformation, with CEO Stéphane Pallez outlining accelerated internal platform migration, stack consolidation, and stricter focus on platform control as tax and regulatory pressure intensifies across Europe.

France has activated the JONUM regime, a three-year trial that regulates games using monetisable digital objects such as blockchain-based items and non-fungible tokens, imposing gambling-style safeguards while prohibiting cash prizes and requiring declarations and transparency for regulatory monitoring.

Indiana has moved closer to an outright prohibition on online sweepstakes casinos after the Senate passed an amended House Bill 1052 that would define sweepstakes games in state law and empower the Indiana Gaming Commission to issue civil penalties of up to $100,000, with the bill now returning to the House for final agreement.

France’s gambling regulator has urged licensed operators to hold the line on World Cup marketing budgets after seeing planned 2026 promotional spend rise by more than 25 per cent, warning that extra in-match advertising time could increase pressure on vulnerable audiences.

The Estonian Riigikogu has finalised a correction to the Gambling Tax Act, restoring a 5.5% levy on online casinos after a drafting error briefly left the sector untaxed. The new rules, effective from 1 March 2026, alongside upcoming crypto reporting requirements, signal a major push for fiscal transparency and the protection of cultural funding.

The Swedish Gambling Authority has confirmed that new supervision fees will impact all licensed operators from 1 March 2026. This financial update arrives just weeks before a strict ban on credit gambling takes effect, creating a challenging environment for the industry as it battles to retain players against a growing black market.