Legal – FairOdds Network

April 16, 2025

MGM CEO: Prediction markets may be ‘cement’ for federal government to enter gambling space

Bill Hornbuckle is urging the legal sports betting industry to handle the prediction market battle properly to avoid federal intervention.

As Bill Hornbuckle travelled to Atlantic City this week for a prominent gaming conference, the legal sports betting industry nationwide continued to race toward a proverbial fork in the road.

Days earlier, Kalshi had reported handle of $86 million (£65 million/€75.6 million) during The Masters tournament, roughly three times the volume traded on the platform for the Super Bowl. Over the last month, Kalshi and other prediction markets have been subject to a wave of cease-and-desist orders from states around the country. The litigation comes as the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) prepares this month for a highly awaited roundtable on the regulatory implications of sports event contracts.

Operating tax free on trading revenues, prediction markets pose an existential threat to the regulated gaming industry in the view of some industry ..

April 14, 2025

Michigan regulator probes unlicensed sports predictions market

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has launched an investigation into unlicensed sports prediction markets operating within the Great Lakes State.

Announced on Friday (11 April), the MGCB said this activity has raised “significant” concerns about consumer protections in Michigan. The regulator classes predictions as a form of sports betting.

Preliminary investigations by the MGCB have found unlicensed platforms offer financial products that allow users to trade their predictions on the outcomes of sports events. By sidestepping state-mandated regulatory protections, the regulator said, this poses a serious risk to players.

The MGCB added that this may create confusion among consumers. Its concerns primarily relate to “blurring the line” between sports betting as entertainment and as a financial trading vehicle.

The regulator’s announcement did not specify the companies under scrutiny, but counterparts in five other states – Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois and Maryland – ha..

April 10, 2025

Kalshi stays live with sports markets in Nevada after winning injunction

It is game on for Kalshi's ability in Nevada and across the US to take bets on contests such as The Masters.

US District Court Judge Anthony Gordon provided a detailed ruling that expanded on his decision of Tuesday night (8 April) to grant Kalshi’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the Nevada Gaming Control Board regarding the offering and trading of sporting-event contracts.

“Kalshi has shown a likelihood of success on the merits,” wrote Judge Gordon in the 17-page ruling. “Conversely, the defendants have not shown a likelihood of success on their countermotion for injunctive relief, so I deny their motion.”

It was another legal victory for Kalshi, following a key win in the US Court of Appeals last October over the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). That ruling allowed it to offer election contracts in the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election. The CFTC has appealed that decision to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals and a verdict could have an impact ..

April 10, 2025

Techno Offshore faces €1.2 million Dutch fine over illegal activity

Dutch regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has issued a €1.2 million (£1 million/$1.3 million) fine to Techno Offshore, the company behind the Nolimitbet.com and Simplecasino.com brands, for illegal activities in the country.

KSA said Techno Offshore was illegally offering games of chance to Dutch players through the websites without the relevant licence. Operators can only offer online gambling in the Netherlands after securing approval from the regulator.

Detailing the charge yesterday (9 April), KSA said Techno Offshore did not take the sufficient measures to block Dutch players. The regulator also flagged the operator for not checking players’ ages upon registering and for running prohibited features including autoplay.

Setting out the charge in full, KSA said it first investigated Techno Offshore in April last year. It established the operator was based in the British Virgin Islands and hold a licence from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission for the two websites.

At the time, KSA sa..

April 4, 2025

BGC: Almost £10 million to be bet illegally on 2025 Grand National

Almost £10.0 million (€11.9 million/$13.1 million) could be illegally bet on this weekend’s Grand National, according to new analysis by the Betting & Gaming Council (BGC).

As the showpiece event on Britain’s horse racing calendar, the Grand National is popular with both regular and seasonal bettors. However, while many will wager with licensed operators, the BGC expects millions to be bet via illegal routes.

The BGC estimates £9.4m will be staked with black market operators this year. This represents 3.8% of the overall £250.0 million the BGC expects to be wagered on the race. The race takes place tomorrow (5 April) at Aintree Racecourse.

BGC CEO Grainne Hurst said this should serve as a “wake-up call” for the government. As illegal operators do not pay tax in Britain, the government would miss out on significant tax revenue.

According to the BGC, the Grand National alone will generate £3.0 million in tax revenue and £2.0 million in contributions to the horse racing levy to suppor..

April 2, 2025

Norway regulator orders blocking of 57 illegal websites

Norway gambling regulator Lotteritilsynet has ordered the blocking of 57 websites it deems to be operating in the county illegally.

Some 23 companies are behind the sites that have now been blocked in Norway, the regulator revealed yesterday (1 April). This is the first round of blocking initiated by Lotteritilsynet as part of a crackdown on unlicensed activities.

DNS blocking works by redirecting players from the illegal websites to a page hosted by their internet service provider. This page sets out how while the site the consumer was trying to access is illegal, they were not breaking the law by trying to gamble on the site.

Lotteritilsynet lawyer Silje Sægrov Amble said blocking illegal websites will help tackle issues related to gambling harm in Norway.

“Blocking illegal websites will help fewer people develop gambling problems,” she said. “These are the games that have the highest risk. They are designed to get you hooked and you can lose a lot of money in a short time.”

War..

March 31, 2025

Kalshi CEO says he was left with no choice but to sue New Jersey, Nevada regulators

Company's suits seek declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent agencies from “enforcing their preempted laws”.

Kalshi dramatically raised the stakes over the weekend in the battle over whether it operates a legal prediction market for sports event-based outcomes, filing lawsuits in response to the cease-and-desist letters sent by gaming regulators from Nevada and New Jersey.

In a LinkedIn post on Sunday explaining the decision to file, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said prediction markets are more than simply places to trade contracts, calling them “quintessential truth machines”. He said they “mobilise the most elegant and effective properties of free financial markets towards the pursuit of unbiased truth”.

Mansour claimed filing the lawsuits against agencies overseeing two of the biggest regulated sports betting marketplaces in the US was a last resort of sorts. The post stated: “We have made every effort to engage proactively with both Nevada and New Jersey and try to educate..

March 27, 2025

Brazil betting CPI chief demands further laws to restrict online gambling access

Senator Soraya Thronicke, rapporteur of the parliamentary inquiry commission (CPI) on betting in Brazil, has urged politicians to back news bills to restrict consumers' access to online gambling.

Thronicke voiced her concerns at Tuesday’s (25 March) meeting of the betting CPI, which was established in November last year amid increased concerns over the impacts of gambling, ahead of the legal online market launch in Brazil on 1 January.

On Tuesday, Thronicke called upon the congress to establish new laws to restrict the population’s access to online betting sites.

She also criticised the long delay between the initial passing of legislation in 2018 and the final approval in December 2023. Many blamed the proliferation of illegal sites during that period for ongoing concerns over betting addiction in Brazil.

“We need to make it increasingly difficult [to access online betting sites],” Thronicke said at the hearing. “We are here to make amends. We need to legislate to minimise th..

March 20, 2025

Gambling Commission hands AML fine to Corbett Bookmakers

Great Britain’s Gambling Commission has ordered land-based operator Corbett Bookmakers to pay a fine of £686,070 (€818,039/$890,568) after an investigation highlighted numerous social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) failings within the offering.

Setting out the case today (20 March), the Gambling Commission said breaches took place between February 2022 and May 2024. Corbett Bookmakers operates 36 premises across the UK.

The retail operator, which has a number of betting pitches across UK racecourses, is also required to carry out a third-party audit to ensure it is effectively implementing AML and safer gambling policies, procedures and controls. This must take place within 12 months of the ruling (6 March).

Corbett allowed players to lose ‘significant’ sums

In terms of social responsibility failures, the commission provided examples of several issues it identified during a two-day compliance assessment. These include failing to flag a consumer who staked £23,674 in..

March 18, 2025

Dutch trade bodies urge more advertising opportunities in new gambling policy

The Licensed Dutch Online Gambling Providers (VNLOK) and Netherlands Online Gambling Association (NOGA) trade bodies have urged the government to allow for more opportunities for gambling advertising among licensed operators, as part of recommendations for new regulations.

Tomorrow (19 March), the government will host a round-table discussion on its proposals for new gambling policy. This will feature input from various stakeholders including a number of licensed operators, trade bodies and regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA).

Teun Struycken, minister for legal protection in the Netherlands, revealed in December that the government was working on new policy, with hopes of having a new gambling bill in place by the end of 2025.

In their submission, the industry trade bodies VNLOK and NOGA set out several key points for the government to consider before signing off on new laws. Much of these focus on protecting players from harm and on tackling unlicensed activity.

Advertising must r..

March 13, 2025

Majority of popular illegal sites use licensed platforms in Sweden, reports ATG

New Q4 research from Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG) has suggested 17 out of 20 popular illegal gambling sites use the same platform providers as licensed operators.

Published yesterday (12 March), an ATG-led report covering illegal gambling activity during Q4 in Sweden reported online channelisation was between 69% and 82% during the period.

This is some way below the government’s long-term target of 90%, set in 2019, when the country opened its regulated online gambling market.

Q4 figures are only marginally better than the 70% and 82% range reported by ATG for Q3.

Unlicensed website traffic up tenfold since 2019

Setting out its findings for Q4, ATG said its data suggests traffic to unlicensed sites in Sweden has increased tenfold since regulation in 2019.

As was the case in Q3, channelisation for online casino was much lower than the rate for sports betting. ATG placed casino channelisation at between 59% and 74%, while sports betting was in a range of 79% to 88%.

The ope..

March 13, 2025

Tipico hits back at ‘secret agreement’ media claims

German operator Tipico has rejected reports that a “secret agreement” on raising player deposit limits is in place between federal states and operators in the market. It has agreed to investigate an instance where a player was allegedly able to increase their deposit limit to €10,000 within seconds.

Joint research conducted by ARD and Die Zeit and Investigate Europe, published on 6 March, reported that gambling operators have benefitted from a “secret agreement” with the federal states.

The report, covered by ARD’s Monitor programme, claimed the state of Hesse concluded a settlement with sports betting providers in 2022 before the Darmstadt Administrative Court.

As per that reported settlement, sports betting operators can use a credit bureau to check a player’s financial standing, if they seek to increase their monthly betting deposit limit past €1,000. German private credit bureau Shufa is the credit agency referenced in the Monitor report.

However, the issue raised by Tipico, ..

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Tag: Legal