regulation – Page 2 – FairOdds Network

March 21, 2025

Finland gambling reform bill enters parliament

Finland’s government has submitted a bill on its proposed new gambling framework to the country’s parliament, raising hopes of hitting online gambling trade body Rahapeliala Ry’s target of passing laws by mid summer.

Presented yesterday (20 March), the bill sets out a new-look gambling market for Finland. The main change in regulations would be opening up the country’s online gambling market to private operators, following in the footsteps of its Nordic peers Sweden and Denmark.

At present, Veikkaus holds a monopoly on online gambling, across lottery and online sports betting and casino games. Should the bill pass in its current form, this setup would stop by the end of 2026. Veikkaus will, however, keep exclusivity for lottery and scratchcards, as well as retail gaming machines and casino games.

Previous guidelines have said operators could apply for licences from 1 January 2026, when the new regulations officially come into effect. This would be with the view of the new-look mar..

March 19, 2025

Bill to ban college prop bets introduced in Congress

While the reintroduction of the proposed SAFE Bet Act has taken up most of the oxygen when it comes to federal bills seeking to limit sports betting, another bill has entered the chat that seeks to ban prop bets on college athletes.

Introduced on 25 February, the bill – ‘‘Providing Responsible Oversight and Transparency and Ensuring Collegiate Trust for Student Athletes Act,” or the PROTECT Act – is sponsored by first-term congressman Michael Baumgartner of Washington. He doubles as the chair of the college sports caucus.

“Sports gambling on college campuses has surged in recent years,” Baumgartner said in a press release. “Student athletes dedicate themselves to their sport and education and it’s essential that we protect their integrity both on and off the field.

“This bill doesn’t ban betting on college sports games, but it targets wagers on student athletes’ individual performances. We are witnessing a troubling rise in harassment of college athletes on campuses, as well as an a..

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

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, ..

March 12, 2025

MLB seeks CFTC “integrity framework” for prediction markets

Major League Baseball, perhaps hedging its position regarding the eventuality of trading on its product becoming being a widespread part of prediction markets, asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to create an “integrity framework” similar to those in place with states that authorise legalised sports betting.

The Closing Line substack was first to report MLB sent a letter via email to the CFTC noting that the “limited MLB event contracts available today do not carry the same integrity risks as prop bets even single-game bets, but we expect that equivalent offerings will arrive soon.”

To that end, MLB wants that integrity framework for prediction markets in a manner consistent with how it supports “legal sports betting at the state level based on robust regulation and relationships in which sports leagues are viewed as partners and integrity of competition is considered paramount.”

Watching and waiting on Kalshi

MLB’s request of the CFTC comes at a time when Kalshi ..

March 10, 2025

Brazil Sport Commission to discuss bill banning betting ads this week

On Wednesday (12 March), the Sports Commission (CEsp) will discuss a bill banning fixed-odds betting advertising in Brazil.

The bill, authored by Senator Styvenson Valentim, would amend Article 33 of Law No 13,756/2018, which brought forward regulation for fixed-odds sports betting in Brazil. Article 33 would ban gambling ads across all channels and mediums.

Valentim’s justification for the ban on gambling ads relates to the belief that companies are disregarding restrictions on marketing, particularly towards younger people.

“This proposal is justified in view of the sudden change in the profile of bettors, which is now mostly made up of young people, who have at their disposal, 24 hours a day, with just one click, the possibility of placing bets without any barrier to impulsive behaviour,” Valentim said.

The CEsp will analyse the bill in a meeting starting at 10.30 local time on Wednesday. The proposal will then be sent to the Communication and Digital Law Commission (CCDD), whic..

February 12, 2025

Stake to cease UK operations amid Gambling Commission investigation

Stake will exit the UK market next month amid a Gambling Commission investigation into social media advertising from the operator.

The Gambling Commission made the announcement today (12 February) with TGP Europe Limited (TGP), which operates Stake in the UK on a white-label basis, stating they will shut the site down.

The Gambling Commission has launched an investigation into a video distributed widely on social media that displayed Stake’s logo. The video featured an adult entertainment actress outside Nottingham Trent University.

After meeting with the Commission, TGP said it will immediately stop accepting new registrations to Stake’s UK platform and will remove any redirection links to the main Stake website. TGP will complete a full shutdown of the site by 11 March.

TGP has already faced regulatory scrutiny in the UK after being fined £316,250 (€379,430/$393,951) by the Gambling Commission in April 2023 for anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility failures.

“Whe..

February 6, 2025

Episode 42: Bills bills bills as US legislative season gets under way

You want sports betting bills? You want some icasino bills? We’ve got them and more and there’s even an opportunity to stop over in New York for a look at the (down)state of the casino process and touch on tax hikes in Ohio (again) in the latest episode of the World Series of Politics.

Which states have sports betting bills in play?

It was an early mover in sports betting, but since 2018 Mississippi sports betting is only allowed in the state’s casinos. With a mobile betting bill sailing through the Magnolia State’s house, could 2025 finally be the year betting comes to citizens’ smartphones?

Meanwhile in Minnesota a legislative standoff seems to have resolved. Does this mean lawmakers can turn their attention to getting Minnesota sports betting out of the starting gates?

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Oh no Ohio

Ohio was an early mover, but not the good kind, doubling its sports betting tax rate. Now for the second budget cycle in a row there’s a tax increase in the offing, as part ..

February 6, 2025

2025 a year of stability in Brazil as sector interprets new regulations, says legal expert

The first year of Brazil's legal online gambling market will be one of interpretation and major consolidation of regulations, predicts specialist betting lawyer Udo Seckelmann of Bichara e Motta Advogados. He also believes the public narrative against gambling is influencing the SPA's decisions.

Speaking to iGB, Seckelmann, who is head of gambling & crypto at Bichara e Motta Advogados, said he believes this first year of operation for online gambling in Brazil will bring many changes in regulations as the sector settles into the new rules.

He expects 2025 to be a “year of consolidation” for gambling in Brazil as regulations and expectations from the regulator are interpreted and finalised.

“We can expect a lot of changes and consolidation in Brazil this year, consolidation of the understanding or the interpretation [of regulations] for the SPA. [Consolidation] of what’s going to work, what’s going to be allowed, what’s not going to be allowed and eventual changes that w..

January 30, 2025

Study finds 10% of Dutch adults gambled online in 2024

New data has shown just 10% of those aged 16 and over in the Netherlands have gambled online in the last 12 months.

On Wednesday (29 January), the Scientific Research and Data Centre (WODC) in the Netherlands released a factsheet unveiling the findings of three recent studies on Dutch online gambling, which launched in the country in October 2021.

The studies, which cover various periods during 2024, revealed that while 64% of those aged 16 and over in the Netherlands have gambled offline throughout 2024, just one in 10 had placed a bet online.

Lotteries were the predominant form of offline gambling, with 55% of the gambling population using that vertical in 2024, while scratchcards (21%) and bingo (7%) were also prevalent.

Notably, sports betting was the only vertical in which online outpaced land-based, with 4% betting online compared to 3% for offline.

Dutch online gambling rising in popularity

The WODC said 70% of those who had bet online in 2024, had started doing so once th..

January 28, 2025

iGB@ICE: Rei do Pitaco CEO Kiko Augusto on the pivot from fantasy to sports betting

Kiko Augusto, CEO of Rei do Pitaco, shares insights with iGB@ICE on the company’s journey from a daily fantasy sports (DFS) platform to becoming one of the 14 fully-licensed sports betting operators in Brazil.

Drawing inspiration from the examples of DFS-turned-sports betting giants DraftKings and FanDuel in the US, Rei do Pitaco has built a tech-driven product tailored to Brazilian users.

With a strong user base migrated from fantasy sports, Rei do Pitaco is aiming to utilise its DFS origins to deliver an entertaining Brazilian sports betting experience.

“Back when we started the company in 2019, there was no daily fantasy for cash prizes as there were in the US,” Augusto explains to host Katie Goldfinch.

“We followed the playbook of DraftKings and FanDuel. “We’re going to acquire a lot of customers that play fantasy sports for cash prizes and now we’re in the regulated market with a big user base of customers that like sports.”

January 24, 2025

Esportes da Sorte granted full authorisation to operate in Brazil

Esportes da Sorte has been granted authorisation to operate fixed-odds betting in Brazil after a Federal Court injunction.

On Thursday (22 January), the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) published SPA/MF Ordinance No 136 in the Official Gazette of the Union, allowing Esportes Gaming Brazil and its Esportes da Sorte and Onabet brands to operate throughout Brazil.

Esportes da Sorte’s inclusion in the federal regulator’s list of authorised companies follows the Federal Court of the Federal District granting an injunction in January to allow it to operate nationally, despite only holding a state lottery licence with Loterj.

In response, Esportes da Sorte said the ruling confirmed the company’s compliance with Brazil’s gambling regulations including paying its licence fee to operate in the regulated market.

“The decision confirms that the company, from the beginning, complied with all legal and regulatory procedures established by the legislation and its respective ordinances,” Espor..

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Tag: regulation