A broad majority in the Danish Parliament has reached a comprehensive agreement aimed at curbing gambling addiction and creating a safer gambling environment – particularly for children and young people, who are increasingly exposed to betting promotions. The initiative, titled Game Package 1: A More Responsible Gambling Market, marks the first phase of a larger…
The UK Gambling Commission’s (UKGC) full attention remains on fighting the black market, the regulator’s CEO, Andrew Rhodes, has reaffirmed.
In a speech at the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) in Toronto, Rhodes made sure to highlight the UKGC’s continuous efforts to hit back at black market operators through a dedicated team created three-and-a-half years ago.
“We make sure there are penalties and disincentives for being in the illegal market, but also one of our obligations under the Gambling Act, which created us as an organisation is we are here to protect children and the vulnerable from being exploited by gambling,” Rhodes said.
Part of the Commission’s targeted campaign against unlicensed operators includes the disruption of online traffic through a close collaboration with search engines.
Rhodes added that he expects the UKGC to report a total of 200,000 URLs by the end of this financial year. As a result, there’s already been “nearly 100,000” blocked websites.
“We’re tracking over 1000 illegal operators as we try to shut them down… if we can remove things from search results, we make it harder to find, so we slow them down.”
Black market still in the spotlight
Despite the UKGC’s efforts, there is an interesting phenomenon going on in the UK where gambling brands that are typically unlicensed to operate are striking high profile sponsorship deals with sports clubs, particularly in the Premier League.
This led to a huge outcry earlier this year when TGP Europe was forced to leave the UK market and cease its white-label operations managing Asia-facing brands like DEBET and bj88 – partners of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and AFC Bournemouth respectively.
Just last week, Leicester City announced that BC.GAME, another unlicensed operator, will continue to be the club’s principal partner through the 2025/26 season. All these instances are widely viewed as counter-intuitive to what the UKGC is aiming to achieve.
Potential tax hike could complicate things
On top of that, the next budget coming in on 26 November could potentially raise the tax rates for the gambling sector – with the UK Treasury looking at several options on the table.
One of which would be to align all three existing tax systems with the current Remote Gaming Duty (RGD) at 21%, which would impact the retail betting sector the hardest given that the levy there is currently at 15%.
However, another option being discussed is to raise the RGD rate from 21% to 50%, which would undoubtedly cast a huge shadow on the revenues of licensed online gambling operators. This might inadvertently impact the end user cost, leading to more black market migration.
Rhodes addressed taxation during his speech in Toronto, saying: “Now these are going to be really big debates and they’re taking place in many countries at the moment, and it is quite hard sometimes when different factors change to work out exactly what impact each individual component had.
“That’s why in GB, we’ve got an evaluation programme, which is to evaluate the impact, as best we possibly can of the different changes that the Gambling Act Review White Paper has delivered within our country.”
Collective research gathered across all EU states calls for authorities to understand the intertwining threats and changes to gambling harms impacting teen behaviours, in which the individual context of EU nations must be understood.
European authorities and public health organisations have been alerted to changing habits of male adolescents engaging with gambling across EU states.
The warning comes from the collective research agency ESPAD – the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs – which has published its 2024 Report on “substance use and risk behaviours among school students in the EU.”
The 2024 Report marks the eighth wave of research conducted by ESPAD since 1995, covering 37 European countries and capturing responses from more than 113,000 students aged 15–16. This extensive survey represents the largest harmonised data collection on youth substance use and risk behaviours in Europe.
The ESPAD study aims to gather comparable and standardised data to analyse trends in alcohol use, tobacco/vaping, illicit drug consumption, non-medical pharmaceutical use, social media and gaming, and gambling behaviours.
The insights are geared toward helping public authorities, health agencies, and educational bodies design evidence-based mental health and addiction prevention strategies.
However, audiences are cautioned not to draw simplistic “like-for-like” comparisons between countries, given the varying national contexts in terms of education systems, social inequality, cultural norms, and data collection methods.
Gambling is an evolving risk
The 2024 report draws particular attention to the issue of gambling among adolescents, especially male students, framing it as a growing behavioural risk that now warrants equivalent concern to traditional substance use.
Across the 37 participating countries, 23% of students reported gambling for money in the past 12 months, with significant gender disparity – 30% of boys versus 13% of girls. This places gambling well behind alcohol and tobacco in terms of raw prevalence, but closer to substances like cannabis and vaping in terms of how many young people engage with it.
However, the depth of engagement and potential for harm is higher in gambling than in some other behaviours.
Among those who gambled, about 5% of students overall met the criteria for problematic or excessive gambling, based on the Lie/Bet screening tool. Boys account for the vast majority of these high-risk cases, with up to 9% of male students in some countries exhibiting signs of gambling addiction.
Gambling vs other risks
While alcohol remains the most commonly used substance among EU adolescents (73% lifetime use), and vaping is now more prevalent than traditional smoking (44% vs. 32%), gambling is increasingly seen as a digital-age addiction threat.
Unlike substances, gambling often escapes early detection and is facilitated by smartphone access, online games, and unregulated betting platforms.
The 5% problem gambling rate sits between high-risk cannabis use (around 6%) and more severe substance-related disorders, indicating that gambling deserves a priority place in youth risk-prevention policies.
Where Gambling Risk Is Highest
Countries with the highest prevalence of gambling among teens include:
Italy – 45%
Iceland – 41%
Greece – 36%
Lithuania and Cyprus – both near or above 35%
In the above countries, land-based gambling (e.g., scratch cards, slot machines, betting shops) remains widespread, but online and mobile-based gambling is rapidly rising, particularly among male students in urban centres.
The ESPAD 2024 report findings were highlighted by Greek public health agencies as a key factor prompting the government to launch a nationwide education campaign targeting teenage gambling harms as part of a new public health strategy to combat gambling harms growing across all ages.
The campaign will focus on school outreach, digital risk awareness, and parental guidance, and will roll out in phases through 2025.
In Italy, the report’s implications coincide with the government’s broader regulatory overhaul. The upcoming Reorganisation Decree of Gambling will introduce specific laws and protections for under-18s, which will be enforced as licensing conditions for all gambling operators.
The draft legislation includes stricter ID verification rules, a ban on gambling premises near schools and educational institutions and enhanced penalties for under-18 violations.
Italy’s decree is expected to be finalised and enacted by early 2026, marking a significant shift in the country’s approach to adolescent gambling protections.
Where Gambling Is Lowest
By contrast, countries such as: Georgia (9.5%( and Sweden, Iceland, and Norway (under 15%) report the lowest levels of adolescent gambling, thanks in part to stricter regulation, stronger youth protection measures, and public awareness campaigns.
These nations also tend to report lower rates of problem gambling, with fewer than 5% of gambling students flagged for risky behaviour.
Blurring lines of gaming and gambling
One of the most significant findings in the report is the changing form of gambling among teenagers impacting the overall engagement and perception of gambling activities.
Case in point, online gambling platforms and mobile betting apps are now more common among boys than traditional methods. ESPAD notes that around 65% of students who gamble now do so via online platforms, either exclusively or in combination with land-based gambling venues.
However, dynamics are beginning to blur due to teenagers engaging more frequently with social games and gamified loot boxes in video games, that contain similar reward mechanisms to gambling – a condition that is being scrutinised by multiple EU states.
The trend raises urgent concerns for regulators and educators, as gambling is now embedded within digital entertainment ecosystems where supervision is minimal and exposure begins early.
Youth context matters…
2024 findings confirm that gambling, once considered a marginal issue among adolescent health risks, has emerged as a digital behavioural concern with growing addiction potential, particularly among young males.
Although still less prevalent than alcohol or vaping, its rapid digitisation, high addiction risk, and co-occurrence with other risky behaviours mean it demands the urgent attention of EU public health and education authorities.
As with all ESPAD research, these results provide guidance for evidence-based policymaking, but with a clear caution: context matters, and country-specific interpretations are essential to effective activity.
The operator of FDJ United’s Unibet brand in the UK has been charged by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) for social responsibility and AML licensing failures.
Platinum Gaming has received a warning, needs to pay the Commission £10m, and will have to undergo a third party audit to ensure it meets policies, procedures and controls.
Penalties and enforcement actions rarely reflect well on the companies involved, but this may be particularly bad PR for Unibet, which maintains its targets of one day achieving 0% revenue from gambling harm.
This is also the second time the London-headquartered firm, which operates FDJ’s Unibet under a white label deal as well as the bingo and online casino site UK.Bingo.com, has been hit with a regulator penalty.
The UKGC charged the firm £2.9m back in 2023, also for social responsibility and AML failures. 2022 and 2023 were particularly active years for the Commission with countless fines issued ranging from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of British pounds.
Various operators received penalties for similar infractions during this time, with records broken via penalties against Entain and William Hill. The regulator itself has noted a slowdown in breaches in 2025, however.
“While industry wide progress has been made in reducing unchecked high spending, the failings at Platinum Gaming are particularly disappointing,” said John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement
“The case revealed serious shortcomings in customer interaction systems, including failures to identify and act on clear markers of harm.”
What not to do
The incidents at Platinum will be familiar to many. The Commission found cases of Unibet and/or Bingo.com customers losing ‘thousands within hours or days of registration’ without intervention, according to Pierce.
Specific examples highlighted included the customer interaction system failing to identify a player who lost £5,000 within 24 hours of registration as being at risk of harm. Another customer was not interacted with despite losing £31,000 within nine months.
On AML, the Commission determined that Platinum Gaming’s money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment did not factor in accounts closed due to AML or counter-terrorist financing (CTF) concerns prior to 2023.
The regulator further asserted that Platinum Gaming’s AML policy lacked clarity around customer due diligence and did not consider high risk occupations, high levels of transactions and high loss levels.
“Customer reviews did not consistently consider high-risk factors, despite these being outlined in the licensee’s own framework,” said Pierce.
Not great for Net Zero
Unibet launched its 0% mission back in 2021. At the time it was part of the Kindred Group – itself having previously been called the Unibet group – alongside the 32Red online casino brand.
Both became part of French state-owned betting group La Française des Jeux (FDJ) in October 2024 when the French National Lottery operator bought Stockholm-based Kindred for €2.45bn (£2.06bn/$2.70bn). FDJ subsequently rebranded itself as FDJ United.
The net zero campaign saw Kindred and its brands commit to achieving 0% of its revenue from harmful gambling. Kindred gave quarterly updates on its net zero progress with the figure routinely hovering around 3%, though it did fall below this for the first time in Q3 2024.
Post-FDJ acquisition, Unibet and 32Red’s new owner has incorporated the net zero campaign into its own responsible gaming strategy. A regulatory penalty issued to the firm’s UK operator is not exactly a good look for this, however.
The penalty also comes at a time when FDJ United’s expansion into international betting via the Kindred takeover continues to hit hurdles, with the firm struggling to find revenue growth in Q3 while also feeling its bottom line bit by tax hikes in France and elsewhere.
Publishing a comparative study between Sweden and Denmark, trade body outlines clear liabilities of why a restrictive gambling regime is undermining online channelisation for online casino. As such, Swedish ministers must recognise mistakes and implement new policies and balanced protections in 2026.
The Riksdag has received the recommendations and insights on how to strengthen the channelisation rates of Sweden’s online gambling market, in the interest of maximising consumer protection.
A comparative study has been published by BOS, the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling, providing contrasts and comparisons with the neighbouring regime of Denmark.
The study, undertaken by independent law firm Nordic Legal, identifies why Sweden has failed to meet its 90% channelisation target — a principal objective of the 2019 re-regulation of gambling under the new regulatory framework of the Gambling Act (2018).
Audiences are reminded that neither Sweden nor Denmark are immune to offshore competition — a factor becoming increasingly opaque to consumers due to the recent rise of crypto casinos and skin betting websites targeting both nations regimes.
No hiding from data
Yet, on a comparative basis, the study finds that Denmark maintains higher overall channelisation due to more flexible controls and proportionate restrictions on online casinos, thereby supporting its regulatory strategy.
The study refers to two sources examining Swedish and Danish online casino trends. According to H2 Gambling Capital, both countries report an overall channelisation rate of 72%.
However, when broken down by segment, Sweden shows a lower channelisation rate in online casino (62%) compared to Denmark (70%), while Sweden outperforms Denmark in betting (83% vs 74%).
In contrast, an ATG Web Traffic Study reveals a more pronounced difference. It estimates Sweden’s overall channelisation at 68%, with only 57% for online casino and 77% for betting. Meanwhile, Denmark’s combined online casino and betting channelisation is significantly higher, ranging between 90% and 95%.
Sweden’s visible liabilities
Liabilities in online casino operations are particularly evident in the areas of product scope and advertising regulations. In Sweden, the narrow interpretation of permissible games — combined with the absence of a formal pre-approval mechanism — exposes operators to considerable compliance risks.
“New games must fall within the definitions of existing categories (casino, betting, etc.), which are subject to narrow interpretations. The Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) offers limited formal guidance, and there is no pre-approval system to confirm that a new product is compliant before launch.”
This creates a risk-averse environment where operators may avoid innovation altogether for fear of regulatory sanction. By comparison, Denmark uses a defined positive list, offering greater regulatory clarity on permitted games. However, flexibility remains limited, as the process for adding new game formats such as crash games is slow and bureaucratic.
“While Denmark’s approach is more predictable, it remains inflexible for approving new formats… innovation is still restricted by the rigidity of the permitted list.”
A further liability for operators in Sweden lies in its strict regulation of advertising and customer bonuses. Swedish law permits only a one-time welcome bonus, while ongoing incentives and loyalty rewards are strictly prohibited.
“The prohibition on ongoing bonuses means that licensed operators have far fewer tools to compete for player loyalty compared with unlicensed operators, who face no such constraints.”
This has placed licensed operators at a clear commercial disadvantage, particularly in the online casino segment, where consumer engagement and promotional flexibility are essential.
“Operators reported that the one-bonus rule puts them in an impossible position: the retention of customers is hindered, while the unlicensed market freely uses aggressive and continuous promotions.”
In contrast, Denmark permits both acquisition and retention bonuses under a structured framework, including caps and transparency requirements, allowing licensed operators to compete more effectively without compromising responsible gambling standards.
These differences not only affect business viability but also undermine consumer protection. Licensed Swedish operators are unable to effectively retain players, pushing users toward offshore sites that are unregulated, riskier, and untaxed, contributing directly to the country’s lagging channelisation rates in the online casino vertical.
Easy channelisation fixes
The headline recommendation for improving channelisation urges the Swedish government to repeal the current restrictions on customer bonuses and introduce a new framework for customer incentives and engagement.
To this end, BOS recommends that Swedish authorities collaborate more closely with licensed operators to broaden the scope and interpretation of permissible online casino features and functionalities.
BOS also supports the expansion of enforcement powers for Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s gambling regulator, particularly in enabling direct blocking measures against black market operators. However, for these powers to be effective, the Inspectorate must be adequately resourced and introduce a formal pre-approval process for new products.
Licensed operators should be empowered to play a greater role in consumer protection through enhanced regulatory guidance and open dialogue. Importantly, they must be informed of current channelisation rates as part of regulatory conditions, ensuring transparency and shared responsibility in maintaining a well-functioning gambling market.
BOS has also expressed support for the regulatory reforms proposed by Consumer Affairs Commissioner Marcus Isgren, particularly those aimed at broadening the scope and interpretation of the Swedish Gambling Act to improve competitiveness and regulatory clarity.
However, the trade body has firmly rejected the 81 smart proposals submitted by Svenska Spel CEO Anna Johnson, criticising them as overly restrictive and damaging to competition in the games of chance sector. BOS argues that the proposals would entrench monopoly-like conditions and hinder innovation within the licensed market.
Gustaf Hoffstedt: BOS
“We hope that the report will be a useful tool and encourage Sweden to find inspiration in several of the measures and approaches that have been so successfully implemented in Denmark. Some of them are strictly rule-based, such as how loyalty programmes are regulated. Some are more difficult to approach and of a cultural nature — but just as important — and are connected to the policymaker’s attitude towards the industry it is supervising,” said Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary General of BOS.
“Hopefully, this report can inspire policymakers in Sweden to choose the path of regulation that strengthens the licensed gambling market and, as a consequence, strengthens consumer protection — as neighbouring Denmark has successfully proven is possible,” Hoffstedt concludes.
2026: Year of Reckoning
Swedish gambling licensees have been advised to prepare for a transformative 2026, as the government prepares to implement a comprehensive ban on all credit-related transactions from April.
Spelinspektionen has also been granted expanded powers to strengthen enforcement and increase penalties for non-compliance and failures relating to duty of care.
As it stands, the Swedish Riksdag is expected to vote by the end of the year on a series of amendments to the Gambling Act. These include new definitions of unlicensed gambling activity, promotional restrictions, marketing rules, and customer engagement standards.
BOS has not yet received confirmation on whether the government will incorporate any of its key recommendations, as Sweden continues its ongoing and evolving review of national gambling legislation.
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The Republic of Slovakia has reorganised the leadership ranks of the Office for the Regulation of Gambling (ÚRHH) for the second time this year.
The Ministry of Finance confirmed that Libuša Baranová has been appointed Director General of the gambling authority, following a decision by Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenický.
The change sees Jana Mravíková, who had led the ÚRHH since April, move to the position of Director of the Department of Economics and Operations, effective 1 October 2025.
Mravíková had assumed the top post earlier this year after the departure of Martin Bohoš, who had served as Director General since 2019.
Upon leaving office, Bohoš had called for a full review of Gambling Act of Slovakia, warning that the framework was failing to keep pace with rapid growth of online casino and insufficient consumer safeguards.
The latest leadership change arrives amid mounting political pressure to overhaul gambling governance in Slovakia. The Sports and Tourism Minister, Rudolf Huliak, has tabled a new set of amendments designed to deepen the social responsibility and duties of gambling operators towards Slovak consumers and sports funding.
Huliak has repeatedly argued that Slovakia must “regulate, not promote gambling“, emphasising greater protection for vulnerable players and stricter enforcement against illegal operators.
Elsewhere, opposition parties from the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) have demanded that the Ministry of Finance conduct a tax audit into the gambling sector. The party questions why national wagers have increased sharply, yet tax receipts remain stagnant at €340m.
KDH leaders have accused the ministry of neglecting oversight duties while regulated operators continue to benefit from low transparency and inconsistent enforcement.
Of significance, a series of reports by the Supreme Audit Office and the Institute for the Regulation of Gambling (IPRHH) have highlighted that regulatory shortcomings must be addressed, with Slovakia’s current system described as fragmented, under-resourced, and outdated.
As Baranová takes charge, industry observers expect the new leadership to focus on restoring public confidence, strengthening consumer protections, and ensuring that gambling taxation and regulatory practices are aligned with Slovakia’s broader fiscal and social policy goals.