A new research paper highlights the narrative gap between academic research and media sensationalism around the gambling industry and gambling harm, which is leading to moral panic and regressive policy responses. The report from Gambling Public Policy Consulting, ‘Addressing the Narrative Gap: Investigating Media Coverage vs. Empirical Evidence on Gambling’, serves as a warning to…
As reports rise of student-athletes receiving more abuse related to sports betting and incidents continue to emerge of players themselves being integrated in betting scandals, would a ban on college player props be an effective solution?
That was a question that panelists at the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) Winter Meeting in Puerto Rico last week, as individuals in charge of college athletics programs and integrity monitoring firms discussed the challenges facing schools and the NCAA right now.
Athlete abuse on the rise
Various surveys have suggested that collegiate athletes are increasingly in the firing line from sports bettors, and NCAA President Charlie Baker has cited concerns about welfare and sporting integerity as reasons why states should ban college player prop bets.
IC360 Managing Director of ProhiBet Matt Heap noted that since May 2024, IC360 has received more than 17,000 responses to survey questions addressed at student-athletes, coaches ..
The latest corruption allegations couldn’t have come at a worse time for PAGCOR’s leader, Alejandro Tengco, as the organisation seeks to steady the Philippines’ regulatory ship heading into 2026.
Accusations centre around a conflict of interest involving the family company of Tengco, have come at an unfortunate time for the organisation as it seeks to steady the Philippines’ regulatory ship heading into 2026.
Tengco has vehemently dismissed any suggestions from the media that he had influence on his family’s construction company, Nationstar Development Corporation, winning government contracts.
However, media investigations revealed that Nationstar, which was founded by Tengco in 2015 and is currently owned by his children, has secured more than 14 government contracts valued at Php 7.1bn (£90bn) since 2022, when he began his role with PAGCOR.
Tengco emphasised that he divested his interest in the construction company upon assuming leadership of the Philippines’ gaming regulator, having begun transferring ownership to his children as early as 2019.
“My position as Chairman and CEO of PAGCOR has no direct or indirect influence in the awarding of public works contracts to Nationstar,” said Tengco through a statement posted on PAGCOR’s website.
“There is no conflict of interest because under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) and the Code of Conduct of Government Employees (RA 6713), conflict of interest occurs when a public official has direct or indirect financial or pecuniary interest in any business contract or transaction in which they must intervene in their official capacity.”
Tumultuous 2025
The story closes out what has been a turbulent year for the Philippines’ gaming industry, as lawmakers in the country have repeatedly attempted to bring down regulated online gaming.
At the time of writing, the country’s Senate is still considering several bills that have called for a total ban on online gaming – citing the “silent epidemic” of gambling addiction in the Philippines.
In response, PAGCOR has been forced to defend the merits of supporting regulated iGaming, highlighting the significant income it generates for the Philippines’ government, while also warning that any prohibition “will only drive players to illegal operators and result in loss of revenue and jobs”.
“PAGCOR is committed to strengthening regulation and enforcement to ensure that only legitimate and properly monitored operators are allowed to operate,” said Tengco, speaking at a conference hosted by Light & Wonder.
“These illegal sites not only deprive the government of much-needed revenues but also expose Filipino players to numerous risks.”
Among the new regulations in the country is a mandatory decoupling of online gambling platforms to mobile wallets and payment applications, as well as a new accreditation requirement for iGaming service providers.
Although the former has been linked to a dip in revenue for leading operators such as DigiPlus in the third quarter of the year, the changes have been viewed as a vital step to renew trust in the industry.
“The delinking of e-wallets resulted in a short-term decline in activity toward the latter part of the quarter. However, these measures are vital to protect players and ensure secure, transparent transactions,” said Tengco.
Cautious optimism
Looking ahead to 2026, the fact that the bills above were submitted in July and there has been no action as of yet suggests that the momentum behind the push to ban online gaming has lost significant momentum.
However, any rumours of impropriety within the sector risk renewing conversations surrounding its position within the Philippines’ society.
The coming months represent a critical period for PAGCOR as it seeks to stabilise and push for the growth of an industry that has been touted as having the potential to cement itself as Southeast Asia’s second-largest gambling market behind Macau, as revenue is forecast to surpass $7bn in 2025.
Central to this action has been PAGCOR’s commitment to fighting the black market.
In October, PAGCOR signed a memorandum of understanding to divert Php 50m (£639,125) in funding to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the organisation charged with countering illegal gaming.
According to PAGCOR, there are approximately 12,000 illegal online gaming sites in operation, compared to just 77 licensed operators.
While stricter regulations may be viewed as a burden for licensed operators, in the long term, such measures are key to differentiating the legal market from the illegal market and should inspire confidence among consumers.
Keith McDonnell, Director of the KMI Group, previously told iGaming Expert: “What the Philippines needs most now is time to carefully consider how a regulatory framework and workable tax system can provide long-term benefits to the local economy while protecting the most vulnerable.
“Everyone knows an outright ban on [inland gaming operators] would drive things underground, leading to more social, economic and political problems.”
A knee-jerk reaction from any stakeholder within the conversation risks bringing down the sector, and PAGCOR must lead the industry’s future with a cool head to navigate iGaming through a crucial beginning to 2026.”
The final GambleAware Annual Conference in London yesterday mixed general confusion and fear about the research, education and treatment levy with a more constructive tone than shown in recent years. Leading anti-gambling campaigner James Noyes of the Social Market Foundation (SMF) told guests at the final GambleAware Annual Conference in London yesterday (Dec 10th) that…
New research reveals large language models can exhibit human-like gambling addiction behaviours and shows they even possess internal “risk circuits” that can drive them toward bankruptcy. A new study from South Korea’s Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology presents the strongest evidence to date that popular large language models (LLMs) – including GPT-4o-mini, GPT-4.1-mini, Gemini-2.5-Flash,…
The Better Gambling Forum (BGF), a Brain Capital Alliance-affiliated platform for evidence-based gambling policy, has announced the completion of its scientific oversight committee. The committee is composed of experts in a variety of fields, including public health, addiction science, and gambling understanding. BGF steering committee chairman Shawn Fluharty told Player Protection Hub: “We could sugarcoat…
Problem gambling support and treatment services are at risk as a result of the tax increases on the UK gambling industry, as funds for the statutory levy dwindle.
This was the warning of Dan Waugh, Partner at Regulus Partners, who appeared on iGaming Daily following the UK government’s decision to ignore stark warnings from across the industry and increase remote gaming duty from 21% to 40% in April next year.
Alongside a new 25% general betting duty rate for remote betting being introduced from April 2027 (excluding self-service betting terminals, spread betting, pool bets and horse racing), the knock-on impact from these hikes could be that players are less protected and supported.
While the main potential causality of the increase, labelled by operators and the Office for Budget Responsibility themselves, has been more players wagering on the black market, one thing that has barely been mentioned has been how the tax rises will impact statutory levy support, which funds problem gambling prevention and treatment services.
Waugh dived into this topic on iGaming Daily, noting that treatment and prevention services could be affected since levy funding is largely driven by contributions from online gambling operators and ultimately, the levy itself could collapse.
“Since April, funding for gambling disorder treatment services in this country has been pegged to spending in the licensed market via the statutory levy,” noted Waugh.
“If spending in the licensed market is reduced as a result of these tax changes, funding for treatment services in this country will fall. That’s a straight mathematical equation, that’s not our opinion, that is just what will happen.
“It’s worth reflecting that if you look at projected funding from the statutory levy to fund treatment services and other harm prevention measures, about 80% comes from online gaming and betting, it’s more than 50% from online gaming.
“If there is significant displacement from the licensed market into the black market in online casino, the statutory levy that was put in place in April to fund treatment services and harm prevention will collapse.”
Waugh added that independent charities who provide gambling harm support and treatment could be hit hard as a result of the tax increase, impacting players that need help.
He stated: “The commissioners under the levy generally are self-interested. So OHID and NHS both have their own services. They will likely prioritise them, which means that charities will be at the back of the queue.
“Because of this ideological purity that some of the anti-gambling campaigners and public health insists on, these charities have been told you cannot seek money from the gambling industry, which has funded you for the past 25 years or more, you’re not allowed to. Charities will be put in a real pinch.
“Some of these think tank proposals incoherently said if you raise taxes, that increases player safety. One, I think that’s entirely speculative, but two, the chances are it will push people to the black market.
“If you’re doing that, at the same time as you’re pulling the rug out from underneath the treatment services that look after people who get into difficulties with their gambling, the net consequence of that could be absolutely devastating.
“There could be massive harm arising from these really very poorly thought-through proposals.”
To listen to the full iGaming Daily episode – Ep 657: What Next For UK Gambling After Online Tax Hikes Confirmed In Budget? – click here.
As Europe marks Safer Gambling Week 2025, conversations are taking place across the continent to put in place strategies that keep players safe while they enjoy gambling responsibly. One operator who has been at the forefront of these conversations, not just on Safer Gambling Week but since the summer, is 1xBet. Since the appointment of Simon Westbury as its…
Operators, suppliers, regulators and consultants gathered online ahead of Safer Gambling Week to discuss some of the most pressing issues in the realm of player protection. Here are three takeaways. Danish Gambling Authority Director Anders Dorph highlighted new laws in Denmark that made it a crime to target under-18s with gambling advertising and gave the…
EPIC Global Solutionsproclaims 2025 as its most expansive year achieving milestone of its harm prevention programme, beyond what its founders envisioned in 2013.
Expanding its harm prevention practice beyond UK-shores, EPIC Global is now active in 30 jurisdictions, helping the safer gambling policy stakeholders in mature and emerging markets.
Its international expansion phase is underscored by EPIC Global forming 47 active relationships with partners spanning all key functions of gambling as a high-risk sector.
Reflecting on EPIC’s trajectory, CEO Paul Buck stated: “When we founded EPIC in 2013, we believed harm prevention needed to sit at the centre of gambling policy, not at the periphery. To see our work now embedded across 30 jurisdictions is a powerful sign that the industry is ready to place prevention on equal footing with regulation and commercial growth.”
North American expansion
EPIC’s momentum has been particularly evident in North America, where it has established itself as a frontline responsible-gaming services provider to market leaders including FanDuel and BetMGM. Its training and consultancy programmes have supported more than 95,000 individuals across the continent, including 27,801 NCAA athletes and staff during the 2024/25 academic cycle.
Meanwhile, the Know Your Play digital portal—developed with ROGA, Kindbridge and RGC—reached 68,435 US college students in just eight months, marking one of the largest youth-focused RG interventions in the region.
EPIC has also deepened its footprint in the daily fantasy sports category, designing tailored training modules for PrizePicks and Underdog. Its work played a central role in PrizePicks becoming the first DFS operator in North America to secure iCAP accreditation for responsible gaming.
Commenting on the market’s evolution, EPIC North America SVP Teresa Fiore said: “North America’s rapid expansion in sports betting brings extraordinary opportunity, but also new responsibility. Our work across the U.S. and Canada is centred on one principle: protecting people. By embedding lived experience, education, and behavioural insight into every partnership, we are helping teams, operators, and regulators create environments where individuals can thrive safely.”
Expanding UK reach & Euro bespoke programmes
Beyond North America, EPIC continues to cement its leadership across the UK and Europe through renewed and expanded partnerships with major operators, sports leagues and integrity bodies.
Entain reinforced its long-term commitment by commissioning EPIC to deliver global staff training across multiple territories, achieving a 99% positive satisfaction rate. In the UK, Sky Bet and Flutter maintained EPIC as their core partner for staff RG training for an eighth consecutive year.
Meanwhile, EPIC played a central role in the launch of William Hill and the Scottish Professional Football League’s gambling-harm education programme, now active across all 42 Scottish clubs and delivering post-session awareness uplift of more than 93% among players.
In Greece, lottery and gaming technology giant INTRALOT elevated EPIC to review and enhance RG frameworks across its active markets, while newly formed FDJ United partnered with EPIC to design specialist training for customer-care teams to strengthen intervention protocols.
Across all territories, EPIC’s programmes engaged more than 109,000 people between September 2024 and August 2025. The reach spans professional athletes across Europe, North America and Australia; operator staff across 18 global gambling brands; youth and community groups; and tens of thousands of students engaged through NCAA partnerships and digital education portals.
This breadth reflects EPIC’s core philosophy that effective training must be grounded in lived experience, blending behavioural science with real-world narratives to shift culture, strengthen empathy and embed sustainable harm-prevention practices.
Beyond Training: 2026 Digital Innovation and R&D
EPIC’s expansion is increasingly driven by research, digital innovation and a dedicated R&D strategy designed to future-proof harm prevention. Among the organisation’s most significant advances is a pioneering PhD study examining gambling’s impact on women’s elite sport, presented at leading conferences in New York and Finland. EPIC has also developed a suite of multilingual eLearning modules for the European Athletes & Players Association (EAPA) as part of the continent-wide PROtect Integrity project, delivering specialist education in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Danish.
Further innovations include scenario-based digital learning tools designed to strengthen early-risk recognition, alongside scalable interactive learning platforms capable of delivering bespoke content across global markets.
On EPIC’s shift towards a research-led future, CEO Paul Buck added: “The future of harm prevention lies in evidence, technology and lived experience working in unison. Our investment in research and digital learning is not a side project—it is central to how prevention must evolve if we’re going to stay ahead of emerging risks in a globalised gambling market.”
As EPIC enters 2026, the organisation’s combination of global programme delivery, expanding R&D capability and lived-experience leadership signals a new era of harm-prevention strategy—one in which prevention, innovation and player protection are increasingly recognised as essential to the long-term sustainability of the gambling industry.