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Exclusive interview: SPA Chief defends Brazil Bets channelisation strategy amid black market chaos

Steve HoareJuly 3, 20250169 views

Article written by Ana Maria Mendes & Elisa Marcante: SBC Noticias Brazil
Regis Dudena, the President of the Secretary of Prizes and Betting (SPA), believes that Brazil has achieved its initial regulatory objectives to launch and govern its nascent online gambling regime.

Interviewed by SBC Notícias Brazil, Dudena gave an account of leading the SPA as the governing authority of the Bets regime while under a glaring spotlight from political parties, federal authorities, operators, and media.

Launched on 1 January 2025, the Bets regime was birthed like no other gambling market — placed under immediate scrutiny over its economic and integrity policies, while its core framework remained unsettled in key areas such as advertising, taxation, and consumer protection.

Despite these uncertainties, Dudena and the SPA have pushed ahead, overseeing a market of 80 licensed operators servicing over 400 brands. He contends that the SPA has laid the groundwork for a more balanced and enforceable regime, helping Brazil transition from an unregulated environment into one of legal oversight and accountability.

Channelling Wagers
Among the more pointed assertions made by Dudena was a rebuttal of claims that Brazil’s black market for online gambling is growing. Far from expanding, he suggested, it is being eroded and steadily replaced by a regulated ecosystem that is gaining ground with Brazilian consumers.

“Today, far more people are entertaining themselves in a regulated environment with authorised and legal operators,” Dudena stated –“We’re observing a trend toward channelisation, not illegal market expansion.”

Despite grey market factors still lingering, Dudena urged observers to judge the system by its long-term trajectory, not by isolated incidents. Enforcement, he argued, must be understood as part of a broader structural shift to drive consumers to licensed operators, in which the SPA will be strengthened by new projects.

The reason why scepticism remains, is due to key regulatory settlements still to be determined. Yet SPA’s record to date suggests that the scaffolding of oversight is, at the very least, being built.

Regulating at Speed
Dudena believes that the SPA is regulating at speed, delivering on a relentless timeline. In less than a year, the agency published licensing protocols, approved market ordinances, mandated data reporting requirements, and launched a programme of operator engagement.

“People joked they didn’t expect us to succeed,” he noted. “But we planned, executed, and delivered on schedule.”

The most formidable challenge has been technical: processing the large volume of operator-reported data via SIGAP, the federal betting data system. Licensed operators must report daily on deposits, payouts, and losses. The backlog has delayed SPA’s first official performance report, but Dudena assured that “quarterly updates will begin shortly and follow a predictable publication cycle.”

R$3bn Vote of Confidence

Dudena’s interview with SBC Noticias Brazil was followed by Agência Brasil publishing the first economic report revealing the Bets regime’s early economic footprint. In the first five months of 2025, tax revenue from regulated betting operations reached R$3bn (approximately €520m) — up from R$7m over the same period in 2024.

May alone saw revenue surge from R$4m to over R$800m, a year-on-year increase of roughly 23,000%.

“The recent R$3 billion figure is irrefutable proof of the market’s economic relevance,” said Rafael Marchetti Marcondes, CLO of fantasy operator Rei do Pitaco told SBC Noticias Brazil.
“In a country seeking new fiscal resources, betting has become a key contributor to public policy funding.”

Single National System
The SPA is pushing ahead with plans to bring the country’s state-run lotteries under a single, centralised framework, as part of its wider effort to professionalise and enforce national compliance standards.

The project dubbed SINAPO (Sistema Nacional de Apostas) — aims to establish baseline requirements across federal and state levels, focusing on critical areas such as anti-money laundering protocols and responsible gambling protections.

To date, 16 states have joined the working group, with participating jurisdictions set to benefit from national regulatory infrastructure, including access to the “.bet.br” domain and Brazil’s forthcoming centralised self-exclusion system — both considered vital to SPA’s consumer protection agenda.

Priorities & Pitfalls
Looking ahead, SPA’s regulatory agenda for the second half of 2025 is dense with infrastructure development and policy refinement. Dudena confirmed that the agency will prioritise the launch of Brazil’s centralised self-exclusion system, regarded as a cornerstone of consumer protection and harm reduction.

Other top-line priorities include the finalisation of a national advertising code of conduct, the deployment of real-time transaction monitoring, and the release of the regime’s first and second quarterly market performance reports.

While SPA can claim early progress on several fronts, the regime’s greatest test may lie beyond its technical capabilities. Fiscal policy, controlled by the Ministry of Finance and Congress, threatens to reshape the economic foundation on which the regulated market rests.

The Senate’s Gamble
Attention now turns to Brazil’s National Congress, where a proposal is under consideration to raise the gross gaming revenue (GGR) tax from 12% to 18% on betting income. The measure is seen as an alternative to increasing the IOF financial transactions tax and forms part of broader fiscal reforms pursued by the Ministry of Finance.

Industry pushback by IBJR, has warned that combined tax pressures when including state (PIS/COFINS, ISS) and corporate income tax will push the effective burden beyond 50%, jeopardising the very channelisation SPA has sought to foster.

For now, Brazil’s Bets regime enjoys political momentum, fiscal backing, and regulatory momentum. Whether that remains the case will depend not only on how the SPA evolves its framework—but on whether policymakers resist the temptation to overplay their fiscal hand.

UK charity protects next generation from gambling harm

Steve HoareJuly 3, 20250187 views

Gambling harm charity Ygam reached a record number of young people for the year between January 2024 and March 2025.

The organisation’s 10-year anniversary activity report highlighted that it reached approximately 1.3 million children and young people across the UK within that year alone – the highest number since its inception in 2014.

Ygam also reported that it simultaneously managed to provide gambling harm prevention and treatment education to around 10,000 delegates.

In order to ensure its long-term sustainability and inform its future prevention strategy, the charity had also commissioned data-driven evaluation of four of its flagship programmes as part of the report.

Results have shown that Ygam continues to be a trusted partner for problem harm prevention among youth-centric institutions, fostering partnerships with schools, universities, and community groups, among others.

Some of the high profile brands that the charity is working with include The Scouts, NSPCC, The Children’s Society, TSB Bank, Place2Be, and Barnardo’s.

Ygam finds success in education engagement
Continuing with the highlights from the report, Ygam saw 50% of teachers and youth workers implementing the charity’s educational materials in their classrooms within 12 months of completing their training.

Between January 2024 and March 2025, Ygam representatives managed to visit a total of 50 universities across the UK, with around 115,000 university students increasing their knowledge of problem gambling harm.

This is a timely development given last year’s Ygam and GAMSTOP study where it was revealed that 28% of UK students were at risk of problem gambling.

On the digital front, Ygam reached a total of 4.1 million social media impressions between January 2024 and March 2025, which constituted a 322% increase from 2023.

The success of the charity was commemorated by Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross, who said: “I welcome this report, which highlights Ygam’s vital role in educating more than one million young people on how to lead safer digital lives.

“One of my key priorities as gambling minister is to strengthen protections around those most vulnerable to harmful gambling and I look forward to collaborating with Ygam in future as we continue to build a safer online space for young people.”

Ygam and all other gambling charities like it are now operating in a revamped UK market thanks to a new research, education, and treatment (RET) statutory levy mandated by Twycross.

All UK-based gambling businesses will be subjected to mandatory RET contributions, with the first payment scheduled for 1 October. The exact amount will be calculated based on a percentage of a company’s GGR or its equivalent, with 1.1% of GGR for all online operators and 0.1% for pool betting licences.

A total of 50% of the collected funds will be syphoned into NHS England and its Scottish and Welsh counterparts, 30% will go to funding problem gambling prevention strategies, while 20% of the RET levy will be given to gambling harm research.

Germany maintains a ‘divided house’ on Interstate gambling data

Steve HoareJuly 3, 20250166 views

Online gambling stakeholders in Germany remain split over the data insights of the Fourth Interstate market and its actual exposure to black market threats.

Nearly three years since Germany’s Fourth Interstate Gambling Treaty (GlüStV 2021) came into force, the federal online gambling regime remains troubled by divisions on data, activity and trends.

The Joint Gambling Authority of the German States (GGL), which assumed full oversight in 2022, has released its Third Annual Activity Report for 2024, and the results reveal as much about persistent structural tensions as about progress.

For the first time, the GGL has published concrete figures on both the volume and character of Germany’s online betting market. Legal gambling operators generated €8.2bn in total stakes in 2024, a modest increase from €7.9bn the previous year.

But the more controversial figure was its estimate that unlicensed operators account for roughly “25% of the total market for online gambling” including sports betting, virtual slot machines, and poker.

Mattias Dahms- DSWV
The data represent an improvement in transparency, and was cautiously welcomed by the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV), which has long lobbied for more accountability and disclosure.

“This is clear, official confirmation that the black market has long been a serious structural problem and not a marginal phenomenon,” said Mathias Dahms, Chairman of the DSWV.

Disputed ratios
The DSWV was quick to question the figures themselves. According to studies it commissioned including the influential Schnabl study — the actual black market share may exceed 50%, far above the GGL’s 25% estimate. This divergence reflects not just a disagreement over numbers, but over the nature of Germany’s regulatory strategy.

The trade body argues that the official data obscures the scale and speed of illegal growth, particularly in sports betting. One statistic stands out: the number of illegal German-language sports betting websites increased from 281 to 382 in a single year — a jump of 36%.

In contrast, only 34 licensed websites were listed on the GGL’s official whitelist. “The ratio of legal to illegal sites is around 1 to 11,” said Dahms. “Illegal providers benefit from the fact that they can offer a much wider range of bets—especially in the area of live betting, which is immensely popular. This is precisely why many users switch to these sites.”

These concerns are grounded in the reality of Germany’s highly restringing regulatory model. The DSWV claims that overbearing iGaming regulations, including strict caps on advertising, heavy limitations on live betting and bet types, and low deposit limits have simply made the legal market uncompetitive and structurally less appealing. “The legal market is safer today than ever before,” Dahms adds, “but if it becomes less attractive, users will migrate to illegal offers.”

GGL plays enforcer not lawmaker….
The GGL, for its part, is pressing ahead with its enforcement mandate. Since its operational launch in January 2023, the regulator has rolled out geo-blocking measures under the EU’s Digital Services Act, stepped up payment-blocking enforcement, and launched prohibition proceedings against illegal operators and their advertisers.

The authority also successfully lobbied Google to restrict gambling ads in Germany to licensed providers only, curbing one of the most visible channels for unregulated competition.

However, the GGL’s legal footing is far from stable. As of December 2024, the authority was embroiled in 189 lawsuits — many of them brought by operators contesting licensing decisions, technical restrictions, and advertising bans. These lawsuits absorb considerable resources and reflect broader discontent among industry stakeholders about the rigidity of the current system.

While the GGL is limited by statute to enforcement, it has acknowledged the need for reform. Its 2024 report indicates that recommendations on advertising policy will be shaped by ongoing academic research led by the Public Health faculty of the University of Bremen. The research will inform future proposals balancing player protection with market accessibility. This is the GGL’s preferred route: science-guided, cautious, and consistent with its public health mandate.

Political fault lines
But reform cannot come solely from regulators. In Germany’s federalised legal system, gambling laws operate across overlapping state and national jurisdictions. Any substantive overhaul of the legal framework—including changes to bet offerings, deposit limits or sponsorship guidelines—would need to pass through the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament.

This structural reality has led to deepening political debate. Most prominently, controversy has erupted around betting on amateur sports, particularly in football. While some states and operators support permitting such bets under tight supervision, others argue this could invite manipulation and undermine integrity. These debates feed into broader questions over which level of government—federal or state—should define the rules of the game.

Interstate on a diverging path
In 2026, Germany is expected to table a federal law on gambling advertising and sponsorship, which will almost certainly become the next battleground. Stakeholders are already jostling for influence, as the legislation could recalibrate how GlüStV 2021 is interpreted, enforced, and evolved.

In the meantime, both sides claim to be guided by player protection. But their definitions differ. The GGL sees protection as enforcement of uniform, restrictive measures; the DSWV sees it as offering a safe but attractive legal alternative to the black market.

There is, at least, a shared belief in data. “With this figure, the GGL is creating more transparency for the market and the public,” said Dahms. “Fact-based debates… are only possible if we have access to reliable official figures—we expressly welcome this step.”

But clarity has not yet delivered consensus. The GGL remains a strong administrative presence, but its inability to initiate legislative change leaves it vulnerable to political drift. The DSWV, meanwhile, continues to warn that inaction on reform will strengthen the very market that regulation was designed to suppress.

Whether the next phase of German gambling policy results in modernisation, fragmentation, or mere inertia will depend less on enforcement—and more on whether the country’s legislators are willing to match regulation to market reality.

ACMA sends new TV ad code back to the drawing board

Steve HoareJuly 3, 20250166 views

A move to alter Australia’s TV advertising code for M-rated content, including gambling, has been vetoed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Free TV Australia, a body representing Australia’s commercial free-to-air TV networks, submitted a revised code to the ACMA in March after conducting a review of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2015.

One of the amendments proposed an extension of the times when M-rated content – which includes alcohol and gambling adverts – would be allowed for broadcasting on commercial TV.

The ACMA highlighted that after reviewing the document with “careful consideration”, it was not satisfied with the level of community safeguards that the revised code offers, essentially rejecting it by concluding that there is potential for children to be subjected to the M-rated content.

Following the rejection, the ACMA further stated that it is commencing its own review of the advertising landscape driven by outstanding community concerns.

The assessment will set out to reveal whether the current code is adequately protecting consumers, and if not – inform future policies on advertising standards.

In the meantime, the ACMA has advised Free TV to refer to the existing gambling advertising rules to ensure that they’re synchronised with its broadcast safeguards.

Furthermore, the media regulator has urged Free TV to extend these safeguards to all online TV content, on par with the approach taken by national broadcasters.

The latest development finds its roots in a wider campaign by the ACMA to clamp down on gambling advertisements amid rising concerns over problem gambling rates.

Just last week, influencers were threatened by the media regulator with a fine of up to AU$2.5m (£1.2m) if found promoting illegal gambling websites.

The warning was a result of a study by the University of Sydney which revealed that the number of Australian content creators that link to offshore operators is rapidly increasing.

Tennis needs betting’s help to tackle online hate towards female players

Steve HoareJuly 3, 20250174 views

Growing concern over online abuse directed at tennis players by angry bettors has prompted the sport’s authorities to call for action.

This form of online aggression is mostly being aimed at women, with top female players such as Raducanu, Swiatek, Boulter, Jabeur and Pegula bearing the brunt of it.

A joint report from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) revealed that a total of 458 female players received abusive messages in the past year.

The study, which used an AI detection system created by Signify Group, also found that frustrated gamblers accounted for 40% of social media abuse. When it came to abuse directed towards the personal accounts of players, this rose to 77%.

As a result of this, the authorities are asking gambling companies to close the accounts of bettors who have been a part of this issue.

In 2024, the pair teamed up with The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and United States Tennis Association (USTA) and reported a total of 12,000 abusive posts / comments. 15 of these accounts were reported to law enforcement which resulted in over 8,000 players being protected. The problem will likely remain persistent, however, given how central social media is in today’s world.

Speaking on the issue, a spokesperson from the UKGC told SBC News: “Our legislation gives us powers to regulate the actions of gambling operators. Unless there is an offence under the Gambling Act we don’t have the power to take action against individual gamblers.

“We would urge any sportsperson to report messages of abuse to the relevant sports body or, if relevant, to law enforcement.”

FanDuel takes action
According to The Guardian, FanDuel – WTA’s official US gaming partner and the biggest operator in the American betting sector by market share – has been working on its definition of harassment and updated its terms and conditions to allow for the suspension of users who target athletes.

The company warned in a recent email to its customers: “We may, in our sole discretion, suspend or terminate your Account and/or exclude you from our services if we determine that you pose a threat to the safety of participants in a sporting event, or discover that you engaged in the harassment of a sports official, coach or any participant in a sporting event.”

Targeting gender
In 2023, a European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) report revealed that women are the primary targets of online hate.

Meanwhile, last year a study from Cornell University UK survey found that women are significantly more fearful of online harms, and also report more significant psychological impacts.

Women who have a public presence online, whether in social media, sports, or the media, have often become targets of online abuse, especially in male-dominated sports, because their visibility challenges traditional gender roles.

Current British number two, 28-year-old Katie Boulter, recently spoke up about the abuse she has personally received, leading to the above-mentioned statements by the WTA and ITF.

She told the BBC: “It becomes more apparent every single time you go on your phone. I think it increases in number and it also increases in the level of things that people say. I don’t think there’s anything off the cards now.’

A spokesperson for both the WTA and ITF said their latest findings have brought about a “constructive conversation” with the betting industry.

“We will continue to push for the industry to do more as part of a collective effort to rid tennis of betting-related abuse. We hope the gambling industry responds constructively to our call for more action on their part.”

With regards to betting, the issue of athlete abuse has become particularly prevalent in the US, with a lot of focus on online abuse received by college athletes which many believe are related to losing bets.

Speaking on the iGaming Daily podcast, Justin Byers, Senior Journalist at SBC Americas, spoke about how a similar issue of online hate has affected athletes in the US.

He said: “It’s been very interesting to see how gambling companies themselves, regulators and governing bodies of sports are handling the situation.

“Over the past year, we’ve seen the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) take a step and be proactive with their ‘Don’t Be a Loser’ campaign – a video campaign they released through March Madness.

“It’s a campaign that looks at sports fans themselves, making them look inward and to not harass athletes on the field. I think having activations like that help to move forward and have bettors thinking themselves has proven effective.”

Double Dutch warning for FDJ United’s Unibet

iGamingExpertJuly 3, 20250229 views

FDJ United’s Unibet brand has received two warnings from the Dutch gambling regulator for failures linked to advertising and autoplay.

Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gaming authority, issued the warnings to Optdeck, which provides games of chance under the Unibet brand in the Netherlands, for violations related to a cycling team sponsorship and a BonusBuy function in one of their titles.

In response, a Unibet spokesperson told iGaming Expert that the brand took the KSA’s warning “very seriously and took immediate action” to correct the errors, including adjusting branding and compensating affected players.

Sponsorship bus

As part of its sponsorship of the Unibet Tietema Rockets cycling team, the Unibet logo was shown on a coach, which was used to transport the team in the Netherlands and for additional purposes. The Dutch authority has stated that this violates the non-targeted advertising ban.

Speaking with Optdeck, the KSA said that the operator was “not aware that the bus was also used for other transport and that monitoring various sponsorship agreements can be complex”, adding that the team has been asked to stop using the bus immediately and modified stickers will be provided without the Unibet brand logo.

“The KSA has indicated that it is always the provider’s responsibility to guarantee that sponsorship agreements comply with the laws and regulations,” noted the regulator.

“In addition, the coach in this form will no longer be allowed on the road as of 1 July 2025, because that is also when the ban on sports sponsorship comes into effect.”

KSA Chair, Michael Groothuizen, has previously stated that current loopholes in sponsorship must be addressed by the forthcoming overhaul of the Remote Gambling Act undertaken by state secretary Teun Struycken.

A Unibet spokesperson told iGaming Expert: “Unibet takes the signals from the Dutch Gambling Authority very seriously and took immediate action upon notification. The broader use of the touring coach by the sponsored team was halted at our request.

“Ahead of the new regulations per July 1, all team vehicles in the Netherlands will be fitted with adjusted branding without the Unibet logo.”

BonusBuy not allowed

The second warning issued by the Dutch regulator to Unibet was due to a BonusBuy feature that was part of one of their titles. BonusBuy is a form of autoplay, which allows players to automatically continue playing with purchased bonuses without having to start a new game.

The KSA stated that this is prohibited as it encourages players to excessively gamble. In its conversation with Optdeck, the regulator stated that the BonusBuy feature was activated incorrectly by the supplier due to a third-party error.

The function was live for two hours, with players who suffered losses during that period being compensated, while measures have also been taken to make sure the same mistake isn’t repeated in the future.

“The identified autoplay functionality was unintentionally briefly available due to an error by an external supplier following the game’s launch,” noted a Unibet spokesperson to iGaming Expert.

“During our internal checks prior to launch, this functionality was still disabled. Affected players have been compensated, and we have implemented additional measures with the supplier to prevent such errors in the future.”

The Dutch regulator said in its release: “The KSA emphasised in the conversation that the provider itself is responsible for correctly following laws and regulations, even if there is a collaboration with third parties.

“Because both violations were stopped immediately as soon as they were noticed, the KSA will leave it at a warning for now. If Optdeck makes another mistake in the future, the KSA can impose stricter sanctions.”

KSA finds problem with problem gambling standards

Steve HoareJuly 3, 20250225 views

Dutch problem gamblers are rarely contacted by operators, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) regulatory authority has revealed via a new target group study.

The regulator examined a small pool of 139 people in care registered with AGOG, a Dutch NGO that provides specialised treatment to problem gamblers. The group represented 70% of participants in AGOG self-help groups taking place in the fall of 2024.

Results from this isolated group have shown ineffective operator intervention among the majority of surveyed players, despite them exhibiting signs of risky behaviour.

A total of 83% of survey participants have never received a ban, while 68% have said they’ve never been engaged in a meaningful problem gambling conversation by operators.

Those who said they’ve been subjected to intervention action by operators reported that it usually does not lead to changes in behaviour, raising the question about the effectiveness of current measures.

Looking into the demographics of the AGOG-registered problem gamblers, the KSA revealed that 81% have started gambling before the age of 24, while 46% have admitted to starting before they turned 18.

While arcades and land-based casinos were present in the responses, online remains the dominant gambling vertical. This is a reflection of the fact that a large part of the respondents have gambled on both legal and illegal platforms.

A contributing factor for the black market migration is that players already on the Cruks national self-exclusion list are still willing to gamble, but can no longer access legal websites.

Everybody’s different
While the majority of respondents reported personal struggles as a result of their problematic behaviour, the scope and nature of experienced problems varied across the board.
When it comes to financial losses, for example, the KSA reported that half of those surveyed lost more than €50k, while a quarter had to say goodbye to less than €1k.
“This shows that not everyone with a gambling problem suffers big losses, but the longer someone gambles, the greater the loss often is,” the regulator said.
The good news, if any, is that almost all of the people questioned have recognised their own problem behaviour, such as the urge to win back losses, the need to gamble daily, and the increase in the amounts they wager.
More than half of those who joined AGOG in the past two years have since stopped gambling altogether.
However, the regulator added that the temptation to start playing again remains quite high, driven by advertisements and common behaviour within their social circles, among others.
And while the survey’s small target group is far from being representative of the problem gambling picture in the Netherlands, the KSA states that it intends to utilise its findings to further strengthen the market’s supervision to increase player protection.

GambleAware highlights National Lottery’s failure to signpost treatment services

Steve HoareJuly 3, 20250156 views

The National Lottery faces increased pressure to signpost problem gambling treatment support services, as a mandatory requirement of its marketing campaigns and products.

The demand is led by GambleAware, which believes that the National Lottery has lagged in its efforts to support problem gambling treatment services and raise awareness of gambling harms to an audience of eight million people playing National Lottery draws each week.

New research by GambleAware warns that up to 600,000 lottery customers may be experiencing problem gambling. That figure, combined with the Lottery’s mass-market reach, has prompted calls for immediate reforms to ensure it no longer stands apart from other gambling incumbents when it comes to signposting support services.

Despite its status as a lower-risk form of gambling, campaigners are adamant that the lottery |”is not risk-free”. New data from GambleAware’s forthcoming 2024 Annual Treatment and Support Survey, conducted by YouGov with nearly 18,000 UK adults, reveals a decisive public mood:

84% of the public acknowledge the Lottery is a form of gambling;

46% disagree that its products are harmless;

74% want clear support information on products;

69% believe advertising should direct players to support services like GambleAware.

The charity warns that the National Lottery’s failure to implement signposting across physical and digital touchpoints from scratchcards to app-based instant wins leaves it an “outlier” in a gambling landscape that is increasingly focused on duty of care and public health risks..

“When I gave up gambling and self-excluded myself from places I could gamble, the one thing I couldn’t bar myself from was playing the lottery in shops,” said one woman with lived experience of harm.

“In my early recovery, I bought £450 worth of scratch cards. Later, I moved to online instant games with jackpot prizes that looked and sounded like fruit machines. I was lured in, and I know others who’ve had similar experiences. Putting support information on tickets and cards would help so much.”

Another respondent described financial hardship triggered by unchecked app-based spending: “I got a bit of a habit with the instant scratch cards on the app… it did lead me into financial difficulty; I wasn’t able to buy food for about a week because I’d spent the food shopping money on scratch cards.”

The concerns have long-standing political support. A 2022 report by the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee explicitly recommended the Lottery introduce signposting to services such as the National Gambling Helpline a move still not actioned by Allwyn UK, the Lottery’s current operator.

Andy Boucher: GambleAware
Andy Boucher, Chair of Trustees at GambleAware, said the National Lottery must show the same level of responsibility as others:

“We recognise the great work the National Lottery has done supporting a range of worthy causes over many years. In the public’s mind, it is there to do good in the community, and so we believe it is also the right thing for it to look after the people who play the National Lottery.

“Allwyn has previously stated that ‘player safety is our top priority’. It must now live up to those words and play a critical role in protecting people from gambling harms, which are a serious public health issue that can drive societal inequalities, worsen mental health issues, and increase pressure on our overburdened health system.”

Frontline treatment providers are also backing the call. Ian Semel, CEO of Breakeven, a member of the National Gambling Support Network, said:

“At Breakeven, we’ve delivered support for over 20 years. Around 11% of clients who came to us in 2024 disclosed that the National Lottery or scratch cards were causing them gambling harm.

That’s why we’ve joined the call for the Lottery to signpost to support services like us. People need to know where to get help — the moment they realise they might be at risk.”

The campaign places the issue of signposting at the intersection of corporate responsibility, public health, and the regulatory credibility of Allwyn UK.

Campaigners demand urgent changes due to no specific reforms being applied to the National Lottery as part of the Gambling Review’s White Paper, published in April 2023.

As of February 2024, Allwyn UK has formally assumed stewardship of the National Lottery, overseeing the new 10-year licence.

The new steward expressed its support for key government interventions introduced in 2021 to raise the minimum age for all National Lottery products to 18, which came into legal effect on 22 April 2021, banning the sales to under-18s of Lottery, EuroMillions, scratch cards and Set-4-life games on retail and online platforms.

Romania tightens celebrity gambling promotion rules

Steve HoareJuly 3, 20250192 views

Romania’s National Audiovisual Council (CNA) has prohibited celebrities from participating in gambling promotions.

The decision was unanimously approved by the watchdog during a public session held on 26 June, where figureheads amended the Audiovisual Regulatory Code to include a ban on celebrity appearances in gambling adverts across TV. radio, and online.

As quoted by Romanian media outlet PaginaDeMedia, the changes read: “It is prohibited to broadcast advertising for gambling in which public, cultural, scientific, sports personalities or other individuals who, due to their online notoriety, may encourage participation in such games, are present.”

Celebrities previously featured in gambling ad campaigns include football players like Florin Răducioiu, Răzvan Raț, and Ilie Dumitrescu, together with famous singers like Antonia, Lora, and Alex Velea.

This will no longer be possible after the updated framework comes into force within three months of the vote’s date.

As expected, the vote did not go without some resistance from the gambling sector and relevant stakeholders. Interested groups tried to submit draft provisions that would avoid a full-on ban.

Requests made to the CNA mainly revolved around allowing celebrities to participate in social responsibility campaigns, as proposed by Winbet, Kaizen Gaming, the Romanian Football Federation, and the Federation of Gambling Organisers. They were all rejected.

As part of the new legislation, on-demand streaming services will also have to comply with the new rules, which are directed towards reducing the influence of gambling ads on children.

The changes come at a turbulent time for the Romanian gambling sector, with the national regulator ONJN under fire over €900m missing in tax fees.

Headed by a new President as a result of the fallout, the gambling authority is now on a crusade to strengthen player safety standards within the Romanian market, which includes a rework of the national self-exclusion scheme.

In addition, the regulator recently asked Meta and Google to aid its efforts against online promotions of black market operators.

New algorithm to lead Spain’s player protection charge following operator failures

iGamingExpertJuly 3, 20250154 views

Spain’s regulator has blamed significant operator player protection failures for the need to overhaul problem gambler detection systems in the country.

Mikel Arana, Director General of the Directorate General of the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ), revealed at the Gaming in Spain Conference that very few of the country’s operators are implementing the detection systems mandated under the Royal Decree that governs gambling in Spain.

“We have seen that from 50 operators, around 38 have [no] risky players, which is hard to believe,” he explained.

Arana offered a behind-the-scenes insight into the responsible gambling algorithm that will step in to lead Spain’s player protection evolution, revealing the extensive picture being painted of players who engage with gambling in the country.

The data-driven tool is designed to be applied universally across Spain’s operators – as part of a strengthened approach to player protection

“The goal is to define an algorithm capable of distinguishing between two groups of players, regular players and risky players,” explained Arana. “To this end, we requested the authorisation of 506 individuals with a medical diagnosis of gambling disorder, whose complete gambling histories were available at the DGOJ.”

Following the analysis, the DGOJ was able to identify nine distinct groups of players and 81 variables that indicated problem gambling behaviours.

For example, some players spent significant amounts of time thinking about gambling even after placing themselves on a self-exclusion register. Meanwhile, others displayed trends of repeated deposits following losses.

At present, the DGOJ believes the algorithm is 80% accurate in correctly identifying risky players.

Ahead of finalisation, and boosted by a recently announced €1m research grant, the organisation is working with experts to validate the model and improve the system. Once complete, which is expected to be in March 2026, the use of the algorithm will be mandatory for all operators in the Spanish market.

When questioned, Arana confirmed that the identification of a risky player does not mean that they will be automatically prevented from gambling. Instead, depending on player behaviour, operators will be required to undertake actions such as contacting the player about their behaviour and not sending promotions to that player.

Sweeping regulatory changes

Alongside the government-backed algorithm, operators in Spain are also facing reforms of advertising restrictions and cross-platform deposit limits.

Currently, Spain enforces per-operator deposit limits of €600 daily, €1,500 weekly and €3,000 monthly. However, proposals are seeking to change this so that the limits are calculated across all the accounts a player uses.

In light of the changes, industry experts have warned that such stringent measures must be complemented by an efficient player experience to keep the market more competitive and stop players migrating to the black market.