UK

As the year draws to a close, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has handed out another regulatory penalty, targeting Aspire Global. The £237,600 charge has been issued to AG Communications, which trades as Aspire Global, along with an official warning and additional licence conditions, for failing to operate to the Commission’s anti-money laundering standards. In the regulator’s assessment, Aspire Global …

Following a group-wide consolidation of its pan-European operations, Allwyn International has reported positive trading during Q3, particularly in the UK. Publishing its quarterly trading update for July-September, the company outlined Q3 revenue growth of 11% to €958.6m (2021: €867.4m) and adjusted EBITDA of €319.9m (€290.4m), a growth rate of 10%, although the margin was down from 55% to 54%..  Meanwhile, …

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) asserts that there has been no explosion in gambling over the past two years, but major developments have taken place in other ways.  Andrew Rhodes, UKGC CEO, addressing industry stakeholders in a CEO Briefing speech, examined market trends in the British betting and gaming space, noting an uptick in M&A, concerns around illegal betting and …

Acknowledging several new opportunities and challenges following the enlargement of its operations this year, 888 Holdings has published updated targets at its Capital Markets Day.. Having acquired William Hill’s non-US assets from Caesars Entertainment for £2.2bn in July, the company has noted emerging operating challenges, increased levels of debt exposing it to the impact of higher interest rates, and moderation of …

GambleAware has enhanced its media strategy and operations, appointing Lucky Generals and OmniGOV at MG OMD as partners for this task. Both firms have signed three-year contracts with the gambling harm prevention charity, with an objective of supporting its national behaviour change campaign work.  A new programme raising awareness of gambling related harm forms part of this plan, alongside encouraging …

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has announced that new rules and penalties related to the use of padded whips will be ‘implemented in full’ from 6 February 2023. Under the auspices of the updated regulations, jockeys must ensure that the “use of the whip for encouragement” should be limited to the backhand position only. UK racing has also established a …

UK operators have been warned to prepare for the worst outcome of the gambling review, as PM Rishi Sunak has backed stringent reforms “to fix the catastrophe of online gambling“.  As reported by Steven Swinford, Political Editor of The Times, Sunak will “resurrect plans to curb online gambling amid concerns about the number of people who are becoming addicted.” Sunak …

Signing its latest operator partner, Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has secured a deal with casino firm Strike Games. Centred around GiG’s platform solution, the partnership will focus on personalisation and development of player experiences, as Strike leverages GiG’s technology in pursuit of ‘high-growth potential’. The five-year deal covers GiG’s player account management (PAM), front-end and content management systems, with the …

GambleAware has highlighted the performance of the National Gambling Treatment Service (NGTS), but added that more awareness of problem gambling is needed. The charity outlined this week that between April 2021 and March 2022, 7,072 people received treatment via the NGTS, with 92% having improved on the problem gambling severity index. However, GambleAware noted that 63% of people who left …

The direction of the UK’s gambling industry continues to be a topic of political debate as stakeholders still await the outcome of the long-awaited Gambling Act review. Having begun in December 2020, the review has seen a range of issues discussed extensively, but has been repeatedly delayed to make room for more research and, in other cases, due to political …