The SPA has opened a public consultation on a draft Ordinance that would make supplier recognition mandatory for any B2B company providing services to licensed Brazilian operators. If enacted as written, this does not merely add a compliance step; it restructures the conditions under which B2B commercial relationships in the Brazilian market are legally permissible. The consultation closes March 23, 2026. But the constraint that cannot be reversed by reading the final text is

The BetCity founders' "proven playbook" is structurally incompatible with Finland's marketing framework, and the litigation timeline that could complicate their regulatory fitness assessment overlaps directly with the licensing window they need to clear. Kambi Group announced on February 12, 2026  a long-term Turnkey Sportsbook partnership with SuomiVeto, a Finnish SPV registered five weeks earlier by the founders of BetCity.nl. Kambi CEO Werner Becher stated he looks forward

Operator platform consolidation is creating procurement lockout ahead of GRAI licensing. Suppliers without modular compliance frameworks risk 12-18 month market access delay. Below 12-15% European revenue threshold, exit becomes the rational choice. What's actually happening in Ireland Ireland represents an implementation shock market, not a tax shock market. While operators face a modest 2% turnover tax compared to the UK's punitive 40% GGR levy, the compliance infrastructur

Vendors are being disqualified not for product gaps, but for regulatory exposure that threatens operator licence portfolios. The shift is silent, structural, and accelerating. For twenty years, the gambling industry's strategic question was "Where should we go next?" For the first time, the industry's strategic question is now "Where can we stay?" That shift has arrived suddenly, forcefully, and irreversibly — and it fundamentally alters what operators demand from suppliers.

As US regulatory posture softens toward event contracts, Novig moves to separate its consumer brand from a federally supervised exchange model. In a significant strategic pivot toward federal oversight, Novig formally submitted an application to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in January 2026 to operate a regulated exchange.  The application was filed under a distinct legal entity, Ludlow Exchange LLC  , with Novig listed as the parent holding company. This co

As acquisition costs rise, platform media prices inflate, and regulators scrutinise promotional efficiency, this interview examines how attribution analytics is shifting from a marketing metric into a financial and compliance control mechanism. Under rising media inflation, tightening promotional rules, and sustained margin compression, operators are finding that marketing measurement directly influences budgeting discipline, affiliate payouts, and risk exposure rather than c

As rising compliance costs and margin compression push operators to defend every product decision in revenue terms, this interview examines how user-experience data is shifting from optional design input to financial control mechanism. Under sustained promotional pressure and shrinking tolerance for friction, decision power inside gambling organisations is migrating toward metrics that directly influence conversion, churn, and support cost rather than creative judgement alone

Brazil is the first newly regulated market where MGM is testing whether platform control, not brand scale, determines sportsbook performance. LeoVegas’ Tiger deployment turns that question into an operating experiment. The launch of LeoVegas Group’s proprietary sportsbook platform, Tiger , on BetMGM Brazil  will be framed as a Brazil rollout or a product upgrade. That framing misses the structural shift. This is Tiger’s second live deployment, following its initial rollout in

An internal promotion that reflects how execution discipline is becoming a competitive variable for scaled B2B platforms. Most trade coverage will treat this as a straightforward internal promotion. That misses the sequencing and, more importantly, the context. SOFTSWISS has completed two senior technology appointments in close succession, elevating Sergey Kastukevich from Deputy CTO to Chief Technology Officer, following an earlier C-level hire Denis Romanovskiy the firm’s

Dabble’s UK casino licence is being described as a straightforward expansion into iGaming. It is not. By securing full remote casino  and virtual event betting  permissions in Great Britain, Dabble has crossed into a product category where software integrity, responsible design, and evidencing controls outweigh engagement mechanics. The challenge is not access. It is whether a social-first wagering model can survive casino-grade regulation without being structurally constrain

As VIP automation moves from optimisation to accountability, suppliers are being pulled directly into operator governance. HeySeven.ai  has appointed Rafi Ashkenazi  as Executive Chair. On the surface, this looks like a familiar play: an early-stage supplier borrowing credibility from a well-known operator executive. The more material detail is what sits alongside that appointment. Ashkenazi is currently  Executive Chair of Hard Rock Digital . This is not a retired CEO lendin

BetGames CTO Maciej Smolarek applies a commercially-grounded engineering lens to roadmap decisions, treating bespoke requests as market signal, not noise. His bias is toward evidence over fashion, compliance as a boundary for velocity, and personalisation as the next serious P&L lever in interactive gaming. In this CTO in Focus, Gaming Eminence speaks with Maciej about value filtration, integration discipline, and the organisational habits that keep teams shipping in regulate

IGT has promoted CTO Andy Hendrickson to a new Chief Product & Technology Officer role, subject to regulatory approval. Announced on 13 January 2026, the move comes barely half a year after Apollo closed its $6.3bn gaming deal and a month after Hector Fernandez formally took over as CEO. This is less about a new job title and more about how the world’s most widely licensed gaming supplier intends to run product and technology under private-equity ownership. What’s actually be

The 2026 fiscal and regulatory shock forces a reclassification of the gambling operator. Tax compresses margin, liability concentrates accountability, and mature tooling collapses the case for in-house rebuilding. The operator stops being a vertically integrated software house and becomes a regulated system integrator — owning the brain, renting the muscle, and governing the accountability perimeter. For boards, the question becomes a capital allocation problem: which layers

Michael Hogan has joined Flutter International as Head of Product, confirming the move via LinkedIn at the start of 2026. While the appointment has been disclosed with little public detail, Hogan’s background in supplier-side customer tooling and regulated environments offers a clearer signal of where large operators are now focusing product leadership: internal systems, governance, and the ability to execute change at scale. What’s actually been announced Michael Hogan has b

Sam Talbot has confirmed he is stepping down as Chief Product Officer at LiveScore Group after three and a half years in the role. Announced via LinkedIn, the departure closes a significant product chapter for the group and raises immediate questions about how product leadership, platform priorities, and execution discipline will be shaped next. What’s actually been announced Sam Talbot has confirmed that he is leaving LiveScore Group after three and a half years as Chief Pro

Gareth Crook, SVP of Sports at Pragmatic Play Sports, on the practical use of AI in personalisation, in-play trading, and risk, beyond the industry rhetoric. AI has become an unavoidable topic in sports betting, but its practical impact remains uneven. Much of the industry conversation still sits at the level of aspiration, while day-to-day sportsbook operations continue to be shaped by latency, risk exposure, legacy workflows, and regulatory constraints. The gap between what

ADM has signed the 2025 to 2034 Lotto concession with LottoItalia, the long-standing consortium now led by Brightstar Lottery. The group will pay €2.23 billion in licence fees, commit to a multi-year programme of infrastructure and security upgrades, and maintain the operational backbone of a product that generates critical fiscal revenue for Italy. The tender attracted competing interest from groups including Flutter and Sisal, yet the award ultimately followed a familiar lo

CFTC-regulated prediction venues now compete directly with state-licensed sportsbooks, offering national reach, exchange-style pricing and a lighter federal compliance regime. This feature maps the legal split (federal pre-emption vs state police powers), details operator strategies (fight, partner, or own the rails), unpacks the infrastructure (clearing, custody, oracles), and converts regulatory milestones into an actionable trigger matrix. It sets a minimum controls parity

Super Group has launched ZAR Supercoin (ZARSC), a fully bank-backed, FSCA-regulated stablecoin built on Solana and designed initially for South Africa’s high-friction payments environment. Powered by Absa-held reserves, Luno distribution and a Q1 2026 wallet rollout, the token is positioned to become a low-fee, high-speed rail for Betway South Africa and everyday retail payments. With Africa contributing a significant share of Super Group’s revenue—and South Africa alone acco

Gaming Eminence interview with AvatarUX CPO Deane Hendricks, exploring how the studio will evolve its signature PopWins identity, navigate global expansion, and balance creativity with governance in its next phase of growth. AvatarUX enters a pivotal moment in its creative lifecycle. The studio has carved out rare territory in the crowded slot-development landscape. It owns a mechanic players immediately recognise. It has a visual identity that streamers surface without promp

In a bold step towards digital transformation, Sun International (JSE: SUI) has appointed Leslie Peters as its new Chief Technology & Product Officer (CTPO), a newly created role aimed at driving the company’s technology agenda and enhancing its product offerings. This appointment marks a pivotal moment for Sun International as it accelerates its shift from a predominantly land-based gaming operator to a digitally-led, omnichannel powerhouse in the global hospitality and gam

Luxembourg is preparing a bill that would centralise online gambling and gaming machines under a state-controlled model. The National Lottery would lead the offer, and the authorised land-based casino could receive an online licence once geoblocking and player-protection systems are proven. The government frames the move as a response to rising harm indicators, and as a way to shut down grey devices in cafés. This runs against Europe’s multi-licensing drift, so the proposal w

DraftKings has acquired Railbird Technologies and its CFTC-designated exchange, Railbird Exchange, in a move that drags the US sportsbook wars onto a new board: federally regulated prediction markets. The company says it will launch DraftKings Predictions , a mobile app that lets customers trade event contracts on real-world outcomes in finance, culture and entertainment “in the coming months.” Financial terms were not disclosed. Deal timing.  DraftKings announced the transa