The Hidden Compliance Risks of Influencer Marketing for iGaming Brands
Regulators in Germany and Australia are now taking action against influencers who promote illegal gambling. Rightlander’s Brean Wilkinson explains why licensed iGaming brands can still inherit influencer risk, and what effective oversight looks like.
Influencer marketing has become one of iGaming's most powerful acquisition channels, but it can also be difficult to control. It takes many forms, from casino streams and betting tips to celebrity endorsements and sponsored social posts.
Casino streamers can attract thousands of viewers who enjoy watching them play slots or roulette. Sports personalities promote betting brands to their followers, tipsters share selections with betting communities, and celebrities can put an iGaming brand in front of millions of people with a single post.
The attraction for iGaming brands is clear. Influencers can provide reach, engagement and access to audiences that conventional advertising may struggle to reach.
Gambling is not a conventional consumer product. Advertising is tightly regulated, and the rules differ between countries.
Influencer content is often informal or unscripted. That can create regulatory and reputational risks that are harder to manage than in conventional advertising.
Recent enforcement in Germany and Australia shows that regulators are willing to pursue influencers who promote illegal gambling. Licensed iGaming brands should also take notice because they can remain responsible for marketing carried out on their behalf.
The growth of influencer marketing
Influencers now market almost every kind of product and service, including holidays, investments, clothing and children's products. Their prominence reflects the growth of social platforms and brands' demand for direct access to engaged audiences.
Influencer Marketing Hub estimated that the global influencer marketing industry grew from about $1.7 billion in 2016 to $32.55 billion in 2025. Its figures are industry estimates rather than audited market totals, but they indicate the channel's rapid expansion.
Measuring iGaming influencer marketing spend is more difficult because it overlaps with affiliate marketing, sponsorship, streaming, social media and traditional celebrity endorsement.
Audience growth helps explain why influencers have become an important part of the iGaming marketing ecosystem.
Casino streaming provides one indication of that demand.
According to Streams Charts, Twitch's Slots category averaged about 9,000 viewers in January 2019. By August 2022, that figure had risen more than sevenfold to approximately 66,000. Slots had also grown from less than 1% of Twitch viewing hours at the beginning of 2021 to about 2.7% by August 2022.
In October 2022, Twitch introduced restrictions that prohibited streams from specified gambling sites. Gambling content nevertheless continued on Twitch and other platforms, including Kick.
The platforms may change, but the commercial model has survived. Streaming, social media, affiliate links, podcasts and creator sponsorships increasingly form part of the same ecosystem. A single piece of content can entertain an audience, advertise a product and generate player referrals.
Follower numbers and audience engagement can make a creator commercially attractive, but the low barrier to entry also means that suitability and compliance standards vary widely.
Where influencer marketing meets regulation
Influencer marketing can be difficult for iGaming compliance teams to control because content is created and distributed outside the operator's own channels.
Regulators and monitoring providers are paying closer attention to this activity.
Recent Rightlander monitoring identified influencers on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok promoting illegal gambling. It also found examples in which promotions for regulated iGaming brands appeared on pages containing adult content, hate speech, profanity or promotions for unlicensed brands.
In one month of monitoring social content advertising an unnamed regulated brand, Rightlander recorded 164 issue detections across nine influencer accounts. Of those detections, 159 related to missing responsible-gambling messaging, four to unlicensed brands, one to adult content and one to explicit language.
Influencer | Reported audience | Issue detections | RG messaging missing | Unlicensed brands on page | Adult Content | Explicit language (Adult, Hate, Profanity) |
1 | 571,226 | 27 | 27 | |||
2 | 400 | 9 | 5 | 4 | ||
3 | 663,412 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
4 | 578 | 1 | 1 | |||
4 | 578 | 1 | 1 | |||
5 | 232 | 67 | 67 | |||
6 | 9205 | 29 | 29 | |||
7 | 832 | 15 | 15 | |||
8 | 1276 | 10 | 10 | |||
9 | 309,143 | 5 | 5 | |||
Total | 1,556,304 | 164 | 159 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
Source: Rightlander monitoring of social media content advertising one unnamed regulated brand, August 2026. The figures are issue detections, not confirmed regulatory breaches. Audience figures are reported account audiences and should not be treated as unique or verified reach.
The sample is not representative of the entire influencer ecosystem. It does, however, show how quickly one relationship can generate repeated compliance alerts across multiple pieces of content.
The data should therefore be used as a risk indicator rather than a measure of regulatory non-compliance. Whether a detection breaches a rule depends on the content, audience, market and requirements that apply to the campaign.
Recent enforcement also shows that, in some jurisdictions, an influencer's own activity can constitute gambling advertising.
Enforcement involving illegal gambling promotions
On 20 April 2026, Germany's Joint Gambling Authority of the Länder (GGL) announced enforcement action against rapper Capital Bra over the promotion of illegal online gambling.
The GGL said he had participated in unauthorised online gambling through live streams, displayed banner advertising for the sites and operated a comparison website featuring illegal gambling operators.
The regulator began proceedings in October 2025. According to the GGL, Capital Bra did not respond to a hearing or to a subsequent prohibition order that included the threat of a coercive payment.
The authority imposed a €250,000 coercive payment, which was served on him with police assistance at a concert in Wiesbaden.
The GGL stated that streaming participation in illegal gambling can itself be classified as advertising.
Less than three months later, Australia's communications regulator announced its first enforcement action against an influencer for breaching the country's online gambling rules.
On 7 July 2026, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) issued MMA fighter Jamie Mullarkey with a formal warning after finding that he had promoted an illegal offshore gambling service through sponsored Instagram posts during 2025.
His profile referred to the sponsorship, linked to the gambling site and included promotional hashtags.
ACMA said this was its first enforcement action against an influencer for breaching Australia's online gambling rules.
Mullarkey ended the arrangement, removed the material, cooperated with the investigation and accepted responsibility. ACMA said those factors contributed to its decision to issue a formal warning.
These cases do not establish that influencer marketing for licensed operators is inherently unlawful. They show that regulators may pursue creators directly when their content promotes illegal services, while the rules governing licensed campaigns remain market-specific.
Unlicensed gambling creates a cross-border risk
Both cases involved gambling that was not authorised in the market concerned. Social media makes that risk harder to manage because content can cross national borders.
An influencer's audience may span several countries. Operators must consider where promotional content can be viewed, whether the advertised service is authorised there, and what targeting or access controls are required.
Cryptocurrency adds another layer of complexity. In Great Britain, gambling operators cannot accept cryptocurrency deposits, while requirements in other markets vary. Crypto casinos nevertheless rely heavily on influencers and streamers to promote their services.
Regulators are already examining these routes into unlicensed gambling. UK Gambling Commission research identified affiliates, influencers and social media among the channels through which consumers can encounter the unlicensed market, alongside related activities such as crypto trading and gaming.
Regulators are particularly concerned about children and young people encountering gambling content, especially promotions for unlicensed products that fall outside domestic consumer protections.
Research published by GambleAware in 2025 found that 87% of surveyed young people had seen gambling content online, while 16% recalled gambling promotions from content creators. Young people who followed gambling influencers were also more likely to describe gambling as "harmless fun" and to use promotional codes supplied by influencers.
These findings help explain the scrutiny of social media personalities whose audiences may include children and young people.
Regulated operators can inherit influencer risk
A licensed iGaming business can create serious compliance problems by choosing an unsuitable influencer or failing to control an ongoing partnership.
Key risks include:
Breaching applicable age-targeting or youth-appeal rules.
Omitting age or safer-gambling messaging where the applicable rules or campaign terms require it.
Publishing misleading claims about gambling products or promotions.
Encouraging harmful or irresponsible gambling behaviour.
Compliance is not the only concern. Influencers with large audiences are sometimes successful because they are unpredictable, outspoken or controversial. That can be commercially attractive, but it also creates brand risk.
An iGaming business needs to understand both the content planned for a campaign and the risks created by future posts associated with its brand.
One common misconception is that responsibility ends when the operator approves the campaign.
The UK Gambling Commission states that licensed businesses are responsible for third parties contracted to carry out activities connected with their licensed business. It expects operators to maintain sufficient oversight and controls, and warns that failures can result in regulatory action, including suspension or loss of an operating licence.
Giving an influencer a brief and waiting for an engagement report is therefore not an adequate compliance strategy.
Managing influencer marketing risk
Influencer marketing can form part of an iGaming brand's acquisition strategy, provided it is managed carefully and in accordance with the rules in every relevant market.
Vetting should come first. Brands should review how an influencer presents themselves, their previous content and any past controversies. Follower count is one metric, not a substitute for suitability checks.
Influencers also need practical compliance guidance. They should understand what they may say, which markets they may target, how commercial relationships must be disclosed, and which age and safer-gambling requirements apply.
The guidance should use language that creators can understand, rather than relying only on regulatory clauses in a contract.
Monitoring should continue after publication. Technology can help identify new or altered posts, promotional links, brand mentions and content appearing in markets where it should not be distributed.
Regulators are also using technology to monitor online advertising. In a 2025–26 exercise, the UK Advertising Standards Authority's Active Ad Monitoring system captured 1,845 organic Instagram posts from 18 gambling operators. The exercise concerned operators' own social media content rather than influencer posts, but it demonstrates the scale at which online gambling advertising can be reviewed.
Operators should assume that public influencer content can be found and assessed at similar scale.
A rapid takedown procedure is also essential. Contracts should specify who can request changes, how quickly the influencer must respond and when content must be removed. Compliance teams need a direct escalation route rather than having to wait for an agency or account manager.
The Mullarkey case illustrates why a prompt response matters. ACMA specifically noted his termination of the sponsorship, cooperation and rapid removal of the material when explaining its enforcement decision.
Influencer marketing can be an effective channel for iGaming brands, but it requires more than campaign approval. Careful selection, market-specific guidance, ongoing monitoring and rapid escalation are necessary to manage regulatory and reputational risk.
Written by Brean Wilkinson, Regulatory Relations Coordinator at Rightlander
Brean has worked in iGaming affiliate marketing for almost twenty years. In his role at Rightlander, he collaborates with software providers, marketers, and regulatory bodies to gain insight into the global impact of regulation on iGaming markets.
