NEXT.io News

👀 Former Entain group general counsel and chief customer care officer Simon Zinger has launched two advisory firms, Calibri Law and Bluestar Partners. As reported by NEXT.io, Zinger left his position with the Ladbrokes operator in July 2026, having been in post for roughly five and a half years. One of his new ventures, Calibri Law, will offer official legal advice to companies, organisations and individuals involved in gambling, gaming, media and marketing services. Bluestar Partners functions as a broader consultancy – Zinger told NEXT.io that this allows him to bring a “wider set of experiences and capabilities to supporting clients.” He added: “Beyond legal support, we can look at compliance frameworks, customer protection and safer gambling practices, government relations and lobbying strategy and crisis management.” Sponsored message Mexico is shaping up to be Latin America's biggest iGaming market. See where the opportunity sits in our free Market in Focus: Mexico report.

🚨 Exclusive: Finland has imposed a prohibition order on Estonian-licensed operator MagicPoro which could affect future licensing decisions. According to documents obtained by NEXT.io, Finland’s National Police Board concluded MagicPoro is targeting local consumers in breach of the Lottery Act. The business has been threatened with a €1.2m fine if it doesn’t comply and will also be added to the country’s payment blocking list once the ban goes into effect. Sponsored message Fully regulated since 2024, ~3M players, and primed for M&A — Peru is LatAm's most accessible entry point. Get our free Market in Focus: Peru report.

👀 Brazil’s Attorney General of the Union has asked Justice Luiz Fux of the Supreme Federal Court to reject requests for injunctions against the country’s ban on fixed-odds betting. In its submission, filed in Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) 7721, the body maintains that the Provisional Measure used to ban the sector does not create an obligation on the part of the federal government to pay compensation. For operators, suppliers and investors, the question is who bears the cost of the exit: the R$30m licence fee per authorisation, the investments made, the contracts, and the obligations that remain, such as transmitting data to the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting. Sponsored message South Africa's GGR grew 25.7% in a year, to €3.1bn — Africa's most mature betting market. Get the detail in our free Market in Focus: South Africa report.

🇨🇦 The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has issued Score Media and Gaming Inc., operator of theScore.Bet, with a C$200,000 monetary penalty over “misleading” cash-out offers. According to the AGCO, theScore.Bet presented cash-out offers that were not honoured. The regulator said this breached strict player protection standards in the Canadian province. Going into more detail, the AGCO said the case related to a C$1,000 bet placed on March 14 2025. The multi-leg parlay saw the customer predict the outcomes of games across the NHL, NBA and NCAA basketball. Sponsored message Looking at Kenya? ~8M players, mobile-first payments, and brand-new 2025 regulation — the full picture's in our free Market in Focus: Kenya report.

🇬🇧 The Gambling Commission has reached a settlement with Rank Group worth more than £5m in relation to AML and social responsibility failures at its casinos. It covers failures across three Rank entities – Grosvenor Casinos Limited, Grosvenor Casinos (GC) Limited and Gaming Group – which operate 51 venues nationwide. Examples show one player won approximately £260,000, before losing around £250,000 in just 12 days – all with no safer gambling interaction recorded. Sponsored message Connect now with the #1 Casino Game Aggregator

🇧🇷 One week after Brazil’s betting ban was signed, the government has made what appears to be its first concession: football shirts bearing betting operator brands that have already been manufactured can continue to be sold in Brazil. The guidance is contained in a technical note from the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency (Secom), signed on 2 October, following the ban set out in Medida Provisória (MP) 1.394/2026, which President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed on 25 September. The major question is whether the note indicates that the government may give ground on other points. There is already pressure, as Congress has received 47 amendments to the Provisional Measure, compared with 42 when NEXT.io reported on the issue on October 2. Sponsored message Multiply your reach. Tap into NEXT.io Media.

🤝 Informa PLC has announced the acquisition of its competitor Clarion Events from Blackstone for £2.24bn. Clarion, including its gambling industry events and publications, will be absorbed into the wider Informa portfolio. Clarion’s WorldGaming arm runs ICE, iGB and the Indian Gaming Tradeshow, but will now live under the new ownership of a FTSE 100 company. Informa is one of the largest media and events groups in the world and has a market cap of more than £11bn. Sponsored message Mexico is shaping up to be Latin America's biggest iGaming market. See where the opportunity sits in our free Market in Focus: Mexico report.

🇪🇸 Spain’s gambling industry is facing renewed regulatory uncertainty after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a snap general election for 29 November, interrupting work on what could be a major overhaul of the country’s gambling laws. The election, which was called after opposition parties voted down a government housing bill, leaves several gambling-related measures facing an uncertain future. Cristina Romero de Alba, a partner at gambling law specialists Loyra Abogados, told NEXT.io that the election represents “a significant pause, and potentially a change of direction” for proposed reforms of Spain’s Gambling Act, Law 13/2011. However, she stressed that the election will not halt measures that have already entered into law, including Spain’s new system of cross-operator deposit limits. Sponsored message Fully regulated since 2024, ~3M players, and primed for M&A — Peru is LatAm's most accessible entry point. Get our free Market in Focus: Peru report.

🇧🇷 Brazil's regulated betting market suspended operations yesterday under MP 1,394, a ban that analysts and members of Lula's own camp describe as a costly political mistake. Members of Lula's campaign believe the betting ban hurt the president's first-round performance, according to newspaper O Globo. Social media monitoring identified influencers aimed at lower-middle-income voters urging a tactical vote for Bolsonaro in response to the ban, and the campaign fears the situation will worsen from today now the sites have gone offline. According to the newspaper, only Sidônio Palmeira, Minister of Social Communication, and first lady Janja da Silva backed a total ban. Other members of the group considered it radical and risky. Sponsored message South Africa's GGR grew 25.7% in a year, to €3.1bn — Africa's most mature betting market. Get the detail in our free Market in Focus: South Africa report.

🤝 Sky Betting & Gaming (SBG) has appointed Neil Banbury, formerly of Kindred Group, as its new managing director with immediate effect. Announcing the news in a LinkedIn post, Banbury confirmed he took up the position on 1 October. His decision to move to Sky Betting & Gaming came after more than 15 years with Kindred. “I’m excited and proud to be here and can’t wait to get stuck in,” Banbury said. “It’s a tough moment for UK gambling but SBG has great brands, the backing of Flutter, and a brilliant team that really understands its customers. That’s a great mix to work with.” Sponsored message Looking at Kenya? ~8M players, mobile-first payments, and brand-new 2025 regulation — the full picture's in our free Market in Focus: Kenya report.

👀 Opinion: Brazil’s betting sector must accept the role it played in its own downfall NEXT.io lead researcher Sonja Lindenberg asks whether the industry did enough to prevent the introduction of Brazil's bombshell ban on the betting sector. “Brazil did not ban betting out of nowhere,” she writes. “The industry helped build the case against itself, but it took a government willing to override its own rules to pull the trigger.” Sponsored message Connect now with the #1 Casino Game Aggregator

🗣️ Sarah Gardner, acting CEO of the Gambling Commission, has given a rallying call at Allwyn UK’s Participant Protection Conference, pushing the lottery operator to boost its returns to good causes and adhere to a higher standard of consumer safety. The UKGC boss was broadly positive as she acknowledged the challenges that Allwyn UK has faced in the past couple of years and welcomed William Hill’s former UK and Ireland chief Phil Walker as the operator's interim CEO. It has been a rocky road for the winner of the fourth National Lottery licence, with former CEO Andria Vidler stepping down in September having finally overseen the completion of its delayed and over-budget tech upgrade. “We expect Allwyn and the National Lottery to be at the forefront in terms of determining and demonstrating best practice when it comes to protecting players – and indeed that is a key tenet within the fourth licence regulatory framework,” Gardner said. Sponsored message Multiply your reach. Tap into NEXT.io Media.

📉 IG Group expects a 14% year-on-year decline in revenue for the third quarter of 2026, but highlighted strong growth at Underdog Sports as it prepares to complete its pending acquisition of the US sports and prediction markets business. In a trading update, IG Group said revenue for the three months to 30 September will reach approximately £240m. This would fall short of the £280.1m recorded in Q3 last year, reflecting lower over-the-counter (OTC) revenue retention. However, despite the decline, there was better news from Underdog, which is set to become part of IG Group before the end of the year. In July, the company agreed a deal worth up to $1.3bn to acquire Underdog. The acquisition is expected to close during Q4 of 2026. In Q3, IG Group said net revenue from Underdog is expected to rise more than 100% year-on-year to around $105m. Sponsored message Fully regulated since 2024, ~3M players, and primed for M&A — Peru is LatAm's most accessible entry point. Get our free Market in Focus: Peru report.

🇧🇷 Flávio Bolsonaro finished the first round of Brazil's presidential election ahead of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but fell short of the 50% of valid votes required to declare an outright victory. The race now goes to a head-to-head runoff on 25 October, which will decide both the country's next president and the future of its betting market. Bolsonaro received 47.03% (56,104,503 votes) and Lula 45.16% (53,879,538 votes), according to the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). By 10:14pm on Sunday (4 October), the TSE considered a second round mathematically certain. It was the first round of voting after Lula banned fixed-odds betting through Provisional Measure (MP) 1,394/2026, nine days before polling day. Sponsored message South Africa's GGR grew 25.7% in a year, to €3.1bn — Africa's most mature betting market. Get the detail in our free Market in Focus: South Africa report.

🇧🇷 Brazil’s betting ban has reached Congress and already received 42 amendments, as indicated on Congress’ website. The Provisional Measure banning online betting in the country has been in force since 25 September, but it will eventually lapse unless Congress converts it into law. The amendments mark the first indication of whether lawmakers will soften the ban, delay it, or toughen it further. So far, lawmakers have proposed everything from a slots-only ban to licence-fee refunds, but none of the amendments gives operators extra time to wind down. The window for amendments has been extended to 13 October, before the 25 October deadline on which existing licences will be formally revoked. Sponsored message Mexico is shaping up to be Latin America's biggest iGaming market. See where the opportunity sits in our free Market in Focus: Mexico report.

🇧🇷 Brazil’s betting professionals are facing layoffs and prejudice from employers in other industries as they look for new roles. On 6 October, the 85 companies that paid R$30m each for a federal licence must take their sites offline. The impact goes beyond operators: professionals in VIP account management, CRM, marketing and other areas are now looking for work. There are also reports of approaches from the illegal market. One person working in the industry says they received six job offers from betting companies without authorisation to operate in Brazil in the week after the MP. Sponsored message Fully regulated since 2024, ~3M players, and primed for M&A — Peru is LatAm's most accessible entry point. Get our free Market in Focus: Peru report.

🚨 Brazil heads to the polls on Sunday: What’s at stake for the industry? Brazilian voters are set to head to the polls in the first round of the country’s general elections this Sunday. By the end of the following day, every licensed operator in the country must go dark. Incumbent President Lula’s government published MP 1.394 nine days before the election, ending Brazil’s regulated betting market less than two years after it launched. As the election rapidly approaches, Lula is not backing down. “I’m going to put an end to the bets, no matter who gets hurt,” he said on the Flow podcast on Thursday. Sponsored message South Africa's GGR grew 25.7% in a year, to €3.1bn — Africa's most mature betting market. Get the detail in our free Market in Focus: South Africa report.

👀 Brazil’s ban on online betting could see other parts of Latin America attract increased investment from the gambling industry, with Colombia and Peru best placed to benefit. Juan Camilo Carrasco, managing partner at law firm Sora Lawyers, told NEXT.io that if the ban on online betting and casino in Brazil remains in place, investment could be redirected towards other markets in the region. “Established markets such as Colombia and Peru appear to be the main candidates to absorb some of the growth the sector had originally projected for Brazil,” Carrasco said. “Latin America will not lose investment; we are more likely to see that investment redistributed towards jurisdictions offering greater regulatory predictability.” Sponsored message Looking at Kenya? ~8M players, mobile-first payments, and brand-new 2025 regulation — the full picture's in our free Market in Focus: Kenya report.

🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago is looking to become the Caribbean’s latest offshore gaming jurisdiction. The island nation’s parliament unanimously approved the minister of finance’s order that would set up a legal framework for offering online gambling services internationally on Wednesday (30 September). If approved by the Senate, which will look at the order today, the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led government could shepherd Trinidad and Tobago into becoming the fourth nation in the region with an offshore gambling regime. Sponsored message Connect now with the #1 Casino Game Aggregator

🇳🇱 The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has warned of a “new risk” to the country’s regulated lottery sector after revoking a licence fraudulently obtained in the name of Dutch football club Quick Boys. Detailing the case, the KSA said an unknown party posed as the Quick Boys chairman. They were then able to obtain a licence from the regulator and several websites were launched to sell tickets. Sites flagged included loterij.quickboys.nl, loterijenqb.com, besteloterijqb.com, nieuweqb.com, bestenl.com, topnetherlands.com, newloterij.com, and topsloterij.com. However, the regulator said Katwijk-based Quick Boys had no connection to any of these sites. The KSA, which has filed a report with the police over the matter, said it would not provide any further details regarding the investigation. The regulator also urged consumers not to input any personal details on any of the websites in question. Sponsored message Multiply your reach. Tap into NEXT.io Media.